The "foul spirit" of those who threaten election officials

As a former elections official and county clerk in Denver, I was fortunate to have been in office at a time when fairness and impartial administrators of elections ruled the day in the latter 1980s and early 1990s. Shortly after I left, the Posse Comitatus raised its ugly head, threatening county clerks to erase tax liens and other tax negatives from their recorded documents. So violent were their threats that El Paso (Colorado Springs) had to have armed guards to protect her. Of course, she did not have the legal power to do what the terrorist demanded.. Those same kinds of violent attempts to terrorize public officials to go against their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and the laws of their states, counties, and US government played out in Michigan. In 2020, a militia planned kidnapping their governor and their show of armed force at their statehouse. On January 6. 2021, a similar technique of domestic terror, to frighten lawmakers and the Vice President into not signing the certification of Biden's election. Colorado's Secretary of State Jena Griswold is the object of death threats as well. Amen to the opinion column in the Colorado Sun.. This threatens the very existence of democracy. https://coloradosun.com/.../election-jena-griswold.../...

As George W. Bush, president at the time of 9/11 so clearly said at Shanksville on the 20th anniversary of that 9/11 attack, in comparing the foreign terrorists who committed that act to the attackers at the capitol January 6, 2020: “There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home.But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit.” 

 Through public records and interviews, Reuters documented 102 threats of death or violence received by more than 40 election officials, workers, and their relatives in eight of the most contested battleground states in the 2020 presidential contest. Each was explicit enough to put a reasonable person in fear of bodily harm or death, the typical legal threshold for prosecution. Almost all of the 102 threats of violence appeared to be inspired by Trump’s debunked claims that the election was rigged against him. The messages often included highly personal, sometimes sexualized threats of violence or death, not only to the officials themselves but also to their family members and their children." Threatened U.S. election workers get little help from law enforcement (reuters.com)Threatened U.S. election workers get little help from law enforcement (reuters.com "

GOP-backed Arizona election review confirms Biden 2020 win | TheHill

A footnote:  Colorado Springs, CO has a history of the home of violent extremists: Spike Lee's movie was based on the KKK activities in the area. New Spike Lee movie focuses on Colorado detective who infiltrated Ku Klux Klan | News | coloradopolitics.com

Several of the January 6 rioters arrested and charged, and suspects are from the Colorado Springs area.Colorado's 9 accused insurrectionists | 9news.com

The Coloradans charged in connection with Jan 6. Capitol attack - Colorado Newsline

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A White House in chaos is right now a danger to our security

Originally posted 2/16/17; updated 2/21/17; published in www.skyhidailynews.com 2/21-22/17
A White House in chaos is a danger to our national security. This is a period when those who want to do us harm see a softness in our ability to respond with a unified voice and is at risk. They see no clear chain of command needed to respond effectively in case of a  national security crisis.  For our own sakes, let us hope that the Trump administration corrects the situation as quickly as possible.

It may be that the uncertainty caused by the inexperience and peculiarity of President's personality traits might give pause  to a wannabe attacker Any reaction, say to a 9/11 size event, might make an attack a gamble knowing  Trump is so impulsive. On the other hand, taking advantage of a situation when the chains of command, the boundaries of power, or its policies have not been clearly established, might be seen by an attacker as an  opportunity. The danger is that to understand us better, they will test us to see how we react such as parking a spy ship near our coast or firing off a missile test, which has already happened.

Donald Trump has denied disarray in the West Wing, asserting his administration was running like a "fine tuned machine".  Views that there was chaos came from  Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense  and past CIA Director and Senator John McCain.

With the firing of  General Michael Flynn, his controversial National Security adviser, Trump's first choice to fill the post, retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward,  bowed out for family reasons, though some close to him said Harward was also worried about access to the president and the ability to choose his own staff. He announced his new pick Monday, Lt. General H.R. McMaster, which is a step toward more order. With McMaster's appointment, I am feeling much better about our security and a tougher stance on Russia. The question is if he will get the same access to the President as did Flynn or if there will be friction.

Who possibly could stand in the way of a national security  adviser's  access to the President? The closest to President Trump  is Stephen Bannon, the former head of Breitbart Media , an ideologue of the farthest right with a stated goal to disrupt the Establishment.. He maneuvered  to be appointed the the National Security Council where such coordination of the flow of information from State Department, intelligence agencies, and the Pentagon takes place.

Even with a well coordinated and competent leadership of the West Wing, we have had a history with national security fumbles early in an administration. The George W. Bush administration was  staffed at higher levels with experienced men from the outset before 9/11, but were so focused in other matters, such as filling lower vacancies and legislation, they had not devoted enough attention to the warning signs noted by the FBI of some Saudi individuals taking pilot training, even in the face of  well known attempts  abroad by  terrorists to turn a commercial plane into a weapon. The new security team is headed for a rocky shake down cruise.

Confusing those abroad, friends and foe, have been mixed messages delivered by VP Mike Pence in his recent tours of Europe and NATO  and Nikki Haley, the new US ambassador to the UN regarding policies toward Russia . They seem to  contradict Trump's coziness with Russia , speaking with a harder line toward Russia.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/02/16/trumps-pick-to-replace-michael-flynn-as-national-security-adviser-turns-down-offer-people-familiar-with-decision-say-2/?utm_term=.fd2ac9ee367c

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-harward-turns-down-national-security-adviser-job/

http://www.businessinsider.com/national-security-adviser-trump-robert-harward-declined-after-press-conference-2017-2

https://www.ft.com/content/485046b8-f3a5-11e6-8758-6876151821a6

http://time.com/4672974/donald-trump-white-house-chaos/

http://www.businessinsider.com/leon-panetta-nervous-about-the-trump-administration-turmoil-russia-2017-2?r=UK&IR=T

http://fox2now.com/2017/02/18/pence-us-will-hold-russia-accountable/

http://kdvr.com/2017/02/03/nikki-haley-takes-tough-stance-on-russia-at-u-n-debut-tmwsp/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/steve-bannon-ideas-that-inform-world-view-trump-counselor/

Time magaznie, February 13, 2017

Also see my blog posting: Tensions between Vice President Pence and Michael Flynn pre-exist the "lie" flap 2/14/17

Footnote: This story was "officially leaked" by the Kremlin. Some believe they think Trump may not last full term. Whatever the motivation, the irony does not escape me. Often the comment about the chaos in the White House is that Trump was the dog that caught the bus they chased, the US Presidency, and now that he caught it, he does not know what to do with it. Perhaps the Kremlin is the dog that caught the bus, President Trump. Now that they did it, they are wondering what to do about him.

Russia preps a psychological profile of Trump. Here's what it says.

The attempt to get inside the U.S. president's mind is aimed at helping Vladimir Putin plan for their first meeting. Among the dossier's preliminary conclusions is that Trump…

NBCNEWS.COM|BY NBC NEWS

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