What Is It? An Imposter Or Madness?

I Am Not A Liar!

In June of 2017, at the start of Donald Trump's first term, Sean Spicer, then the White House Press Secretary, said that Donald Trump's tweets "are considered official statements by the President of the United States."  I did a search and could find no policy change from the White House that retracted or disavowed that statement.  

I just read that the actor Kelsey Grammer said he liked President Trump, adding "I've never seen a more transparent presidency in my life".  I'm not sure that publicly and continuously lying qualifies as transparent, but what are we to make of the recent racist post picturing President Obama and his wife?

Was that post and picture an "official statement" from the President of the United States?

Trump now claims that he didn't make the racist post.  It was posted on his account by some unnamed staff member and the post has now been taken down.  Is this follow-up statement a transparent clarification or just another lie?

So which is it?  Are his posts still supposed to be taken as policy?  Trump clearly intends them to be taken seriously.  Or, are there staff members who are free to make official presidential announcements without Trump's knowledge?  Or, are these posts just the ramblings of a seriously damaged mind?

Finally, should Trump still be in control of the nuclear codes?  I wonder if some un-named staff member also has the codes.

Attack Greenland! Is he Crazy?

Troops from allies of the United States, including France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, are being sent to Greenland to prevent an invasion of Greenland by the United States.

That is a fact, not some insane conspiracy. Actually, it is not the United States that wants to invade and seize Greenland; it is just Donald Trump.

He recently told all of us that the only constraints on him as president are his morality and his mind. He is telling us that the Constitution, laws, Congress, the courts, international law, voters, treaties, and so on do not apply to him.

I do not know what his rationale is for asserting that he is unconstrained, but it is clear that he is physically and mentally impaired.  He must be stopped. The only people who can stop him are his MAGA supporters and the feckless Republican Senators and Representatives who have, up to now, failed to honor their oath of office and their constitutional duties as an equal branch of government to provide a check and balance on an out-of-control president.

Don't Cross This Line Or Else...

Somethings are becoming very clear.

Trump thinks that he can do anything he wants. 

•     Break any law he wants. 
•     Ignore the Constitution.
•     Make Republican law makers do whatever he says to do.
•     Ignore any of the norms that would apply to any other president.
•     Defy the courts.
•     Destroy the DOJ and FBI.
•     Prosecute anyone who opposes him without any proof of wrong doing.
•     Spend any money he wants without authorization.
•     Harm people and institutions when it suits his needs.
•     Use our military in any way he wants.
•     Threaten our allies.
•     Pardon without explanation people who do not deserve it.
•     Use the power of the presidency to enrich himself, his family and his friends.

He thinks a critical number of his voters will support him no matter what.

Trump has lost his mind.

The Supreme Court has said that Trump cannot be prosecuted for anything pertaining to his core duties as president. They've also basically said anything Trump does while in office is part of his official duties.  That means the only control over the president is impeachment.

Voters, Republicans, Democrats and independents, need to draw some lines that clearly state things that they believe will necessitate Donald Trump's impeachment.

These include:

• Starting a war without Congressional approval.  Venezuela will not start a war with us.  If there is a war it is because Trump wants one.
• Using the government or military to manipulate or overturn election results.
• Unleashing the military against citizens.
• A pardon or commutation for Ghislaine Maxwell.
• Impeding the release of the Epstein files.

I'm sure there will be more impeachment lines that will need to be drawn.  It is important we make these red lines bright and clear.  Trump has to believe that Republicans, Democrats and independents will impeach him if he crosses any of these lines.

Update 01/17/2026

I would like to add another red line.  Any overt act take control of Greenland.  Articles of Impeachment should already be written so they can immediately be sent to the House if he makes a move.

Trump Is Not Presidential And Is Getting Worse

I'm having trouble putting the word "President" in front of Trump.  I know he won the election, but practically every day he does something that is clearly not presidential.

He seems to be working very hard to destroy this country.  I'm not sure why.  My guess is there are four impulses that are driving him.  

First, he is a narcissist  He only cares about himself. He does not care about anyone else except to the extent he can use them to bolster his ego or increase his wealth.  His obvious corruption and lawlessness doesn't bother him as long as it helps him. He is deeply flawed psychologically.

Second. as has been pointed out by many people, he is transactional.  He makes decisions on what to do or say by calculating what the most beneficial action would be for him personally in that particular moment.  It is reported that he doesn't read his daily intelligence briefings.  We have to depend on him to keep us, the country and the world safe, but he shows no interest protecting anyone or anything except himself.

His transactional method of governing explains his most significant and obvious personality trait, constant lying.  If Trump says something, there is a better than even chance he is lying.  That is why he can say something and then soon after say the exact opposite.  Both of the contradicting statements were true to him when he said them; even if the first true statement was reversed later.   

Trump never admits a mistake.  So you won't hear an apology or a reason.  He feels it would be weak to admit a mistake.  He only admits to a mistake when doing so would benefit him.  And even then he will claim that the mistake was caused by someone else.

Trump continually violates his oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States".  He has dismantled important independent agencies such as the  Department of Justice and the FBI.  He neutered the legislative branch and he is trying to destroy the judiciary.  He insults and alienates our  allies.  He is trying to destroy important institutions such as Harvard for seemingly no reason.

Third, Trump can hold a grudge for a long time. Trump promised to be the president for everyone in the country, not just the people who voted for him.  That is clearly not the case.  The pardoning of January 6th rioters is a good example.  Another is his actions that benefit states or groups he considers part of the MAGA movement while trying to hurt states or groups that are not MAGA.

Fourth, Trump's mental condition is declining rapidly.  Republicans have been making a lot of noise about Joe Biden's mental health while he was in office.  I wonder if any Republicans are thinking about how and when they are going to be faced with removing Trump from office?  My guess is they are hoping for some health issue bad enough that it is obvious he can no longer perform his duties as president (as if he ever has actually performed like a president).

Trump was never fit to be president in his first term and he is much worse this time around.  

I worry that without some help from Republicans Trump will irreparably damage our  country before we can vote in a Democratic legislative majority next November.  And that assumes enough voters wake up and see how dangerous Trump is.

Republicans, Only You Can Save Us

 I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said something like, In a democracy you get the government you
deserve. I didn't vote for Donald Trump and I certainly don't think I deserve Trump's version of government. I believe in the Constitution, the Rule of Law, separation of powers, democracy, integrity, character, facts and truth. Trump is proving that he does not.

If you want to fight waste and fraud, go for it, but do it in ways that don't harm innocent people or valuable institutions. When you find out you were wrong it can be very difficult to repair the damage.

I've been told many times that we need a business leader in the White House. Really? When a business leader creates a disaster, they are often fired or they declare bankruptcy and leave their problems for someone else.  Before President Trump brings moral, institutional and fiscal bankruptcy on us, we need to fire him. 

Democrats can't do this by themselves. We need the help of Republicans (voters and politicians) who realize that Trump is not working in the best interests of citizens or our country. Republicans need to convince him that the chaos we are seeing is not what they voted for. If he doesn't change, they need to help to impeach and remove him from office. 

Republican's please don't wait too long. His recent executive order giving himself complete control over legally established independent departments and agencies shows he really wants to be a dictator forever.

Don't Give In To Threats Of Political Violence

I've been seeing comments that using the 14th Amendments to keep Trump off the ballot is unconstitutional and will lead to violence.

As everyone should know, the 14th Amendment is part of the United States Constitution.  So using the 14th Amendment is literally constitutional!

As for violence, Trump lied about the 2020 election being stolen from him and then attempted to stop the transfer of power and in doing so incited violence.

So if he is kept off the ballot we can expect violence.

If he loses the 2024 election we can expect claims the election was stolen again and violence.

If he wins the 2024 election he will implement the plans he has been telling about and we can expect violence.  Violence from Trump's retribution and, possibly, violence from people who refuse to let him: 

 

* Destroy the non-partisan FBI

* Destroy the independent DOJ

* Destroy the rule of law

* Destroy our non-partisan and independent judiciary (he will ignore the courts)

* Use the military for domestic control

* Put his political opponents in jail

* Shut down media that criticize him.

Basically the same goals he had for his first administration, but now with better execution and still no Republican party that will rein him in.

Threats of violence should not be allowed to further any domestic political goals. So I vote to keep him off the ballot and use our intact FBI, DOJ and independent judiciary to handle any domestic violence he incites.

14th Amendment Was Written For Trump

After carefully reading the 14^th Amendment, Section 3, I was struck by how it seems to be perfectly written to fit the situation we currently find ourselves in.

I'm obviously not a Constitutional or legal scholar, but as I hear the comments from people who are experts I'm taken by how we are facing issues similar to those that legislators faced after the Civil War when the 14^th Amendment was written and adopted.

The South was defeated and brought back into the Union, but there were many southerners who would never concede they were wrong or they actually lost (sound familiar?). What was to stop these people from picking up where they left off before the war started and again elect people to state and federal offices to continue to try to break or harm the Union?  Congress believed laws were needed to prevent this. I've heard several ideas were floated and rejected before the 14^th Amendment was adopted (with some later changes). I'll admit the amendment language seems somewhat out of step with other parts of the Constitution, but I think it was intentional.

Let me conjecture why I think the amendment was written as it was and so clearly matches our current needs. The 14th Amendment applies to certain federal and state office holders (civil and military).  For this discussion I'm focusing primarily on the presidency.

The amendment says people are disqualified from holding office again "if previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States,... to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.".

These are people who have shown they can't be trusted.   They broke their oath.

The amendment does not require that an insurrectionist be convicted of a crime. I'm guessing that this may have been for several reasons.  The number of people who could have been taken to court for engaging in an insurrection or rebellion after the civil war would have been in the millions.  How could you find enough unbiased jurors in the south to hear the cases?  Most southerners were themselves insurrectionists or had given aid or comfort to an insurrectionist.

Another reason for not requiring a conviction was that in general it was obvious who was an insurrectionist.  Most people did not hide what they believed and what they did.  In fact they were defiantly proud of their actions.  Again, sound familiar?

Since the vast majority of the population of much of the country were obvious insurrectionists the authors set the bar low for disqualification. If a person has engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. the 14^th Amendment finds the person is disqualified from holding office again. That disqualification could then be appealed to Congress. This put the onus for prompt action to reverse their disqualification on the insurrectionist rather than on election officials or courts.

Why didn't the authors add text that said if an insurrectionist were elected by voters, that should override the disqualification language of the 14^th Amendment? As stated above, in former Confederate states, how many Confederate officers (civil or military) would be overwhelming elected or selected again?  Many voters would clearly believe that insurrectionists had done nothing wrong. They agreed with the insurrectionists. So the 14^th Amendment does not disqualify insurrectionists from voting, it just says you can't vote for a former insurrectionist. Punish the oath breakers not the average voter.

Trump brags that he could shoot someone in a public space and his followers would still vote for him. Or he could be convicted of a felony and they would vote for him. Those supporters are telling us clearly that many of them will vote for him even though his participation in an insurrection is obvious to anyone willing to objectively look at the facts. These voters seem to believe that a person who did not honor their oath to uphold the Constitution or the rule of law should be allowed to further damage our country.

Donald Trump publicly tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. If you don't believe that, you have to be willfully ignorant. On an almost daily basis he tells us how little he believes in the Constitution and the democratic institutions that have made us the leader of the world. He tells us how he will use his presidential and political power to remake our country. He had one term as president and we know how it went.  It ended with him trying to stop the peaceful transfer if power, a hallmark of our country

If we allow him to be elected again, and he begins to reshape our country in the illegal ways as he is promising, what do we do? (And no, he is not joking. Trump is only about Trump. Anything he says or does is just to help Trump.). Unless Democrats have super majorities in the House and Senate the constitutional solution of impeachment will not be an option (remember, we already tried that).  That will leave Donald Trump free to work very hard to remake this country in his image (as he is telling us he will) with few restrictions on his efforts. 

The Constitution make is clear that there are some candidates that are disqualified from holding office (age, citizenship, impeachment conviction, insurrection). Why should we make an exception for an insurrectionist Donald Trump?

14th Amendment Disqualifies Trump From Presidency

You don't see presidential candidates who are less than 35 years old or who are not US citizens by birth because those qualities are required by our constitution. Thanks to former president Trump there is another constitutional requirement that applies to presidential candidates that needs to be considered this cycle.

The 14th Amendment, Section 3 of the US Constitution makes it clear that a former office holder who has taken an oath to defend the Constitution and then participates in an insurrection or gives aid or comfort to a participant is disqualified from holding office. The 14th Amendment does not specify the criteria for imposing disqualification. It also does not require the legal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt or a conviction. We may eventually want an amendment, law or Supreme Court ruling to make this more clear, but for now we are faced with an immediate need and the Constitution provides a solution.

One obvious answer of who would enforce this requirement and decide what criteria they would use might be the person or offices in each state who would determine if a candidate meets other requirements to be on the ballot (such as age and citizenship).  I think the person who makes those decisions in most states is the Secretary of State.

Another option is a court ruling. A court in Colorado was asked to remove Trump's name as a presidential candidate from the Colorado ballot. The judge agreed that former president Trump “incited” the January 6, 2021 riots and backed that with evidence including testimony given to the House January 6^th Committee.

After clearly stating that former president Trump had participated in an insurrection, the judge accepted the defense claim that the presidency was not an office as required in the amendment. The judge agreed that if the authors of the amendment intended for it to apply to a former president they would have explicitly said that. The judge then refused to remove Trump from the ballot.

Granted that the amendment wording is very vague, but that sounds like a judge searching for a way to not remove Trump's name from the ballot. This will have to go to the Supreme Court and would have even if the judge's decision had gone the other way and had removed Trump's name from the ballot.

The most important thing is the judge clearly said former president Trump had participated in an insurrection. Of course, the January 6^th Committee also proved he incited an insurrection. I would argue there is stronger and more timely proof that Trump incited an insurrection.

Former president Donald Trump was impeached by a bipartisan majority in the House (including ten Republicans) for “incitement of insurrection”. Although there were not enough votes in the Senate to convict him, there was a bipartisan majority in the Senate (including seven Republicans) who believed he was guilty as charged. Every Representative and Senator who voted to impeach or convict knew that their vote would not remove former president Trump from office. President Biden had already been sworn in before the final Senate impeachment vote. However, their vote did show they believed former president Trump had participated in an insurrection and should not be allowed to be president again (impeachment conviction means the person is removed from office and disqualified from holding office again).  Their votes had nothing to do with the 14th Amendment, but they clearly declared he had participated in an insurrection and should not be allowed to serve again.

I believe the bipartisan majority votes for impeachment in the House and Senate are enough by themselves to satisfy the constitutional requirement to disqualify former president Donald Trump from becoming president again on a national basis, not just the state level. As I said, this will need Supreme Court approval, but a clear reading of the text should support his disqualification.

I hear a lot of claims that Trump's fitness to hold office again should be decided by voters.  I'm sympathetic to that claim, but the 14th Amendment was written after the Civil War to prevent southern sympathizers from electing people to offices in a government they violently tried to destroy.  That sounds close to the situation we face today.  We have a large segment of the citizens who seem very willing to re-elect a man who lies that the last presidential election was stolen, incited an insurrection, tried to overthrow the validly elected government (as certified by all state governments and many court cases) and continuously brags he will take unconstitutional actions if re-elected. The 14th Amendment is still in the Constitution and until it is revised  or revoked we should use it to counter a charlatan who seriously threatens our country.

 

Text of the 14^th Amendment, Section 3, to the United States Constitution

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

The highlights are mine.

No Get Out of Jail Free Card for Trump

As one of the justifications for his vote against conviction during the second impeachment of former president Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell said that the acquittal did not allow Trump to escape consequences for his actions before and during the January 6th insurrection. McConnell correctly said Trump could be prosecuted for any crimes committed during or after his presidency after he was no longer president.

Donald Trump faces indictments this year from the DOJ and/or the state of Georgia. Convictions on any one of these additional indictments would be serious enough to disqualify him from ever holding office again. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment says any federal office holder, like Trump, who engages "in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or who give aid or comfort to enemies of the United States" is prohibited from holding office again.

Trump is no longer president, but he is already complaining that any legal actions against him should not be allowed since he is a presidential candidate.

By DOJ rules, but not by the constitution, Trump had a "get out of jail free" card for prosecution of any federal crimes while he was in office. (Note, this GOOJF card never applies to state or civil court cases.) Now that he is out of office, we need to make it clear that these cases will go forward whether or not Trump is a candidate or even if he is again elected president.

A wealthy person can't suddenly file for the presidency to delay any federal indictments or convictions until the next presidential election. 

I am not aware of any laws on this subject, but Trump and voters should expect that any indictments this year will be be handled as they would for any other citizen. They won't be delayed by campaign contingencies, the actual election or, should he win, by any responsibilities of his new status as president-elect or president.

Trump and his supporters have to accept the possibility that Trump could be inaugurated in a jail cell or the Oval Office moved to Leavenworth.  

We've all seen enough of Trump's play book to know that once he is indicted he will use every opportunity to slow down the judicial process. He is entitled to the same legal options as any other defendant, but he and his supporters need to accept that these slow downs increase his chances that the legal processes against him will interfere with what they see as his need to campaign or serve. If you can't accept that, don't vote for him in the primary.

Trump supporters have been able to turn a blind eye to Trump's inadequacies for years. From the day he walked down the escalator it has been been very clear that Trump lies about anything and everything. He has only a superficial understanding of the Constitution, science or the Bible. He has no idea of what is expected of a US president who is responsible for the entire country. He does not understand the concepts of independent and impartial judiciary system and justice department. He has practically no understanding of the US place in the world as an advocate and defender of democracy and as a leader who protects us, our allies and and world from countries and organizations that would harm us. Laws and norms that have guided us for centuries mean nothing to him.

Trump believes the world exists to serve him. He has repeatedly shown he is willing to sacrifice the constitution or country if he thinks that is needed to further his goals. His supporters must believe this also since nothing he does seems to affect their fealty. That is why he must face the law as any other citizen would until he is acquitted or convicted and his sentence is completed.

 

Rubio Opposes Trump Impeachment Trial - Part 2

Republican Elephant Shit

 

By the way, Marco Rubio also believes we shouldn't impeach Trump because Trump supporters are already so riled up that an impeachment would be like throwing gasoline on a raging fire.

 Does that mean he really thinks that coercion by mob violence is a valid reason not to defend the Constitution? 

Does that mean we should ignore the fact that it was a mountain of incendiary lies built by Trump and his Republican enablers that fired the insurrectionists up?

Rubio Opposes Trump Impeachment Trial

Republican Elephant Shit

Senator Marco Rubio says that he is not in favor of holding the Senate impeachment trial of former president Trump since Trump is already out of office.

That certainly makes sense from Rubio's perspective. Although he voted against rejecting any state's electors, he wouldn't say how he would vote until near the actual vote. Now he wants to put his and his party's involvement in an attempted insurrection behind him.

Any Senator or Representative that didn't early on clearly state they would not vote to invalidate state certified electors bears some responsibility for the insurrection and riot at the Capital on January 6^th.

The trial of Donald Trump in the Senate is absolutely required. Donald Trump with the help of many elected Republican officials encouraged their supporters to take actions to overturn an election. All these people and all the insurrectionist at the Capitol need to be held accountable.

For the “what about club”, yes, there have been a few cases in the recent past where a Democrat or two has voted against a slate of electors. But those situations were different. Before this year who knew that this counting of electors process even took place or remembered who might have ever voted against a set of electors? Did any of those Democrat's encourage violence to overturn the election? How long will this year's violent insurrection and rejected elector votes be remembered? Correct answer----FOREVER!

What did Republicans think would happen if they had succeeded in overturning the validated results of the election? Maybe 80 million Democratic voters would just quietly accept that result? I don't think so. Clearly some insurrectionist wanted to start a real civil war that included violence. We can't afford to get that close to a civil war ever again.

All the states with electors that the Republican's planned to vote against were won by Biden. So Republicans think there was no fraud in states won by Trump? And only the presidential votes in these states were fraudulent? Votes in other contests were not affected? Some of the races in these states were won by Republicans and in other races Democrats won. In the 2020 election Democrats lost their firm hold on the House and now narrowly holds the majority. Democrats knew that they also really needed to win the Senate which they barely did. But if it were so easy for Democrats to fraudulently win the presidency by changing votes in so many states, why didn't they throw in a few more close Senate and House wins?

The idea that the presidential election was stolen was a big lie led by the biggest liar, Donald Trump. But many Republicans were complicit in convincing their supporters that the election was stolen and convincing these supporters that any action to reverse the results of the election was acceptable.

Donald Trump needs to be convicted in the Senate for his lies and actions before and after the election in support of the big lie. He needs to be barred from every running for the presidency again. Future presidents need to understand that efforts that undermine the Constitution will not be allowed.

Republicans that echoed the big lie need to admit to lying. Perpetrators of the big lie need to pay a big price. We need to make sure that big liars and big lies cannot put our democracy in jeopardy again.

Convicting Donald Trump in the Senate is a good first step.

In The U.S. Everyone Deserves Legal Representation

 I read that former President Donald Trump (former, doesn't that sound good?) is having trouble finding lawyers willing to represent him in his up-coming impeachment trial in the Senate.

I would suggest he request help from public defenders.  I think they have to take on clients no one else will represent.  Even insurrectionists.

Impeachment Plan for Political Cowards

I heard a commentator say many Republicans are privately tired of the incompetence and antics of President Trump, but are unsure how to remove him from office.  They are afraid of challenging him directly for fear of his or his supporters wrath.

Republicans will probably just wait for Democrats to take the House in November.  The best guess is there will be enough Democrats who will vote for impeachment since it only takes a majority of House members. Republicans can sit back and howl with outrage.

The Senate requires a two thirds vote to remove the President.  There probably won't be enough Democrats in November to do this alone,  Democrats can do the hard work and prosecute the case.  Republicans can do whatever they think is politically acceptable.

When the final Senate vote comes, Democrats will have to hope they can find enough Republicans with the political courage to vote to complete the process and remove President Trump.

Republicans who vote to impeach can defend their vote by claiming they will have a more reasonable partner in a President Pence for the last two years of the term.

An added rational is that if Vice-President Pence becomes president with less than two years left in President Trump's term, he is eligible to run for two more full presidential terms on his own.  That means he could be president for almost 10 years.

The Truth Will Set Trump Free

President Trump has said he is "100%" ready to testify under oath.  If he does, the chances he will be impeached is also 100%,

If there is one thing we know about President Trump, it is that he has no intellectual capacity to distinguish between true and false.

For Trump, true and false is always modulated by the moment.  For him, true is whatever seems to meet the needs of the moment.   Whatever is true one moment can be false the next.  He doesn't care what he previously asserted was true.  He probably doesn't even remember because the previous answer was not anchored to any other "facts" in his mind.  A new moment brings a new chance to determine the truth unencumbered by any previous answer..

So when Trump is under oath and there is legal liability for not telling the truth, President Trump will not be able to provide consistent answers.  A skillful interrogator will have him lying repeatedly.

Impeachment will follow shortly and Donald Trump will be free to go back to the former life he prefers.