So
we’ve now just about reached the six month mark in a Donald
Trump presidency and I can’t see the pot of gold at the end of
the rainbow, because, quite frankly, the rainbow is dimming. Trump
has tooted his own horn and labeled himself a “winner”
and told his campaign supporters, “I’ll have you [as the
American public], “winning so much that you’ll be tired
of winning.” Well. I ain’t there yet…are you? Oh.
Give him a chance, you say?
We’ve
heard those pundits and surrogates of Trump repeat the phrase, “give
him a chance.” We’ve heard it from the die-hard
supporters of the so-called president - all forgetting that same call
from liberals when Obama was elected and of course, Republicans gave
him no chance. Here’s what we know about “give him a
chance:” He’s effectively squandered all “chance”
by his idiotic attempts at policy changes, immature responses to
perceived opposition and out and out gratuitous lies.
With
his chance to govern, he has made a doubly concerted effort to
violate the US Constitution. If that isn’t the most audacious
offense any democratically elected leader (and no, I don’t
believe he was) can do. By the way, on Tuesday, the 9th Circuit ruled
to uphold the injunction banning Trump’s Muslim travel ban - an
obvious loss for the loser.
Our
local NPR-affiliate radio station runs a promo that goes: “Minute
by minute, the Trump Administration breaks news.” That kind of
stuck with me. All I could think was they do indeed break
news...idiots usually do. They also break relationships; they break
American confidence; they break the rules; they break wind; and they
break the law.
The
one thing I have believed would sink him for sure - and people have
acted like it doesn’t exist - is Trump’s violation of the
Emolument Clause of the US Constitution. … talk about your
proverbial “elephant in the room!” The man should have
been under impeachment charges on the 20th of January 2017! His
business interests are clearly a Constitutional violation and
finally, someone has taken action to address the elephant in the
room!
Karl
Racine, the District of Columbia Attorney General, filed a lawsuit
alongside Brian Frosh, Maryland's Attorney General, that cites the
Emoluments Clause, which says no federal official should receive a
gift or a fee from a foreign government. It is the first such lawsuit
filed by government entities.
Trump
knows what he’s doing is illegal - as do the leaders in the
Republican party, but his “F-U” finger continually stays
up - pointed at the American people. It cannot go unaddressed that
this guy continues to govern in the midst of extensive business
entanglements, and he refuses to adequately distance himself from his
holdings. He’s been told; he’s had a chance. Why do I say
that? I say it because a non-governmental organization, Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), lodged
a similar legal action in January.
All
he’s going to do next is blame The Left or the media or Hillary
Clinton and call it “sour grapes.” Well, that it ain’t!
He’s operating illegally, and no one can deny it…not
even his most ardent supporters. So let me tell you why they can’t
argue (and you tell them I told you so):
The Clause says “no
person holding any office of profit or trust” may accept “any
present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any
king, prince, or foreign state.”
Legal analysts say
that if the Trump Organization accepts special deals, such as tax
breaks or land rights overseas, it could fall foul of the clause.
Even overseas profits could potentially be construed as a violation.
Once
Trump secured the election, he had the country mollified. People were
scared to call a spade a spade. People from coast-to-coast knew that
Trump was outrageous, inflammatory and inaccurate. Everyone with the
capacity to think, knew that he supported - and was supported by -
racists and racist policies. Hell, that’s how he got elected
(or selected); voter disenfranchisement and voter suppression won the
day for Trump, just as they have across the country since the Tea
Party era of 2010’s elections.
What
to me is an obvious conflict of interest is the Trump Hotel in
Washington, DC. The Trump International Organization leases the Old
Post Office Building from the US General Services Administration
(GSA).
Trump, as President, is both “landlord and tenant” of
that building, yet GSA has given him a pass. GSA needs to end the
lease.
And
what about his building at 40 Wall Street? The Trump Organization
owns the right to lease the space in this office building in
Manhattan - and makes money from the rent paid to the building.
According to Bloomberg News, there are five ongoing federal
investigations into current or former tenants of 40 Wall Street,
mostly for securities fraud. And ironically, those investigations are
headed up by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
During
confirmation hearings, Democrats criticized Trump's appointee to head
the SEC, Jay Clayton, for his ties to Wall Street firm; but, you know
what happened with that.
And
I don’t even want to talk about the North Dakota Access
Pipeline…Trump got away with murder! Sioux tribes and allies
(including me and my
family!) had protested
for months to prevent the Dakota Access pipeline from being built
under water supplies near the Standing Rock reservation. Trump had a
partial investment (between $500,000 and $1million) in Energy
Transfers Partners, the parent company of the firm building the
pipeline.
Hope
Hicks, a Trump campaign spokesperson, announced that Mr. Trump sold
his stock in Energy Transfer Partners. But another one of Trump's
stock holdings, Phillips 66, owns a 25% share in the project. By the
way, he’s probably lying.
There
are too many to name here, but what we know is that he’s had
his chance to act
presidential - and govern
like he has sense. He refuses. Whether it’s Russia, the firing
of James Comey or ignoring the fact that Black people also live in
these United States, Trump has had his chance. It’s time for
litigation and prosecution. America needs a “do-over,”
and the Emoluments Clause lawsuit is our next chance.
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