Yes. It's OK to have several thoughts simultaneously, as will be reaffirmed if
you get to hear that Robert Sscheer interview which I forwarded. 1. Trump is
the symptom and outcome of a disastrous system. 2. Trump is a Neo Fascist who
is organizing his followers to take over the country. 3. Many of Trump's
followers are following him because they have been left out and our hurting. 4.
Trump is insane.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2017 10:24 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] FW: Trump’s Articles of
Impeachment: A Greatest Hits Collection
Thanks, Miriam.
This article is one of several that have pretty much changed my position on
impeachment of Donald Trump. I began by maintaining that impeachment was not
going to fix the base problem, which is the Corporate Capitalist System. And I
argued that removing Donald Trump would only allow Mike Pence to step into the
regal presidential robes, bringing with him his own brand of White Supremacy.
But I am moved by the conversation pointing out that impeaching Donald Trump
would act as pressure on Mike Pence, causing him to be far more cautious than
he would be if Donald Trump served his years and SMike Pence became the next
president. Whatever Donald Trump can do without being reeled in will make the
next president's options far greater. And the second reason that is causing me
to support impeachment is Donald Trump, himself. His past two public
appearances have ensured him the title of, "Loose Cannon President". Listen
carefully to his speeches and tell me that you don't agree that Donald Trump is
everybody's neighborhood bully on steroids.
On 8/23/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: David Swanson via WarIsACrime.org
[mailto:david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2017 10:31 AM
To: miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Trump’s Articles of Impeachment: A Greatest Hits Collection
Trump’s Articles of Impeachment: A Greatest Hits Collection
By David Swanson, FireDonaldTrump.org
<https://i1.wp.com/davidswanson.org/files/firedonaldtrump.jpg?resize=3
70,188> Several years back, I led a team of authors drafting articles
of impeachment against then-President George W. Bush for
then-Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
We drafted over 60 and settled on the best 35. Had Congress moved
forward, it would not have passed all 35 or convicted on them. But we
felt it was important to establish the record and present the options.
In fact, I would have preferred to go with more than 35, including a wider
range of topics.
The fact that someone has abused power in 10 ways should constitute no
license to abuse it in an 11th way.
Believe it or not (hint, hint: I don’t need more emails on this) I am
aware of the general horror of Mike Pence, but a country that
impeached and removed presidents would be a very different country in
which the next president would have to behave or face impeachment and
removal in turn. Fear of the next person will look ever weaker as
grounds for allowing the current person to destroy things as he proceeds with
his destruction.
I’m further aware that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s team wants Trump
around more than the Republicans do, so that the Democrats can
“oppose” him. The task before the public is to compel members of both
major parties to impeach, not to sit back and observe them doing so of their
own volition.
Although several potential articles of impeachment against Trump stand
very strongly on their own, and picking any one of them would be
sufficient, the very strongest case for impeachment is a cumulative
one. I cannot predict which articles, if any, will gain the most popular or
Congressional support.
I am, therefore, collecting the strongest ones available here at
FireDonaldTrump.org. I will add more as the crime wave rolls on. I
pushed for impeachment of Bush and of Obama for some similar offenses
and some completely different ones. Many of Trump’s high crimes and
misdemeanors are unprecedented. None are identical to the abuses by
those who have gone before him.
I. Domestic Emoluments
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States and, to the best of his
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed,” has illegally received emoluments from the
United States government and from individual state governments.
The Constitutional ban on domestic emoluments is absolute, not
waivable by Congress, and not subject to proving any particular corrupting
influence.
President Trump’s lease of the Old Post Office Building in Washington D.C.
violates the General Services Administration lease contract which states:
“No … elected official of the Government of the United States … shall
be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that
may arise therefrom.” The GSA’s failure to enforce that contract
constitutes an emolument.
Since 1980 Trump and his businesses have garnered, according to the
New York Times, “$885 million in tax breaks, grants and other
subsidies for luxury apartments, hotels and office buildings in New
York.” Those subsidies from the state of New York have continued since
President Trump took office and constitute emoluments.
In these and many similar actions and decisions, President Donald J.
Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and
subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause
of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the
United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct,
is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
II. Foreign Emoluments
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States and, to the best of his
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed,” has illegally received emoluments from foreign
governments. Foreign emoluments are banned by the U.S. Constitution.
Donald J. Trump’s business has licensing deals with two Trump Towers
in Istanbul, Turkey. Donald J. Trump has stated: “I have a little
conflict of interest, because I have a major, major building in Istanbul.”
China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the
largest tenant in Trump Tower in New York City. It is also a major
lender to Donald J. Trump. Its rent payments and its loans put
President Trump in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Foreign diplomats, including the Embassy of Kuwait, have changed their
Washington D.C. hotel and event reservations to Trump International
Hotel following Donald J. Trump’s election to public office.
In these and many similar actions and decisions, President Donald J.
Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and
subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause
of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the
United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct,
is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
III. Incitement of Violence Within the United States
In his conduct while President of the United States, and while
campaigning for election to that office, Donald J. Trump, in violation
of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States and, to the best of his ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,
and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section
1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully
executed,” has illegally incited violence within the United States.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brandenberg v. Ohio in 1969 that
“advocacy directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action .
. . likely to incite or produce such action” is not protected by the First
Amendment.
An incomplete sampling of public statements by candidate Donald J. Trump:
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap
out of them. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”
“Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely
disgusting what he was doing.”
“See, in the good old days this doesn’t happen, because they used to
treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know,
they would not do it again so easily.”
“You know what I hate? There’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing
punches, we’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old
days—you know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a
place like this?
They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”
“See the first group, I was nice. Oh, take your time. The second
group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I’ll be a little more
violent. And the fourth group, I’ll say get the hell out of here!”
“I’d like to punch him in the face, I tell ya.”
“You see, in the good old days, law enforcement acted a lot quicker
than this. A lot quicker. In the good old days, they’d rip him out of
that seat so fast — but today, everybody’s politically correct.”
“He was swinging, he was hitting people, and the audience hit back.
That’s what we need more of.”
Numerous incidents of violence followed these comments. John Franklin
McGraw punched a man in the face at a Trump event, and then told
Inside Edition that “The next time we see him, we might have to kill
him.” Donald J. Trump said that he was considering paying McGraw’s legal
bills.
Since Trump’s election and inauguration, his comments appearing to
incite violence have continued, as have incidents of violence in which
those participating in violence have pointed to Trump as justification.
On July 2, 2017, President Donald J. Trump tweeted a video of himself
body slamming a man with an image of “CNN” superimposed on him.
In August 2017, participants in a racist rally in Charlottesville,
Va., credited President Trump with boosting their cause. Their
violence included actions that have led to a murder charge. President
Trump publicly minimized the offense and sought to blame “many sides.”
In these and similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump
has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and
subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause
of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the
United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct,
is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
IV. Voter Intimidation
In his conduct while President of the United States, and while
campaigning for election to that office, Donald J. Trump, in violation
of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States and, to the best of his ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,
and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section
1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully
executed,” has engaged in acts of voter intimidation and suppression.
For months leading up to the November 2016 elections, Donald J. Trump
publicly encouraged his supporters, the same ones he had encouraged to
engage in violence, to patrol polling places in search of participants
in the virtually nonexistent practice of voter fraud. In so doing,
candidate Trump made would-be voters aware that they might face such
patrols. His remarks included:
“I hope you people can sort of not just vote on the 8th, go around and
look and watch other polling places, and make sure that it’s 100 percent
fine.”
“We’re going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to certain areas and watch
and study and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times.”
Trump urged supporters to target Philadelphia, St. Louis, and other
cities with large minority populations.
He created on his campaign website a way to sign up to “volunteer to
be a Trump election observer.”
When early voting began, incidents were reported of Trump supporters
photographing voters and otherwise intimidating them.
Trump ally and former campaign advisor Roger Stone formed an activist
group called Stop the Steal that acted in line with Trump’s public
statements. The group threatened violence against delegates if the
Republican Party denied Trump its nomination. It then organized
intimidation efforts in the general election around the unsupported
claim that Trump’s opponents would somehow “flood the polls with
illegals. Liberal enclaves already let illegals vote in their local
and state elections and now they want them to vote in the Presidential
election.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006, in all federal
elections between 2002 and 2005, a total of 26 people out of 197
million were convicted of trying to vote illegally.
Stone’s organization created official-looking ID badges for volunteers
and asked them to videotape voters, and conduct phony exit polls in
nine cities with large minority populations.
One such volunteer, Steve Webb of Ohio, told the Boston Globe, “I’m
going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want
to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal.
I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”
Since becoming president, Donald J. Trump has continued with voter
intimidation efforts. He has created a Presidential Advisory
Commission on Election Integrity, which has sent letters to states
requesting sensitive voter information. Most states have refused. But
thousands of people have canceled their registrations rather than have
their information turned over to Trump’s administration.
In these and similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump
has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and
subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause
of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the
United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct,
is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
V. Muslim Bans
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States and, to the best of his
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed,” has engaged in acts of discrimination in
violation of the First Amendment and other laws by seeking to ban Muslims
from entering the United States.
Donald J. Trump had openly campaigned for office promising a “total
and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Once in
office, he created an executive order that his advisor Rudy Giuliani,
said on Fox News had been drafted after Trump had asked him for the
best way to create a Muslim ban “legally.” The order targeted several
majority-Muslim countries for restrictions on immigration to the
United States, but made allowances for people of minority religions
within those countries. Trump told the Christian Broadcasting Network
that Christian refugees would be given priority. When a federal court
stopped this order from taking effect, President Trump issued a new
one containing, in the words of his advisor Stephen Miller “minor technical
differences.”
In these actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in
a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of
constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and
justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an
impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
VI. Environmental Destruction
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States and, to the best of his
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed,” has actively sought to endanger the future
existence of human life in the United States and elsewhere.
On December 6, 2009, on page 8 of the New York Times a letter to
then-President Barack Obama printed as an advertisement and signed by
Donald J. Trump called climate change an immediate challenge. “Please
don’t postpone the earth,” it read. “If we fail to act now, it is
scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and
irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet.” An
overwhelming consensus of climate scientists agreed with and still agree with
that statement.
As president, Donald J. Trump has taken the opposite course, refusing
to take any significant steps to protect the earth’s climate, and
actively taking steps to endanger it, including by seeking to de-fund
the Environmental Protection Agency and to censor its publications.
President Trump has issued an executive order curbing enforcement of
climate regulations. He has withdrawn the United States from the Paris
climate agreement. He has disbanded the Advisory Committee for the
Sustained National Climate Assessment. He has canceled a study of the
health impacts of mountain-top removal.
The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has written than
environmental crimes are crimes against humanity.
In the above and many similar actions and decisions, President Donald J.
Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and
subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause
of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the
United States and the world. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by
such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from
office.
VII. Illegal Wars
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States and, to the best of his
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed,” has waged numerous wars in violation of the
United Nations Charter and of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, both treaties
part of the Supreme Law of the United States under Article VI of the U.S.
Constitution.
By these actions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner
contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional
government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to
the manifest injury of the people of the United States and the world.
Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an
impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
VIII. Illegal Threats of Wars
In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States and, to the best of his
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II,
Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed,” has threatened war against additional nations,
including North Korea, in violation of the United Nations Charter, a
treaty that is part of the Supreme Law of the United States under Article VI
of the U.S. Constitution.
By these actions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner
contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional
government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to
the manifest injury of the people of the United States and the world.
Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an
impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
IX. Sexual Assault
Prior to becoming President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, stated:
“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them.
It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a
star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy.
You can do anything.”
By this action, Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner that makes it
impossible for him to fulfill his constitutional duty under Article
II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed.”
Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an
impeachable offense warranting removal from office.
##
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