Coincidentally, amidst all of the Trump goons going down with indictments, convictions and jail time, Trump has decided - with plenty of cover from supine Democratic Party "leadership" - to party like it's 1979 and rattle his little itty bitty saber. Led by the patron saint of mass murderers, Eliot Abrams, the US has attempted to stage a "soft" coup d'état in Venezuela and is now threatening the country with military intervention if they Nicolas Maduro doesn't hit the road, prontíssimo.
Coincidence...right? Sure, and I have some nice real estate to sell you in Florida, coincidentally in the same exact spot as Mar-a-Lago.
Back to the likely contents of the Mueller report...it appears there have been major movements of the lower intestinal variety by many in the White House in anticipation of its release, and with good reason. After Congress has a chance to view and use its findings, assuming newly minted AG William Barr allows it to go public in some form, federal prosecutors will have opportunities a plenty to follow up with their various investigation: into the now moribund Trump Foundation's self-dealing; the sources of the Trump inaugural committee's funding; and of course, the biggie, hush payments to Trump's "mistresses," which might well have been made with campaign funding.
To paraphrase the inimitable Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the places we will go!"
But before we get anywhere we'll have to endure more of the GOP operatives' trashing of Mueller, his team of prosecutors, and of national law enforcement agencies more generally. Funny, how this smack down of our security sector is being perpetrated by the so-called "law and order" Trump administration and its enablers, the so-called "tough on crime" GOP. I guess their ethical compass is calibrated to point to "true South," which means when they get into a jam rather than take responsibility, they come out swinging lead pipes, collateral damage be damned. At this rate, I wonder if there will be any of our institutions left standing should Trump make it to the end of his first term without first resigning or getting impeached, such is the GOP's willingness to smash all that it once held so holy and dear.
N.B. - I'm no great fan of this particular part of the U.S. federal government. The FBI especially has a deep, troubling history when it comes to delegitimizing, harassing and even assassinating civil society leaders who were identified as potential threats to power holders. Case in point, Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, along with fellow Black Panther Mark Clark and other innocents, were slaughtered while they slept during a raid carried out by the FBI and the Chicago Police in a December 1969 raid.
I'm just observing and expressing my frustration about how it always seems to work that the full weight of the federal government's coercive powers always land 99.9% on those without power, usually people of color and those who are economically disadvantaged. But when it's the powerful who have potentially run afoul of the law? Never mind...next subject...move along. Nothing to see here.
I also realize that pointing out the sheer mind numbing pervasiveness and scale and hypocrisy of how stuff actually works in America is an exercise in pointing out the obvious. Still, I still think it's worth stating it and demanding accountability, especially of the powerful. That accountability is rarely if ever exacted of the powerful makes me imagine that there must be some sort of black market for insurance to cover the their multiple, systemic abuses of authority, which led me to ink today's 'toon. I wonder if Trump & co. are covered? Or did he stiff his insurers, too?
No comments:
Post a Comment