Freak Out Friday – November 9, 2018

Remember when Trump swore to uphold the Constitution? I laughed then because I knew it was BS. This week we have two instances of Trump violating the Constitution, and naturally nothing has been done yet by the Senate (hah) or the House to stop it. Although boy, they sure have let him know it in a variety of cities where masses of people have protested. I haven’t seen such a crowd in Times Square since New Year’s Eve.

1). First Amendment? What First Amendment? . We all know that the only amendment Trump will fight for is the Second, but I should point out that the first one, the one stating that the government will keep its mitts off the right to free expression, is worth mentioning considering he’s been waging war on it since pretty much the beginning. His incessant casting of the press as the enemy of the people has many reporters concerned–and rightfully so–about their safety. It’s happening on both sides as a gang of idiots protested outside Tucker Carlson’s house, which proves once again that the left can be as blind to the First Amendment as the right…indeed, sometimes worse. Of course, the difference between the right and left is that when the left goes after Carlson, others on the left are critical and condemn them. If, on the other hand, the right went after Rachel Maddow, conspiracy theorists would declare it was actually organized by the left in order to make the right look bad.

The point is, Trump’s “enemy of the people” riff is frightening reporters, which can cause a chilling effect on the news. That’s what Trump wants, of course. Fear is his main ally, and he wants people afraid to report on him for fear of their lives.

But this week he took another step on the throat of the First Amendment by banning CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House press room. Why? Well, the claim is that he manhandled an intern who was trying to yank the microphone from him, “proof” of which was provided by Sarah Huckabee by circulating a doctored tape she got from a right wing conspiracy farm. This excuse was rejected by anyone who had a clear mind and a set of eyes who saw it for what it was: Acosta asking tough questions that Trump didn’t want to answer.

This was yet another chilling effect, a warning: don’t question Trump too harshly or you too will be left unable to enter the White House and do your job. If there is no purer definition of First Amendment violation than refusing to let reporters do their jobs, I really can’t think of it.

2). Advise and consent? What advise and consent? . So Trump forced Jeff Sessions to resign, an action that members of the GOP threatened would be unleashing a virtual shitstorm of trouble…a threat that they have of course walked back since. Trump then, as he should, placed Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, in charge.

Kidding, of course. Instead he replaced him with a guy who basically looks like the TV Daredevil’s Kingpin.

Now what many people are focusing on–indeed, the trigger for the various protests–is that the Kingpin has been going around on TV for months (and even wrote an editorial to the effect) that the Mueller investigation is a witch hunt that should be shut down. This alone should cause him to recuse himself from overseeing it, the way that Sessions did. But he won’t do that. He’s a Trump flunky who will do whatever Trump wants him to do, which means if Mueller wants to get his report out, it’s time to write the damned thing and fast.

But the larger point is that Trump can’t appoint him. What’s supposed to happen is that Rosenstein is supposed to step in and serve while Trump waits for the Senate to reconvene so that they can run approvals on the numb nut that Trump put in charge. On a constitutional basis, the Kingpin has no power and any decisions he makes should carry no weight. So the question will become, Is the Senate going to do its job and rein in Trump? The answer is No, of course not. They haven’t in two years; why would they now?

The House, on the other hand, can and should.

3) A brand new war.. An intelligent president, when asked about the prospect of actual House oversight in the wake of the Blue Wave that washed over the legislative branch, would say “Bring it on. I’ve nothing to hide.” You know, the way Kavanaugh said when asked about…oh, wait, never mind.

But since Trump is quite possibly the least intelligent president in the history of the office, he threatened to take a “war” posture with the House and even claimed that he would have the justice department investigate Democrats who intended to do the House’s job for the first time in two years.

Naturally he doesn’t understand that he can’t do that. He can’t just order the Justice Department to investigate people for no reason whatsoever. The fact that he makes shit up and his supporters are okay with that may be fine for him in his daily existence, but the Justice Department is not going to go on fishing expeditions just because Trump is pissed off that the House Oversight Committee is actually overseeing him. Trump’s world has just gotten a whole lot more complicated, and that terrifies him because the truth is that he is a blustering coward who has a TON of things to hide and is petrified it’s all going to come out. If nothing else, there’s stuff in his tax returns that is very likely criminal and he wants to keep that under wraps.

God, let him actually achieve a first: the first POTUS to be arrested.

PAD