Monthly Archives: February 2018

national news

‘Some are true, some are false’

Donald Trump is trying to invoke some damage control in the wake of the latest tumult that is roiling the White House.

The president who once many years ago accused the Central Park Five — group of young African-American men — of raping a woman after they were exonerated is now concerned about “due process.”

He said former White House staff secretary Rob Porter is entitled to “due process” in the wake of allegations by two former wives and an ex-girlfriend that he beat them up.

Then he tweeted this, in part: “Some are true and some are false,” he said, referring to the types of allegations that have been leveled.

Whoa! Hold on there, hoss!

If “some are true,” then what bleeping differences does it make if any others are false? It takes just one “true” accusation, in my mind, to be a deal breaker. It only takes one instance of such spousal assault to disqualify anyone from the kind of position that Porter acquired in the Trump White House.

Here’s the entirety of what the president tweeted this morning. You decide:

Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?

Now he is concerned about due process.

That is, um, rich.

national news

POTUS talks out of both sides of mouth

Donald Trump has shown once more how he applies different standards depending on the political impact of whatever decision he chooses to make.

The president had no difficulty releasing a four-page Republican-drafted memo that accuses the FBI of bias in its investigation into the Russia election matter. In fact, he released the memo written by the GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee as he was trashing the integrity of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.

But when it comes to the Democratic response? Oh, my. The president wants to protect the FBI information. He wants to keep it from public view until the committee “makes changes” to it. Trump declined to release the Democratic response, denying the public the same level of transparency he said he wanted with the Republicans’ initial critique of the FBI.

The president cited “national security” concerns in denying the Democratic memo release. Strange. He didn’t express those concerns when it regarded the Republicans’ memo.

Trump’s denial, I should add, comes after the committee voted unanimously to recommend release of the Democrats’ response. Unanimously! That means it was a bipartisan vote, with Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues. When has that happened at any point of this Russia investigation?

Trump said the GOP memo “totally vindicates” him of any alleged wrongdoing regarding the Russian meddling in the 2016 election. He keeps insisting there was “no collusion.” The GOP document proves it. Actually, it doesn’t prove a damn thing.

The public deserves a full disclosure. From both sides of the aisle. The president is playing games with one side’s view of this bizarre saga.

Shameful.

national news

It’s time for Gen. Kelly to go

I’m wrong more than I am right. John Kelly moved from one key Trump administration post to another one amid high hopes that he would whip his new office into shape.

I was among those who had longed for a transformation and thought Kelly would be able to deliver it. I was mistaken.

Kelly needs to leave the White House chief of staff job. I hope he can resign under his own power, so to speak, and be done with it.

The White House mess has deepened in recent days with accusations that former staff secretary Rob Porter assaulted his two former wives and a former girlfriend. Kelly has made an utter hash of the White House response.

The key question now is whether Kelly knew about the allegations long before he said he did and kept it from the president of the United States. It appears that’s the case.

Kelly once ran the Homeland Security Department. He moved to the chief of staff post after Reince Priebus had lost control of the White House operation. Kelly, a decorated Marine Corps general, was seen as a supreme control freak and someone who could bring discipline and order to the West Wing. Sadly, that effort appears to have failed.

I am in no position, of course, to recommend anyone to the chief’s job. It’s painfully clear to me that Gen. Kelly has squandered his opportunity to right a listing operation.

He cannot disparage those who accuse a key aide of serious misconduct. He cannot be an apologist for a president who continues to exhibit a horrifying blind spot when it allegations from women surface about the conduct of men. My hope was that his Marine training and his understanding of the meaning of public service would have served him better in this critical job.

Gen. Kelly must go. Immediately.

national news

‘Innocent’ men keep quitting their day jobs

I know in my head — and, yes, my heart — that usually we’re allowed the presumption of innocence when we stand accused of wrongdoing.

But why do all these “innocent” men keep quitting their day jobs when women accuse them of beating them up, sexually abusing them, sexually harassing them?

If they don’t quit, then why do their employers keep firing them?

Roger Ailes got canned as president of Fox News; Bill O’Reilly was shown the door, too, by the same network. They both denied ever doing what the women accused them of doing, even though they and their networks paid out millions of bucks to female accusers. Go figure.

Matt Lauer got canned by NBC after women accused him of improper sexual behavior. Lauer hasn’t yet acknowledged publicly doing anything wrong.

Most recently, we have watched the departure of Rob Porter as White House staff secretary after his two ex-wives and a former girlfriend accused him of beating them. Porter says the allegations are false, but he quit anyway. The president stands by his man, calling him a good guy who did “a good job” while working in the White House.

Al Franken quit the U.S. Senate after he was accused of misbehavior with a female TV journalist; Franken, though, said the allegations weren’t entirely accurate. Huh?

Holy mackerel, man! The list of these clowns quitting while not acknowledging any wrongdoing just baffles me.

The innocence presumption, as I understand it, is reserved for those accused of criminal activity. None of these individuals I’ve mentioned has faced a criminal accusation. They face political accusations, which is a different matter altogether.

Still, I cannot remember when I’ve seen so many “innocent” men pull the plugs on their careers.

Strange, yes? You bet it is!

national news

About that ‘extreme vetting’ idea

I feel the need to revisit briefly an issue I raised in an earlier blog post relating to the latest tumult to erupt at the White House.

It involves former staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned after two former wives and a former girlfriend had accused him of beating them up.

Why in the name of extreme vetting didn’t the White House personnel office detect this behavior prior to hiring this guy?

Donald John Trump has declared his intention to institute an “extreme vetting” regimen for immigrants seeking entry into the United States. I don’t have a particular problem with that.

I do, though, have a serious problem with the White House giving someone such as Porter access to highly sensitive documents when he doesn’t have a top-secret security clearance. Why does he lack such a clearance? Because the FBI was examining the issues relating to the accusation of domestic violence.

And yet … this guy got hired by the White House. Donald Trump let him in the door and allowed Porter immediate access to documents that demanded a top-secret clearance.

Why didn’t the president, the White House chief of staff and other top-drawer West Wing officials invoke the extreme vetting policy it is demanding of immigrants?

This matter well might cost White House chief of staff John Kelly his job. It is being reported that he knew months ago about the allegations of serial spousal abuse, but did nothing about it. The former wives have presented detailed accounts of what Porter allegedly did to them.

One of Porter’s former wives has issued a stern warning to White House communications director Hope Hicks, who is dating Porter: Be careful, Ms. Hicks; your beau is going to beat you up.

Extreme vetting? It’s missing at the White House personnel office.

Astonishing.

legal news, national news

Suddenly, Mueller seems a bit more vulnerable

If I were Robert Mueller, I might be sleeping a bit fitfully for an undetermined period of time.

Mueller, the special counsel appointed to examine allegations of collusion by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign with Russians seeking to influence the 2016 election, now suddenly seems a bit more vulnerable to White House trickery.

Rachel Brand, the No. 3 in command at the Department of Justice, has quit to become general counsel for Walmart. Brand had held her job at DOJ for less than a year.

This is a real big deal. Here’s why.

The president can’t stand Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from anything dealing with Russia. Sessions had worked on the Trump campaign foreign policy team and on its transition to the presidency. He was too close to the Russia matter to be an independent investigator. So, he stepped aside. It angered the president so much that he has said that had he known Sessions would recuse himself, he would have nominated someone else to become AG.

There’s that.

Now we have Rod Rosenstein, the No. 2 at DOJ. Rosenstein selected Mueller — a former FBI director and a crack lawyer himself — to be the special counsel. Mueller has assembled a first-rate team of legal eagles to investigate the “Russia thing” that caused Trump to fire James Comey as FBI director. Rosenstein has the authority to fire Mueller if directed by the president, but he has said he won’t do so “without cause.” Trump hasn’t exactly issued a vote of confidence for the job Rosenstein is doing as the second banana at Justice.

OK, now for the punch line.

Trump can select whoever he wants to succeed Brand. The new No. 3 must go through a Senate confirmation process. If the president were to dismiss Rosenstein, that means the next in command would be available to dismiss Mueller if the president issues the order.

My operative question, thus, goes like this: Is the president going to ask Rachel Brand’s potential successor if he or she is willing to fire Mueller if the order comes from the White House?

Sessions is now out of the game, more or less. Rosenstein says he won’t fire Mueller simply because the president wants him gone. That means, the way I see it, that Sessions and Rosenstein now are vulnerable to the Machiavellian whims of the guy who sits behind that big desk in the Oval Office.

Trump could axe both the AG and his chief deputy, leaving the next in line — the third in command — to do the dirty work of getting rid of Robert Mueller, which then could derail the special counsel’s work of finding the whole truth behind the collusion matter.

I believe that would smell like, oh, obstruction of justice.

national news, political news

Trump shows his dark side yet again

Donald Trump has declared that his former staff secretary has denied the accusations of two former wives and a former girlfriend that he beat them up.

The president stood behind a U.S. Senate candidate who was accused of sexual abuse by women, one of whom claimed the man abused her when she was a 14-year-old girl.

The president also has called the 16 or so women who have accused him of sexual abuse liars.

Is there a pattern here? If you’ve missed it, I’ll offer this: Women have accused men of sexual abuse and spousal battery but the president stands foursquare behind the men. What’s more, he has called the women liars.

Rob Porter’s resignation as staff secretary comes after one of his former wives provided a photograph showing here with a shiner under her right eye; she says Porter did that to her.

The many women who have accused former GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore have provided detailed allegations of what Moore supposedly did to them.

And the women who have accused Trump himself of sexual misbehavior? They tell the same story. Furthermore, Trump has actually boasted about how he has grabbed women by their genital area.

What in the name of all that is holy is it going to take for the president’s devoted Republican “base” to recognize who has been elected to the highest, most exalted office in the land?

Trump’s statement of good wishes for Rob Porter — with no mention of (a) the women who have accused him of battery or (b) the sin of spousal/domestic abuse — reveal an astonishing lack of compassion in the man entrusted to stand as the nation’s moral authority.

The president either doesn’t get it, or he gets it, but chooses to ignore it.

national news

What about the ex-wives, Mr. President?

Donald J. Trump took time today to wish his former staff secretary all the best and made sure to say he has denied allegations that he beat up his two former wives.

The president was referring to Rob Porter, who quit this week after allegations surfaced of serial spousal abuse by the guy who was supposed to have a top-secret security clearance because of the sensitive nature of his West Wing job.

He wished Porter “well” and said he hopes he has a “great career ahead of him.”

But … the president neglected to mention either of the former wives or a former Porter girlfriend, who’s also made a serious allegation against the former close White House aide.

No mention of their pain. No mention of the seriousness of the allegations they have leveled. No mention of how he won’t tolerate any form of spousal abuse in his administration.

Yes. It’s, um, sad.

national news, political news

Waiting for the swamp to be drained

Donald Trump was elected president of the United States largely on a pledge to “drain the swamp” that muddies up Washington, D.C.

It was a solid pledge, met with considerable support.

How has he done so far? Not too well. The president still needs to find the plug, pull it from the drain and let the swamp water run out. He needs, moreover, to start within the White House.

The White House staff secretary Rob Porter has quit amid allegations that he beat up his two former wives and a former girlfriend. Spousal abuse is a serious matter, right? Of course it is!

But we’ve see too many other instances of swampy behavior within the White House already. Michael Flynn lied to the FBI and to the vice president over contacts with Russian government officials; the national security adviser was gone after 24 days. Former campaign chief Paul Manafort is under indictment for money laundering. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price quit over ethical allegations.

I want the president to make good on his pledge. D.C. is full of officials who are operating under questionable circumstances. The swamp needs draining.

Donald Trump, though, needs to focus much closer to his inner circle than he has to date.

A lot of us out here, even the president’s critics, would welcome some actual progress in the effort to drain the swamp.

national news

Omarosa needs to chill out

I don’t know why I’m concerning myself with this, but I will anyway … against my better judgment.

Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former White House aide who was let go by the president — who also fired her from “The Apprentice” show he once hosted — has declared that she tried to get Donald Trump to “stop tweeting.”

She was shut down by other White House aides.

Omarosa offered a weepy assessment on an episode of “Celebrity Big Brother.” She told a fellow contestant that she fears the United States won’t “be OK” after Donald Trump’s time as president is over.

“It’s going to not be OK, it’s not. It’s so bad,” she told fellow cast member Ross Matthews while wiping away tears.

C’mon, young lady. Get a grip here.

I’m no fan of Omarosa’s former boss. I don’t want him in the White House any more than other Trump critics. But I do believe strongly in our constitutional system of government. We’ve been through plenty of crises involving presidents, lying, coverup, scandal and impeachment.

Thus, I think Omarosa (and I hope it’s OK if I refer to her by her first name) is being a tad melodramatic. I mean, she is on a TV show and she is weeping to her fellow contestant with the cameras rolling.

I feel the need here to remind us all of what a brand new president said moments after he took the oath of office. President Gerald R. Ford took office on Aug. 9, 1974, after Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The new president then declared, “Our Constitution works.”

Yes it did, Mr. President. Take heed, Omarosa. The U.S. Constitution still works to this day.