During Donald John Trump’s time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he expressed his displeasure with some documents by tearing them up.
Which is illegal, as CNN takes pains to make clear. His underlings would then scoop up the shreds of paper and tape them together.
Keyword: farcical.
This comedy might be funny to watch in a sequel to, say, In the Loop, the 2009 political satire. But it’s not so funny in the current iteration, with the FBI’s raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion.
The search for documents “illegally removed from the White House” has seems an obviously political ploy. Since Trump was legally allowed to de-classify documents, his taking of allegedly still-classified docs seem, well, a rather trivial matter.
Keyword: petty.
Right-leaning media and the left-ensconced media talk about all this very differently, of course, and I confess to finding the former a little more convincing than the latter. Focusing on documentation seems like an excuse to find some petty thing to disqualify Trump from running again in 2024.
While Trump not running again might be the best thing for the GOP, and America, that’s not really relevant: Republicans are stuck with the one champion, with few decent alternatives, and Democrats are in worse shape. Which is why they fret about Trump.
Using the Presidential Records Act of 1978 as a disqualifier for a Grover Clevelandesque re-run of a defeated president is on everybody’s lips. But there’s a problem: how could it possibly pass constitutional muster? The Constitution specifies the qualifications for the job. Congress cannot add or subtract to those qualifications by law.
That was the argument used to disqualify term limits in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton: qualifications for candidates were specified in the Constitution. Neither states nor Congress could change it.
If Democrats seek to breach this principle … then let’s look at term limits again.
Keywords: do it.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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14 replies on “The Act That Can’t Cut It”
How is the recession going?
Why are you asking here? You abandoned a discussion in which I explained, contrary to your assertions, [1] that at the start of all recessions, unemployment has been at or near a local minimum, [2] that two prior recessions began with unemployment below 4% and one of these with unemployment at a mere 2½%, [3] that unemployment reaches its peak after each recession has ended, and [4] that unemployment in this most recent recession was being held-down by allowing wages to to decline in terms of purchasing power.
(In general, you’ve just disappeared from discussions in which your arguments are shown not to work, only to return to the subject, insisting upon the same conclusions, at some later point.)
We are less than half-way into the third quarter, and figures for it will not be released until the fourth quarter. In the meantime, MSNBC &alii will provide a steady-stream of arguments for believing that the system should not be seen as in a recession and that, if it is, then the recession should be seen as in no way the fault of President Biden or of the Democratic majorities in Congress. (Paul will, in the mean time, continue to blame both Democrats and Republicans for their relative shares our dire situation.)
“But there’s a problem: how could it possibly pass constitutional muster? The Constitution specifies the qualifications for the job. Congress cannot add or subtract to those qualifications by law.”
NO, THEY JUST IGNORE WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN!
While Never-Trumpers have trouble with their latent ‘feelings’ the salient points are missed, completely
Most of the people who had no problem with Hillary Clinton setting up a private email server in violation of the law on classified information, held that she was above the law, and decried her “persecution” seem very upset that Donald Trump may have stolen government documents when he left the position of president and have no problem at all with going after him.
And most of the people who had no problem with Donald Trump stealing government documents in violation of the law on presidential records, hold that he’s above the law, and decry his “persecution seemed very upset that Hillary got away with her crimes.”
Go figure.
*****Focusing on documentation seems like an excuse to find some petty thing to disqualify Trump from running again in 2024.*****
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BINGO!
Petty? Try the same thing (taking boxes of classified documents home with you) and you will be in jail for a long time!
“The U.S. economy has experienced 12 recessions since World War II, and each one included two features: Economic output contracted and unemployment rose.
Today, something highly unusual is happening. Economic output fell in the first quarter and signs suggest it did so again in the second. Yet the job market showed little sign of faltering during the first half of the year. The jobless rate fell from 4% last December to 3.6% in May.
It is the latest strange twist in the odd trajectory of the pandemic economy, and a riddle for those contemplating a recession. If the U.S. is in or near one, it doesn’t yet look like any other on record.”
My point exactly! We may have been in a recession, are in a recession, or will be in a recession shortly. But there hasn’t been one that created this many jobs.
Pam, if you’re going to quote some source, then you need properly to identify it. (In this case, it’s Jon Hilsenrath in the Wall Street Journal.) As to his point being yourpoint, apparently your point has changed. For example, previously you claimed that no previous recession had employment under 4%. (I named two.)
I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t recognize that this recession exhibits new features. But, as I’ve explained twice previously, wages are being effectively pushed-down by price inflation. In the previous cases in which America both was in recession and had high price-inflation, expectations of high price-inflation were already baked-in to the supply of labor. This time, price-inflation has been far less anticipated by workers, and the mainstream of the media has been playing-up the idea that it may soon recede, rather than playing-up the idea that it has no end in sight (as they did in the ’70s).
You still haven’t answered the question as to why you are returning to the subject — in comments to an entry about a DoJ search of the home of a former President — when you abandoned discussion at the most recent entry about the latest recession.
Nuclear weapons documents!!! More than just classified documents. Explain why Drumpf would need boxes of nuclear weapons documents in an insecure facility visited by foreigners.
In all the shrieking about nuclear documents, does any of the shriekers pause to ask why Trump would want such documents? He’s not in a position to do anything with them except to cause himself trouble.
Donald John Trump has very much made a practice — long predating his Presidency — of avoiding wherever possible having any documents that could cause him trouble. Now we’re told that he’s mongered documents that could do nothing but cause him trouble.
The FBI served a search warrant in June looking for classified dicuments. Appears Trump withheld 15 boxes of dicuments, probably because they concern nuclear weapons and are very damaging.
Anyone believe anything Drumpf says!
Eleven sets of Top Secret documents were seized by the FBI. Why weren’t these documents turned over when the FBI was there in June?
Whether any of the documents seized were actually classified remains to be seen.
The FBI spent a great deal of time trying to make something of the Steele Dossier; so, even if we look just at their dealings with Trump, we know that they sometimes bark up the wrong tree.