Impeachment

An Historic Mistake——————

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

House Democrats finally got around to delivering, with as much pomp and gravitas as they could muster under the circumstances, two articles of impeachment to the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had so recently warned against a partisan impeachment effort, handed out souvenir pens with her name inscribed, to commemorate the historic event as if it were a celebration.  Meanwhile, the economy, Wall Street, most of the American public and probably most of the rest of the world reacted with a collective yawn. It’s not as if the outcome were in much doubt.

There was more important current news for Americans including the bi-lateral trade deal with China, the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a new record high for the stock market and other signs of a healthy economy. Impeachment, in fact, had no perceptible effect on the U.S. economy which kept right on booming, probably enhancing the president’s re-election prospects.

The impeachment was a purely partisan effort that is expected, sooner or later, to die in the GOP-controlled Senate. The offenses cited in the two articles did not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors required by the Constitution. The Senate could now entertain a motion to dismiss the charges on those grounds  just as Democrat Senator Richard Byrd did during the Clinton impeachment trial, a motion that failed by only one vote. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has ruled that out, however, and it would probably fail anyway since several Republican senators appear open to allowing witnesses to testify and documents to be subpoenaed. Even if a motion to dismiss succeeded, Democrats would claim a cover-up, but they’ll do that however this turns out.

As of this writing, Speaker McConnell apparently intends to allow the House managers, led by Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, to present the articles of impeachment and argue the case against the president as prosecutors. This could take at least two weeks, depriving Democratic senators running election campaign of valuable campaign time and possibly benefitting Democrat front runner, Joe Biden, and the other candidates for the nomination who aren’t going to be confined to the Senate chamber for the duration of a trial that could stretch on for months. A motion to dismiss could be entertained at any point, or perhaps U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial, could dismiss the charges. Most likely after the House managers finish presenting their case, senators will vote on whether or not witnesses will be allowed to be called to testify and documents subpoenaed, allowing new evidence to be presented. The Senate, of course, is under no obligation to do the junior chamber’s work by continuing the investigation. Its job is to try the president on the articles presented.

If the Senate votes to allow witnesses and does not vote to dismiss the charges, the trial will continue as the president’s defense team, which includes one of America’s foremost constitutional attorneys, Alan Dershowitz, a Democrat who reportedly voted for Hillary Clinton, presents the defense. It will argue that no high crimes or misdemeanors were committed by the president, that he acted within his constitutional authority and that the charges should be dismissed or the president acquitted. If the charges are not dismissed at this point, the Senate will likely vote to acquit the president. Perhaps the Chief Justice will then rebuke the House leadership for bringing articles of impeachment against the president in the absence of high crimes or misdemeanors and, by so doing, trivializing the impeachment process for obvious political reasons in an election year in an attempt to influence the election outcome.

This would conclude a sorry and expensive episode for our country. Speaker Pelosi and the liberal media have often referred to this impeachment as historic and permanent as indeed it is, but not because it is only the third time that an American president has been impeached. Rather, it is historic primarily because it is the first time that an American president has been impeached without a single vote from the opposition party and in an election year, just ten months before the voters have an opportunity to make their own choice for president.

This impeachment will, therefore, always have an asterisk attached with a footnote denoting that it was a purely partisan, political attempt to remove a duly-elected president in an election year in the absence of a high crime or misdemeanor. It may also be remembered as an historic blunder which backfired on Democrats and ended up actually increasing the president’s likelihood of re-election, trivializing the impeachment process and increasing the chances that it will be used again in future attempts to taint or remove a duly-elected president because of political disagreements.

January 26, 2020

 

Wars and Other Conflicts

Regarding Wars and Other Conflicts————————

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

“Politics stops at the water’s edge.”

–Former Sen. Arthur Vandenberg

 

That once was true but not so much lately. Hardly had Americans learned of the successful targeted drone strike that rid the world of a notorious terrorist and enemy of the United States, responsible for the death and maiming of hundreds of Americans and who was actively planning more attacks, than Democrat leaders and presidential hopefuls began reflexive criticisms of the president for authorizing the strike. Practically in unison, they blamed the president for destabilizing the world, risking war and, totally without evidence, lacking a plan for how to deal with the consequences.

 

When American troops and civilians are at risk abroad, Americans traditionally have rallied around the commander-in-chief in a display of solidarity so that adversaries have reason, at least initially, to believe that he has the support of the people. Criticism can wait until details are sorted out but reflexive, immediate condemnation of a military action encourages an adversary to exploit domestic division and amounts to giving comfort to the enemy. And make no mistake; the Iranian regime under the ayatollahs is an enemy of the United States. The world’s leading exporter of terrorism, Iran is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, driving the U.S. out of the Middle East and killing Americans and Jews whenever convenient.

 

Maj. Gen. Qasam Soleimani was recognized throughout the western world as a terrorist. His very presence in Iraq was a violation of international law. He was the mastermind behind numerous attacks on Americans. The roadside bombs which caused so many casualties to our troops were part of his strategy. His proxies attacked our embassy in Baghdad, an act of war, attacked our ships in international waterways and attacked our allies in the region. He was as much of a legitimate target as Osama bin Laden was. I don’t recall hearing any public criticism from Americans of former president Barack Obama who took credit for eliminating him.

 

Yet, even before being briefed on the details of the strike and the intelligence leading up to it, Democrat leaders were putting politics above national unity. Many claimed that the president acted unlawfully by not consulting first with Congress. Seriously? That would be the equivalent of holding a press conference announcing a forthcoming surprise military action. This is 2020, not 1941, the last time Congress actually managed to declare war. A real war today would be over before Congress even got around to voting.

 

How can anyone with average intelligence read the Constitution and make such a charge? Section 8 of Article I gives Congress the authority to declare a state of war which is largely a formality. It does not contain any language that preempts the president from taking action to protect Americans or requires him to brief 100 senators and 435 representatives and get their consent before he does it. Section 2 of Article II states that the president shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy and as such he is responsible for defending citizens against all dangers, foreign and domestic.

 

Democrat leaders warned that the president was leading us into another endless war. That is simply not going to happen on Donald Trump’s watch. The United States has the means and, under President Trump, the will to subdue a third rate military power like Iran if necessary without having to engage in sustained ground combat which Trump has already all but ruled out.

 

Mr. Trump showed admirable restraint in not overreacting to Iran’s feeble response to the strike on Soleimani. Its missile attack on the two Iraqi bases housing U.S. service members resulted is no casualties and little damage. In the street demonstrations in Iran that followed the strike on Soleimani, 50 Iranians were killed and hundreds injured when the demonstrators stampeded. In the hours after the revenge attack on the Iraqi bases, the Iranian military managed to shoot down a civilian airliner killing all 176 on board. After steadfastly denying and lying about it for three days, the Iranian government finally admitted the act, triggering anti-government demonstrations in Iran with demonstrators railing against their government’s incompetence and deceit. During the demonstrations, the British ambassador was arrested, a gross violation of international law and the ambassador’s diplomatic immunity. It was not a good week for Iran.

 

The Trump Administration has already ratcheted up sanctions on Iran which will continue to cripple its rapidly deteriorating economy. He warned Tehran that any attack resulting in the death of an American will be met by overwhelming force and the ayatollahs are now rather inclined to believe him after the Soleimani strike. He has also promised that so long as he is president, Iran will not possess a nuclear weapon which may provide voters with another pretty good reason for re-electing him. It was, overall, a pretty good week for the USA.

January 19, 2020

 

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Only in California

The New Year Brings New Laws————-

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

Legislators in Sacramento have been busy enacting new laws; in fact, nearly 1,200 of them. You may not be pleased with all of them, especially if you are of the conservative political persuasion. What Sacramento does is important not only to Californians but also to those living in other liberal states which often follow the lead of the nation’s largest.

Beginning in 2020, Californians will be required to have health insurance. The Trump Administration did away with the unpopular individual mandate provision of Obamacare, but Sacramento will go its own way as it often does. Penalties for non-compliers will be assessed starting in 2021 with 2019 tax returns. And speaking of health insurance, California will now provide it to low- income illegal immigrants 25 years old and younger. It already provides it to children living here illegally. This will add to the incentives California so generously offers to attract illegal immigrants and prospective Democrats.

Starting in the school year beginning in August, public school students in grades 5 and below cannot be suspended for disrupting school activities or even for willfully defying teachers or administrators. Students in grades 6 through 8 cannot be suspended for these reasons for the next five years, I guess to provide enough time to assess the resulting chaos. And some people wonder why nearly every parent who can afford to will seek some alternative to public schools for their children. Schools also will now be required to change student records to reflect name or gender changes, even for former students if the change is reflected on a government-issued ID. They must also re-issue diplomas, transcripts and GEDs in these cases.

The minimum wage will increase by a dollar an hour for California workers in 2020. Employers with more than 25 workers must pay a minimum of $13 per hour and those with fewer than 26 must pay them at least $12 per hour. All must increase the minimum wage they pay by a dollar a year until it reaches $15. Perhaps the legislators in Sacramento haven’t noticed, but businesses that employ low-skill workers in starting jobs like fast-food restaurants and car washes, are already struggling because of the high cost of doing business in California. And to make it just a little harder for them, employers will no longer be able to require current or future employees to agree to arbitration as a condition of employment. Arbitration is a fair, expeditious and comparatively inexpensive way to resolve employee complaints and disputes. Lawsuits are expensive and time-consuming, adding to the cost of doing business, especially in a litigious state like California. Look for employers to toughen background checks in an attempt to screen out potential problem employees which are an employer’s worst nightmare.

Law enforcement officers in the Golden State may face greater dangers because of a new law that prevents the use of deadly force except in the defense of human life. An officer must now make an on-the -spot assessment as to whether lethal force is necessary to prevent loss of human life, delaying his reaction which may actually cause the loss of human life including his or her own and that of innocent victims and bystanders. Considering the constraints that clueless civilians continue to impose upon people who are sworn to protect us and put their lives on the line every day to do so, how can we continue to expect that enough young men and women will still want to pursue that line of work? Oh, and by the way, it’s not enough that California is reducing prison sentences to decrease jail populations, felons can now serve on juries once they’ve completed their sentences.

People are leaving California because of the high cost of living and the lack of affordable housing. The 2020 census will probably result in the loss of one representative from California in Congress due to a population decrease. We also have the nation’s largest homeless population. Legislators just made the problem a little worse by requiring all new homes to have solar panels, adding an estimated $10,000 to the cost of a new home. And continuing its war on fossil fuels, California will not permit any oil drilling projects to install pipelines across state-owned land. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of federally-owned land in California.

But not all the new laws are bad.  Some are just a little silly. The legislature also passed a law allowing the consumption of road kill. Enjoy.

January 11, 2020

 

 

A Turning Point

This Impeachment Marks a Turning Point———————–

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

As the new year begins, it’s time to take stock of where we are as a nation. Where we are is in two camps divided by a chasm. Not since the Civil War have we been more divided. I believe, however, that the impeachment of the president of the United States marks a turning point. Described as an historic event because it is only the third time a U. S. president has been impeached, it is more historic for the fact that it is the first time that a U.S. president has been impeached purely on political grounds without a single vote of support by the opposition party. Moreover, it happened in spite of a record of presidential successes and during a period of unprecedented prosperity.

57% of the population feels that they are better off now than since Barack Obama left office. Half the population believes that the GOP handles the economy better than the Democrats. We enjoy record low unemployment, including for all minority groups. The nation has achieved energy independence. Illegal immigration is in decline. Consumer spending is robust. The stock market, in which millions of Americans have invested their retirement savings, is at record highs.

And what has the Democrat majority in the House of Representatives accomplished? Nothing memorable except to impeach a president on two flimsy articles of impeachment based upon hearsay and a reportedly overheard phone call between two chiefs of state that should have been private and privileged. Bill Clinton lied to a grand jury under oath, a felony, and was not impeached. FDR incarcerated hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans, loyal U.S citizens, and was not impeached. Harry Truman authorized the use of two atomic bombs which killed and horribly maimed millions of Japanese civilians and was not impeached.

At a time when Americans should be celebrating the holidays and rejoicing together in their good fortune, we are instead bitterly divided, a division exacerbated by this farce of an impeachment. Contrary to an American tradition of accepting the results of an election and participating in government as the loyal opposition, a tradition that separates democracies from banana republics and dictatorships, Democrat leaders from the very outset resolved to overturn the results of the 2016 election. Not only did they demonize the victor, but they demonized his supporters and the 63 million Americans who voted for him, even questioning their morality. They were the deplorables, living in flyover country, clinging to their guns and their religion.

They tried every means possible and spent millions of taxpayer dollars trying to prove Russian collusion. Meanwhile, they and the liberal mainstream media ignored evidence of Democrat efforts to smear an opposition candidate and FBI bias in conducting the Mueller investigation, including the use of the bogus Steele dossier, funded by the Clinton Campaign, to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on a U.S. citizen.

The impeachment circus in the House dominated the news and diminished the coverage of the results of IG Michael Horowitz’s investigation into these matters which excoriated the FBI for shocking evidence of bias and deception, leading to a rebuke of the FBI by FISA Court Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer for misuse of the FISA process, directing the agency to report on corrective measures to prevent recurrence. Better late than never. This should be of great concern to Americans, given the power of America’s premier investigative agency and the importance of maintaining public confidence in its fairness. That confidence has been shaken and can be restored only by calling into account those responsible.

The impeachment represents a victory by the anti-Trumpers in the House over the more responsible and experienced moderate members. But it is a hollow victory. It only strengthens the president’s support and will virtually ensure his re-election. It will turn out to be a stunning defeat for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is now resorting to withholding delivery of the articles of impeachment to the Senate which is required by the Constitution to try the articles. Mrs. Pelosi knows that a trial will result in acquittal and so is demanding to know how the Senate will proceed. But that is entirely up to the Senate whose duty does not include continuing an investigation in order to find some impeachable offense which the House failed to find. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell needs to be the adult in charge here and advise Speaker Pelosi that the Senate will regard failure to deliver the articles promptly as signifying their intent to drop the charges and therefore the Senate will resume its regular business and urge the junior chamber to do likewise.

History will record this impeachment fiasco as a victory of emotion and hatred over reason and the national interest and an historic blunder which destroyed Democrat election chances and ensured a re-election victory for the man they hoped to destroy.

January 6, 2020

 

Christmas Greetings from Congress

A Christmas Present from Congress—————————–

                A commentary

                By J. F. Kelly, Jr.

                According to most opinion polls, roughly half of Americans want the president impeached and half do not. Could there be a more vivid indication of the political divide in this country? In a deeply-disturbing book entitled “How Democracies Die”, authors Steven Levitsky and David Zillat argue that when the populace is so deeply divided over serious issues and compromise seems impossible, tyrants often emerge as populists who promise to get things done but not always in the right way.

The authors cite, as examples, Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini and seem to imply that Donald Trump might fit this role, also. Whether you agree or not probably depends upon your political party preference, but most will agree, I think, that polarization and lack of willingness to compromise is harming the nation. Impeachment, however, is not the answer. Lacking bi-partisan support, it will increase bitterness and rancor and invite retaliation against future presidents based upon political disagreement. Furthermore, it won’t work because it will die in the Senate.

Democrats missed a golden opportunity to retain the White House in 2016 by nominating a deeply-flawed candidate who was tarnished by her email scandals and the Benghazi fiasco. Although heavily favored, she ran a terrible campaign, referred to Trump supporters as deplorables and got beaten by a political novice. Her defeat was facilitated by a meddling FBI Director, James Comey, who re-opened her email investigation at the eleventh hour.

But despite being a political novice , Trump delivered on most of his promises and presides over a robust economy and record low unemployment rates. He could have done even more with just a little help from a loyal opposition party. Instead it devoted most of its energy to impeaching a duly-elected president less than eleven months before a presidential election on the flimsiest of charges which did not even include a crime. The best they could come up with was abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Seriously? It is the House of Representatives that has abused its power. And it did this “in the name of the people of the United States of America”, according to the wording of the impeachment resolution. I deeply resent this. I am one of those people and I don’t want them doing this in my name.

The action will now shift to the Senate where, it is reported, the president wants a full trial in order to refute these charges and question witnesses at length, including Joe Biden and his son and most likely a parade of FBI officials, past and present. This needs to be done despite the preference of GOP senators who prefer a speedy trial leading to a quick acquittal in order to get on with the real business of the nation which is what they were elected to do. It also needs to be done because the Horowitz investigation makes it pretty clear that there was incompetence and bias on the part of FBI officials who need to be held accountable, followed by a thorough housecleaning at that agency. It also has to be done because Democrat members of the House need to pay a price for abusing the awesome power of the impeachment process for political gain as evidenced by the fact that not a single member of the opposition party supported impeachment and the public was only evenly divided on the issue.

A lengthy impeachment trial in the Senate will take precious campaign time from senators running for election including Sens. Warren, Sanders and Klobuchar. It will hurt Democrats more than Republicans. President Trump, on the other hand, will just be doing what he does best: aggressively confronting his political enemies and accusers, just like he demolished his GOP rivals for the nomination, while watching his approval percentage rise.

Democrats must have a death wish. Their highly-favored candidate in 2016 lost to a TV personality and political novice who couldn’t put three sentences together to form a grammatical paragraph. They won control of the House in 2018 but accomplished absolutely nothing of substance for an entire year while they focused on a losing effort to overturn the results of a presidential election. Finally, they produced a sorry slate of lightweight contenders for the presidential nomination who don’t have a chance of defeating an incumbent, who despite his many faults, actually got some things done with no help from any loyal opposition. Now they are adding to their embarrassment and the nation’s by giving us this farce of an impeachment as a Christmas president and in the name of all of us, no less.

December 31, 2019