When President Obama or his administration decided not to send the Iran treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification, or refused congressional subpoenas in the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, or nullified current federal immigration law by executive orders, or monitored the communication data of Associated Press journalists or allowed the IRS to politicize its mission before an election, or was caught on a hot mic offering a seeming quid pro quo of diminishing U.S. missile defense in Europe in exchange for the Putin regime’s providing him space during his own 2012 reelection effort, or used unsubstantiated opposition research from a hired foreign national to interfere in, and surveil, an oppositional political campaign and to disrupt a presidential transition, there were many who then argued that he was violating the Constitution.Read more here.
...Trump is controversial. Like Obama, he has hired and fired high-ranking generals and has not been shy about explaining why. When attacked, he replies bluntly. But again, such controversial presidencies are exactly why there are protections for them against the attacks of unelected military leaders in a constitutional republic. Harry Truman’s approval fell to 21 percent — less than half of Trump’s present popularity — after he fired General MacArthur. And his ratings never recovered. The generals who allege that Trump is either a fascist or a traitor or that he should be removed are neither elected nor are themselves constitutional scholars. But they are engaged precisely in what the UCMJ statute sought to discourage by threat of criminal penalty.
...As we deal with a tragic killing, and subsequent social unrest, the Senate Intelligence Committee and special federal attorneys are investigating the former leadership of the FBI, DOJ, and CIA.
From the once-classified evidence now released by congressional committees, the director of National Intelligence and the inspector general, we see that these top officials may well have deliberately deceived a federal FISA court, altered official documents submitted to a federal judge, lost or erased critical subpoenaed evidence, lied repeatedly under oath, illegally surveilled U.S. citizens, entrapped federal officials, inserted informants into a political campaign, and illegally leaked redacted names to the media for partisan political advantage and hatred of the controversial president-elect.
...In such a polarized climate, it seems reasonable to wish that even well-meaning retired generals would at least avoid incendiary comparisons of the president to America’s former Nazi or Fascist enemies.
They could eschew factual inaccuracies.
They might resist veiled hints about resisting or bypassing supposed alleged traitors in the White House.
And they should not coordinate their efforts in an ominous manner that could undermine the often tenuous civilian and military balance at the core of our constitutional system.
But that modicum of restraint was apparently asking too much in these times of bitter factionalism, rank partisanship, and social chaos.
This blog is looking for wisdom, to have and to share. It is also looking for other rare character traits like good humor, courage, and honor. It is not an easy road, because all of us fall short. But God is love, forgiveness and grace. Those who believe in Him and repent of their sins have the promise of His Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the Way.
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Restraint?
Victor Davis Hanson writes in part in National Review,
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