Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the FBI for conducting a court authorized search of Mar-a-Lago for documents including top secret material he illegally took from the White House evokes the classic definition of chutzpah—a man accused of killing his parents pleads for leniency because he is an orphan.
Trump is a master deflector, raising distractions to prolong proceedings until his interlocutors give up, get removed or give in.
I sense he has met his match in Merrit Garland. Denied his chance to be a Supreme Court justice for life by Trump’s 2016 pre-election Republican enablers, Garland’s role as attorney general gives him the power of payback.
The wheels of justice turn very slowly but I believe Garland will not wither.
Opinion Disconnect: Americans have a habit of saying one thing while behaving exactly opposite, especially when it comes to responding to public opinion surveys.
Thus, while many vocally deplored Trump before the 2016 election, in the privacy of the voting booth they chose him over Hillary Clinton.
A new study by Populace found “a tendency for people of all demographics to succumb to social pressures to have the ‘right’ opinion when it comes to hot-button issues like abortion, mask wearing, and discussing gender identity in schools, despite their true feelings.” (https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/chappaqua/lifestyle/americans-self-silencing-in-record-numbers-new-study-reveals-heres-what-it-means/840942/)
It means another long election night as polls of voters are not to be fully believed until all ballots are counted.
Cross Wyoming off a list of states I would consider living in if I were ever to contemplate relocation from New York. And by New York I mean the part that is liberal and progressive. The beauty of upstate notwithstanding I do not think I could live in a regressive environment.
So, no to Wyoming. Despite my love of western movies, I am not a horseman. Nor do I own a gun, much less ever shot one. I’d be in awe of Wyoming’s beauty, but repulsed by opposition to laws and efforts to protect the environment which, admittedly, might limit an individual’s ability to fully exploit the land even if he or she owned it.
Wyoming exemplifies all that is foul with today’s Republican Party. By any normal standard Liz Cheney is an exemplary Republican. But her correct assessment that Trump lost the 2020 election and has fostered an anti-democratic movement of election deniers has made her persona non grata to GOP members who swear an allegiance to a self-styled autocrat rather than the Constitution.
Because of her conservative views I wouldn’t support Cheney for any public office, but I am in awe of her courage and decorum in facing down Trump and his ignorant, gullible, delusional masses.
As she properly said during one of the January 6 hearings, “In our country, we don’t swear an oath to an individual, or a political party. We take our oath to defend the United States Constitution. And that oath must mean something. Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
