Tag Archives: US Constitution

local news, media news

Trump’s mind is officially a goner

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You might want to write this down if you’re inclined,  but just keep it in mind as you ponder the future of Donald J. Trump’s political career.

It’s now as clear as it gets that the 45th and 47th POTUS has lost what used to pass as what was left of his mind. Why? Because the dimwit in chief wants to unilaterally pull the broadcast license of ABC News because it has the temerity to broadcast “negative news” about his administration.

Holy … moly, man!

Scott Pelley, a West Texan known as the voice of “60 Minutes,” a CBS News program, spoke recently in quoting one of our nation’s founders, James Madison. The fourth president said in 1800, Pelley recalled, that a “free press guarantees the rights of all the civil liberties we enjoy.” That is why the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the existence of a “free press.”

No matter their political party — be they Democratic-Federalist, Whig, Republican, Democrat — every U.S. president has accepted the role of a free press in holding our government accountable to the people they serve.

That’s every president until this one.

No president likes all the coverage they get from the free press. No matter their party affiliation, they hve griped aloud that the media are unfair. One could argue, indeed, that the media went too far in covering President Clinton’s impeachment, or that it labeled President George W. Bush a dim bulb during his time in the White House. Did any of our presidents seek openly to revoke the license of a media outlet just becausse they don’t shade the news coverage to suit their shallow-skinned egos? Nope!

Trump is an idiot disguised as a martyr for the MAGA movement he created and is now leading toward history’s trash heap.

Donald Trump, national news

Judicial system stands tall

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Before you declare the death of our system of representative democracy, allow me — please — to offer these words in the form of a pre-rebuttal.

The federal judiciary.

The court system has stepped up and performed its constitutionally mandated duty in reigning in the overreach of the executive branch of government … precisely as the nation’s founders said it should.

Federal judges have ruled this week that (1) Donald Trump has no constitutional authority to create a $1.8 billion slush fund to spend at his discretion, and (2) there is no way the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts can have Donald Trump’s name installed without a constitutional approval.

On top of all that, the D.C. rumor mill has kicked into hyper-high gear with reports that Trump might have to vacate his office with worsening health conditions and the stress of an agenda that is getting the better of him.

I don’t know about you but my head is spinning. I cannot begin to keep pace with what I see and hear coming from the nation’s capital.

Trump also is reportedly going to offer pardons to several convicts who were tried and found guilty of crimes involving the Jan. 6 assault on the government, the attack that injured several DC police officers. Such a pardon, according to the courts, would be an arrogant flouting of constitutional law.

I am not a constitutional scholar. I have no law degree. I know, though, what the document declares about government finances. It puts that authority solely in the hands of Congress. Trump doesn’t seem to get that fact. Article I, Section 7, says this: “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives … “ Throughout Article I, there isn’t a single word that reveals any wiggle room on the issue of congressional authority on budget matters. Congress owns it exclusively … full stop!

Keep standing tall, federal judges. Keep doing your job. Our founders gave you the power that never ends.

national news

We will survive this madness!

Allow me to restate what I have stated already, which is that the founding fathers knew what could happen to the nation they created after the American Revolution.

That is why I continue to believe that the U.S. Constitution will hold up under the pressure being applied to it by those who support the Dipshit in Chief who is seeking to undermine the document he has sworn to “defend and protect.”

The founders built a nation they knew would bend, and bend and bend some more. It set aside the three co-equal branches of government that they designed to check each other if any of them reached beyond their grasp. During the current crisis, we see the executive branch as reaching way beyond what the founders ever sought or allowed. The problem lies at the moment in a legislative branch that refuses to act on what many of its members know to be unconstitutional acts. They also are illegal. Yet they continue to allow the leader of the executive branch, the Imbecile in Chief, to get away with crime after crime.

All is far from lost, however. The third branch of government, the federal judiciary, so far has held firm at least at the lower-court level. Dozens have lawsuits have been tossed into the crapper by lower courts, sending a clear and unambiguous message to the POTUS that his legal claims have little or any standing.

The Constitution also allows for Americans to elect a full House of Representative every two years. We elect one-third of our U.S. Senate every two years. This year looks as though we could see a wholeshale change in the makeup of Congress. The House is poised to turn from Republican to Democratic control. Same could occur with the Senate. Right there lies the safeguard against the power grab we are witnessing in the executive branch.

The United States Constitution will do its job. Of that I remain supremely confident … and it is giving me hope that we will survive this madness and hopefully emerge from this cesspool stronger than ever.

military news

Ayatollah is dead. What now?

Word broke over the weekend that U.S. and Israeli forces launched massive air strikes against Iran, killing the Ayatollah Khameini and several of his family members in the process.

I have been trying like the dickens to wrap my arms around what this means to patriots like you and me.

As an American patriot, I applaud Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu for ordering the strikes on Iran. The ayatollah was a seriously bad man and he needed to be taken out by whatever means necessary. Now, though, come the questions. They are plentiful and they need serious answers.

Presidents cannot declare war unilaterally. The Constitution says Congress must approve any presidential request to go to war. Trump reportedly didn’t consult with anyone on Capitol Hill before launching the attacks on Iran.

Trump won the 2024 election partly by declaring he would end “the endless wars” this nation has fought since 9/11. Have we just committed our sons and daughters in uniform to another endless conflict?

Do we intend to seek a change in regimes in Tehran? The Iranians today reportedly are in a state of confusion over the future of the Islamic Revolution.

Trump seems to have adopted a cavalier attitude about his decision to put our warriors in harm’s way. He is conducting war policy from — gulp! — his golf resort in south Florida. The Situation Room in the White House? Who needs it? Not the current president … apparently!

Iran is no cupcake pushover. It is a country of 90 million people who have lived under the repressive heels of the radicals who stormed to power in 1979 when the shah was tossed out. Khameini’s death was met with joyous celebrations in the United States and across Europe. He had killed thousands of Iranians who had protested their government’s heavy hand.

Now he’s dead and the time has arrived for the president to speak to Americans and explain what the hell he’s going to do now. I know this is a tall order for Donald Trump but — for God’s sake — tell us the truth.

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Stand firm, Constitution

My defense of the U.S. Constitution as a defensive weapon against the assault being launched by the current president of the U.S.A. is being tested more frequently than I would like.

However, I am standing firm in my belief that the founders built a governing framework that is meant to stand against the stresses and strain that keep threatening to knock it down.

Except that it won’t. Be knocked down, that is.

I met a gentleman this past weekend and the conversation turned to Donald Trump’s assault on the Constitution. My new friend expressed fear that Trump will succeed in creating a dictatorship. I begged in the moment to differ with his view. I told him of my longstanding faith in our constitutional strength.

The strength of our system rests within the electoral system. The Constitution grants ultimate authority to American voters to determine the nature of the leadership that shall guide government policy.

Make no mistake, we don’t always get it right. Consider that Trump has been elected twice to the presidency. The man sold us a dose of snake oil that went down smoothly to enough Americans to elect him to the White House.

I believe, though, that Trump’s 15 minutes of fame are about to expire. The midterm election is approaching and when they count the ballots in November I believe we will witness a wholesale slaughter of the Republican majority that now governs us from Capitol Hill.

Right there is where the Constitution of the United States shows its teeth … and then sinks them into the throat of the beast that seeks to destroy it.

military news

Punished for … speaking the truth!

I know I heard this correctly, but I still cannot believe it’s for real, that it’s not some sort of sick joke being played on Americans who believe in the rule of law.

Yes, what I understand is that the moron pretending to be secretary of defense wants to downgrade U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly’s naval retirement rank and dock his Navy pension for — get ready for this — telling service personnel to follow the law and not carry out orders they know to be illegal.

Kelly is an Arizona Democrat who has been singled out by the Pentagon pervert Pete Hegseth for committing what he calls an “act of sedition.” I am trying to wrap my noodle around this but I cannot even begin to grasp what Hegseth is suggesting.

It is seditious for Kelly, a decorated retired Navy pilot and former space shuttle astronaut, to remind military personnel of the oath they took when they joined the armed forces? Hegseth is saying such a patently ridiculous thing about a man who flew combat missions in Iraq and who wore a Navy uniform for 40 years before being elected to the Senate.

Kelly is a patriot. He served heroically while flying jet fighters for the Navy. Sen. Kelly is serving with honor and distinction representing Arizonans on Capitol Hill. He merely has spoken the truth to military personnel and reminded them of the oath they took to defend and protect the Constitution.

And now we have an idiot defense secretary threatening to punish him for exercising a right of liberty that the Constitution guarantees!

Pete Hegseth belongs in the loony bin.

national news

Can’t get No. 44 to return … dammit!

Most of the politically oriented social media links I follow are yearning these days for Barack Obama to make a comeback. They want him to return to the Oval Office.

Well … you and I know that can’t happen. President Obama served his two terms as our elected leader and he’s busy these days working on his presidential center set to open in Chicago next year. He’s also making speeches reminding us — as if we need reminding — of the sparkling orator he continues to be.

He’s been highly critical of his immediate successor, Donald Trump, telling us “real strength” is not the result of bullying or insults.

It’s important for us to hear from past presidents in this fashion. They’ve been in the very spot that Trump now occupies. It’s also instructive to hear them recall how they responded to crises and compare them with the conduct exhibited by the current guy.

It is tempting to wish for a return to office of the likes of Barack Obama, or Bill Clinton, or George W. Bush. All of those men served two terms. The Constitution limits them to the time they served.

I am heartened somewhat by the lack of open chatter these days that Trump will try to circumvent the 22nÃ¥d Amendment. It might be that someone has persuaded the prevaricator in chief that a third term is a total non-starter. But, damn … the guy keeps scarfing up power as if he intends to stay put.

Sigh. It won’t happen. And that, ladies and gentlemen, gives me hope that our Constitution is strong and durable enough to withstand this full-on, flat-out, frontal assault on our government by the pretender in chief.

It won’t stop the calls for Barack Obama to find a way to sneak back into power. I’ll just wish the former president keeps speaking out with the grand eloquence he possesses. His message is powerful enough.

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How in the world did we elect this guy?

Never, not ever, in the history of the U.S. of A. have Americans had to witness an elected president who is so ignorant, so damn filled with hatred of his political enemies, who is such a pathological liar continue to function as the ostensible leader of what we used to call the free world.

Donald Trump has declared what amounts to war on Democrats in the Congress, threatening with death for speaking the truth about why service personnel should resist following illegal orders. One of them, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, has been singled out as a particularly egregious target of Trump’s retribution campaign.

Kelly is a retired Navy captain, a former combat aviator, husband of a congresswoman who was nearly killed by a gunman in an assassination attempt, a former astronaut who has flowin space on four missions. He is a patriot. Kelly serves with honor and humility. He has spoken the truth. He dissents from Trump’s public policy … which the Constitution guarantees in its First Amendment.

Trump is ignorant of all of that. He doesn’t give a crap about the Constitution. He blindly accuses Sen. Kelly of commiting sedition, which carries a death penalty if convicted.

And yet … this nation somehow managed to elect this idiot to a second term as POTUS.

Kelly is not the only Democrat in power who has drawn Trump’s petulant anger.

Kids, we are living in a dangerous era in this nation’s long history.

The only recourse we seem to have at this moment happens to the federal court system, which appears to be stiffening its spine at just the right moment. Congress is rolling over for Trump’s idiocy. Trump has populated the executive branch with yes men and men. That leaves the court system to stand tall against this individual’s moronic overreach.

I have heartened by the actions of a Trump-nominated federal judge who tossed aside the indictments of former FBI director James Comey and New York AG Letitia James, calling those indictments pure political revenge brought by a U.S. attorney who is unqualified to hold her job.

Right there you have an example of the Constitution doing its job. I am clinging to the hope that it remains strong and that the courts stand firm against the Trump’s frontal assault on the rule of law.

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MAGA festers in ignorance

The ignorance of the morons who comprise many of Donald Trump’s MAGA base continues to astonish me in ways I never thought possible.

New York City voters elected a Muslim, a democratic socialist as its next mayor. What was the reaction among some of the MAGA cultists who heard this news?

One of them, a member of Congress, said out loud that he wants Zohair Mamdani deported. Yep. He wants to banish him to the country of his birth. I believe it’s Sudan.

One little problem with that idiotic notion. Mamdani has been a naturalized U.S. citizen since he was boy. You can’t deport a U.S. citizen. Good grief, the man wants to live in the United States. He wants to pay his taxes here. He wants to educate his children here. He wants to govern the nation’s largest, most sophisticated, most cosmopolitan city.

This MAGA idiocy reminds of when Nikki Haley, the Republican governor South Carolina, agreed to take down the Confederate flags in her state, drawing calls for her deportation. Wait! She was born in South Carolina to parents of Indian descent. I guess her parentage made the all-American governor a deportation target.

You cannot negotiate with a political movement that comprises so many of these morons!

political news, State news

Amend the amendment process

Texans well might awaken Wednesday morning living in a state governed by a constitution that was amended 17 times at the ballot box the previous day.

Yep, the Texas Constitution could have 17 more amendments tacked onto it, making it a governing document that has been changed, well, countless times. The Legislature calls this “the will of the people at work.” I call it something different. It is government by ignorance and apathy … meaning that most Texans don’t care about the amendments they’re voting on and have no intention of learning about them.

This is a lousy way to run a state government.

I have written about this before, back when I was working for a living writing opinion pieces for the Beaumont Enterprise and the Amarillo Globe-News. I have called for a constitutional convention in Austin to change the manner in which we amend our state constitution.

We’ve tried this before. The Legislature convened a convention in the 1970s to change our system of constitutional government. The effort fell short.

The constitutional amendment process of governing occurs every legislative year, meaning every odd-numbered year when the Legislature meets ostensibly for 140 days in Austin. Issues they cannot resolve are sent to the ballot in the fall. This year we got 17 proposed amendments.

It sorta reminds me of the number of counties Texas has on the books. Not a chance of reducing the number of counties, as it would reduce the number of elected officials who set policy. I have to remind myself that the smallest of counties enjoys a seat at the power table in Texas. Those who created the state in 1845 wanted to diffuse as much power as possible from Austin. Which also explains the enormous number of counties scattered throughout the state. We’ve got 254 of them, some with tiny populations, such as Loving and Roberts counties, both of which are home to more livestock than human beings.

The federal way of governing is preferable to me. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Except for right now when we have nimrods shutting down the government because compromise isn’t in their legislative DNA.

I don’t expect the state to convene a constitutional convention anytime soon … if ever. I just felt like venting because the founders who created the national constitution gave me the right to seek “a redress of grievances.”