But perhaps the Syrians WERE using poison gas, and perhaps a missile attack on the gas storage and production facilities was warranted. It is a limited strike, no boots on the ground, no risk of American lives–if Russia doesn’t attack us–and perhaps it will prevent further such attacks. Still, I see no real difference between deaths from gas and deaths from bombing or shooting. Dead is dead, and unless it happens instantly, it seems reasonably clear just about all forms are very unpleasant.
Trump had in the past indicated both that such attacks were useless, and that they required Congressional approval. Leaving the first question aside, and leaving his apparent change of heart and mind aside for the moment, it does seem OBVIOUS that any action which might get us into a larger war MUST be approved at least by some segment of Congress. As I have said before, sometimes decisions have to be made quickly. Some system can be put in place to notify and get the consent from either a majority of Senators, or at least a majority of Senators on a relevant committee. This would meet the INTENT of the Constitution, which did not want loose cannons inflicting damaging wars on America without being sufficiently popular to gain the public support of a significant portion of our elected representatives.
If the President wants to send in a team of SEAL’s or Rangers to rescue captive Americans somewhere in Africa, fine. If he wants to send in Green Berets to train some nation facing Islamic insurgency, fine. But where major powers, like Russia and China and North Korea are concerned–nuclear powers–Congress should be notified and consulted. Again, some high tech, secure means for doing this quickly can and should be created, and Presidents should be held to this standard.
This brings me to my main point. I will wonder aloud if the Supreme Court at some point will put an end to the legal abuses of Robert Mueller. Our system of government is based upon propriety, and upon strict boundaries. Police are not allowed, per the 4th Amendment, to simply dig into every aspect of any American’s life until they find something prosecutable. What they have to have, per the Supreme Court, is probable cause. When they execute a search warrant, it needs to be in relation to a specific crime.
Now, I see no reason to doubt that Mueller and Rosenstein and his enablers at Justice are MOSTLY following something approximating the rule of law, but it seems highly doubtful that they are completely following the law. It seems obvious that the entire premise which enabled them to appoint Mueller in the first place was not just flawed, but KNOWN to be flawed. A serious felony, as I understand it, was committed the moment Robert Mueller was appointed. They knew Trump to be innocent of the charges, but forged ahead anyway. They knew the Steele Dossier was fabricated, but they went ahead anyway.
Now Mueller is simply on fishing expedition after fishing expedition. THIS IS NOT HOW OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE WAS INTENDED TO WORK. He has become an Inquisitor, not an investigator operating according to the rules of our system, which were intended to prevent people from becoming the subjects of indefinite and on-going investigations into every last minute aspect of their lives. That the object of this investigation is the sitting President is relevant, certainly, but that ANY citizen of the United States should be subjected to this should be a matter for the Supreme Court to weigh in on and put a stop to. Only the Court has the moral authority to do this without contrived and planned mass public outcry.
Now, the Supreme Court has a number of cowards in it–John Roberts, I am speaking to you–as well as de facto Leftists, who think the law should be made to say what they want it to say, rather than what it actually does say, but one can hope that one day their protracted somnolence will end. They ended the recounts in Florida in 2000. They can put an end to Rosenstein/Mueller too.
Failing that–and I have little but contempt for most of our “leaders”, because they have shown themselves to be little minded cowards over and over–Trump needs to face up to the possibility of extortion. One thing he knows, which we speculators must guess about, is what, if anything, he has actually done wrong. Only he and Cohen and perhaps a few others know what the FBI will find in their stash of ill gotten loot. I can only assume that–like I would guess most of Congress–there is something in there which would create problems for him. [My God, imagine if the FBI paid this level of attention to the Clinton Foundation, as it would if it were not something very close to fully corrupt].
Given this, his best play is to wait for them to blackmail him, fall on his sword publicly, admit his wrong-doing, then point out that this whole thing has been a political game intended to reverse the results of the 2016 election.
Here is the thing: a sitting President cannot be arrested. We see this wishful fantasy played out over and over in the lunatic Left’s public imagination, but the framers of our Constitution understood that a trial of a sitting President would make doing his job–in no small measure, protecting our country–impossible. To be the subject of a criminal trial–and to be arrested–he would have to first be impeached by the House, then the Senate would have to vote to remove him. Such, in any event, is my understanding.
Now, regardless of what the crimes may be–and with Trump it would most likely be something like tax evasion–the whole thing becomes politicized. Many Leftists, of course, have welcomed the Mueller Inquisition. But I also think many ordinary Americans are appalled at the tactics of the Left, and the patent corruption of our legal system which both Hillary’s exoneration with respect to hundreds of serious felonies, and Trump’s problems with respect to non-existent crimes, betray. It is unmistakable: our Justice Department does not deal in justice, the FBI does not operate honestly, the IRS can be made into a partisan attack dog, and high officials–heads of departments–lie about important matters repeatedly over time with impunity. Our system is corrupt. It is broken. We are being betrayed. This is why Trump was elected.
From what I read, after Mueller’s raid Trumps level of support went UP, not down. At some point, even lifelong Democrats have to come to terms with the horrific corruption of their party, at its utter abandonment of principle and the very people it claims to support, such as the American worker.
I find it hard to hope. There is so much hate, so much reflexive and trained stupidity, so little understanding, or even attempt at understanding. But one has to hope. I need to hope.
“Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.”