60 Minutes – * Failed Pols

I do not fault stupid people for making the stupid decision to elect Donald Trump in 2016.

I do fault smart people for making stupid decisions. These include:

1. Senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump in his no-witnesses-allowed impeachment trial, including primarily Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell:

* Impeachment of Donald Trump (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Donald_Trump#Acquittal

* Mitch McConnell (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell#Impeachment_trial

2. Members of the GOP who voted to disenfranchise voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – before, during, and AFTER the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol – including Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jody Hice (R–GA-10), Mo Brooks (R–AL-05), Scott Perry (R–PA-10), Josh Hawley (R–MO), and Louie Gohmert (R–TX-01).

* 2021 Storming Of The United States Capitol (2021-01-06)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol

* 2020 United States Presidential Election Electoral College Count (2021-01-06 – 2021-01-07)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_Electoral_College_count

3. Donald Trump’s cabinet, who could have invoked the 25th Amendment to remove POTUS at any time:

* Cabinet Of Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Donald_Trump

4. Social media, including especially Facebook and Twitter, for allowing their social networks to be used as platforms for hate speech.

* Donald Trump On Social Media (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_on_social_media#2021

5. Mainstream media, including especially CNN (on the left) and Fox News (on the right) for not doing their jobs – asking questions until they get answers – and allowing POTUS to lie unchecked.

* Veracity Of Statements By Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump

6. Lawmakers at all levels, for failing to fix bad laws and for failing to enact good laws. Changes that must be made going forward include:

Limiting POTUS power:

Executive order power must be limited.
All cabinet members (acting/interim/actual) must be confirmed by Senate.
Treaties and tariffs must be the role of Congress so that POTUS cannot engage in trade wars.
War Powers Act must be updated to limit POTUS power to deploy the military.
Special Counsel Act must be updated to make clear that POTUS cannot fire special counsel.

Writing better and new laws:

Impeachment Act of 2021, to define how impeachment is conducted, including the requirement to have witnesses.
Follow the lead of The Restatements Of The Law project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restatements_of_the_Law) and codify major SCOTUS cases, including especially Roe v. Wade.
Fix the Census.
Fix immigration.
Fix SCOTUS processes, such as limiting appointments to 2 per POTUS with the number of SCOTUS justices fixed at the number of Federal Circuits (currently 13).
Election reform, including who is qualified to run for POTUS and that tax forms must be disclosed to do so.

Just to name a few.

Stupid people, bad laws, and lies got us into this mess.

Smart people, good laws, and the truth can get us out of this mess.

LAW >> MAN.

#FailedPols
https://www.failblog.com/

Donald Trump’s five words, “It doesn’t matter. We won,” say all we need to know about his character. In an interview with Lesley Stahl on 60 minutes, Stahl asked him if he felt he was respecting Christine Blasey Ford when he mocked her during a recent rally in Mississippi. “It doesn’t matter. We won,” said Trump.

At the rally, Trump imitated Christine Blasey Ford’s retelling of her alleged sexual assault, decades before, by Brett Kavanaugh. As the crowd responded with enthusiastic gladiator-like cheering and laughter, Trump mocked Ford, saying “I don’t remember,” and “I don’t know,” and “But I had one beer, that’s the only thing I remember.” Some members of the crowd shouted, “Lock her up,” presumably referring to Ford.

Trump in fact told Stahl that if he hadn’t made that speech (which Trump referred to as “the famous Mississippi speech”), his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, “would not have been confirmed.”

There is a lot to examine in Donald Trump’s statement on 60 Minutes and the event that led up to it. We could address the bloated perception he has of his own power when he claims that his speech was what got Kavanaugh nominated. We could look at the response of the crowd at the rally in Mississippi where he made the speech We could examine (perhaps in shocked disbelief) the words Trump said at the rally, as he mimicked Christine Blasey Ford.

But let’s consider Trump’s unapologetic summing up of the entire event with “It doesn’t matter. We won.”

Once upon a time, at least some of the people who now support Donald Trump would have been appalled had, say, the school bully, said those words if asked if he felt any remorse about having made fun of a traumatized child. There was a time when those who now support Trump, many of whom consider themselves guardians of morality and uprightness, might have held up Trump and his words as a symbol of who not to be.

Though many people are still inclined to ask, “Is Trump really the example you’d want your child to emulate?” in this brave new world, a Trump supporter’s response might actually be, “Yes.” Donald Trump’s supporters have been willing to compromise and overlook a growing list of standards of decency and character in support of Donald Trump. It seems that Donald Trump himself summarized their rationale when he said, “It doesn’t matter. We won.”

‘I don’t know’: laughter as Trump mocks Ford’s sexual assault testimony | Guardian News [2018-10-02]

Trump on his treatment of Christine Blasey Ford at rally: “It doesn’t matter. We won.” | 60 Minutes [2018-10-14]

Category: 60 Minutes

* Erik’s Editorial: The Guilty Parties Who Put American Democracy At Risk In The Name Of Donald Trump

Trump and His Gang: “It Doesn’t Matter. We Won.”