America a third world country?

 Aside from the decline in longevity and our ranking near the bottom in such measures of infant and maternal mortality,  we will look like a banana republic if the militias take to the streets and Trump is indicted and charged with crimes. He has called for violence if he is indicted. This is what despots and dictators do and what he could expect him to do if he wins in 2024.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-turning-heat-raises-specter-133014762.html

The attempt by the GOP in the House  and in some southern state legislatures to prosecute the prosecutors of Trump or political opponents is also a sign of deterioration into the third world. The key to a successful demoracy is an independent judiciary and the officers of the court and the first turning a once functioning democracy into a semi-autocratic state where the rule of law does not pertain to the rulers or their favored supporters is the replace the judiciary with their flunkies or to control their appointees and their rulings.  That happened in both Turkey and Hungary.  If you want to see such an effort in progress, look what Netanyahu is attempting to do in Israel.  If there is one single reason not to elect Trump to a second term, this is it.  He has made his intent hardly secret by words and deeds to ignore the rule of law and to cripple the independence of prosecutors who threaten his power and his willing followers in the House as statehouses have taken their cue.  

Here's why Netanyahu's court overhaul had Israel teetering on the brink : NPR

How Erdoğan and Orbán pulled off the modern coup - Shout Out UK

Legislative Assaults on State Courts — June 2022 | Brennan Center for Justice

Tyrants begin their journey to become dictators by taking over the courts

Imagine a court filled with Judge Cannons, those who rule by making up or twisting decisions out of loyalty to those who appointed them.  There would be no appeals to a higher bench that would rule per the law because they would rule to the person who put them in office. Fortunately for now, appeals courts and federal district courts all refused to say they're was widespread fraud in 2020 presidential elections. and in 2022, Cannon got a slap down by the appeals court.  Here is another example of why our court system still has enough integrity to protect us from incompetent and wacko interpretations of the law.  The rule of law is not dead yet.

Supreme Court turns back effort by MyPillow CEO Lindell to toss $1.3 billion defamation suit (yahoo.com)Special master ruling shows Trump’s takeover of courts has started to sting | US justice system | The Guardian

Trump suffers setback as appeals panel rejects Cannon ruling - POLITICO

How Do Democracies Turn Into Dictatorships? - Renew Democracy Initiative (rdi.org)

On the Surface, Hungary Is a Democracy. But What Lies Underneath? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)  "For years, Mr. Orban was satisfied with infringing judicial independence through a series of incremental measures. But in early December, he set up a parallel court system in one fell swoop."

The president who would be king

A version of this was published in the Sky Hi News  November 27-28,2018

If there was one reason  the Mayflower was the first of many similar  boatloads full of settlers who sailed across the Atlantic, it  was to escape the tyranny of a government and especially the English King. President Trump has never understood why he cannot rule by decree and executive orders like the  kings and dictators he so admires  and why the judiciary, Congress and law enforcement cannot be put to use  to advance and protect his power and agenda. He tweeted and verbalized an assertion last week that “the judiciary is the greatest threat to our country”, insinuating his edicts were necessary to protect the US from threats to national security.
 He has attacked one  of the key foundations of  American democracy, an independent judiciary.  After a record attempt by the Republican controlled Senate to fast track,  to change the rules so fewer votes were needed to confirm  judges’ appointments,  and to pack the courts with conservative think tank recommended nominees,  including two vacancies on the Supreme Court, it was just not enough for him.  His view of the courts appears to be  all judges should be loyal to him and his  particular  view of executive authority.  That  is the ultimate expression of his desire to make this country ruled by him, not by the rule of law. The threat of an independent judiciary is  not a threat to the country. It is a threat to the power of the wannabe king himself.
Trump has seen some of his executive orders struck down by a judiciary that is sworn  to protect the Constitution. Particularly obnoxious to him is the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The infamous Muslim ban was rejected by that court on the basis that it was discriminatory against practitioners of a religion.  After some revisions, it was retitled and changed to ban and permit enhanced extreme vetting of   those who came from specific countries that  may harbor terrorists.  Thrown into the list were a few non Muslim countries. It was a sleight of hand that finally enabled the executive order  to be approved by the Supreme Court on a 5 to 4 decision in June, 2018.
  Trump’s campaign  in the 2018 midterms centered around  hyping  fear and loathing of immigrants of color. To cater to  his nationalist  core followers, he devised a  strategy to  stop“caravans” of migrants seeking asylum in the US . The caravan travellers, equal to  the same number of students of two large high schools , were  comprised of mostly women  and children migrants he called “thugs” and disease ridden. The fear of these migrants was raised to near hysteria by his favored media outlets just before the midterm elections.  US military intelligence had reported the caravans did not  threaten national security, but nonetheless Trump  rushed more US troops to the border than we have in Afghanistan. A week before the midterms he announced a plan for an executive order that would rewrite the 14th Amendment to end birthright citizenship. That has not yet been  court tested.  He followed that strategy  up with an  executive order forbidding those who reached US soil illegally  to qualify for asylum only if they got in line and went through a legal checkpoint. The U.S. Judge  in the Ninth  Circuit ruled November 19 that federal law clearly states that migrants can seek asylum anywhere on U.S. soil  and … “he  (Trump) may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden” . Trump called foul and said  that Judge was an Obama appointee. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts responded in defense of an independent judiciary: "What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

An independent judiciary is fundamental to a democracy and to the Constitution's ability to keep abuse of power to protect us from a one person rule..This posting is a focus on one issue, but the issue is one of the three checks and balances pillars written into the Constitution to restrict the power of the federal government...and especially the executive branch and the legislative branch from abusing their powers. . Therefore it is fundamental to democracy. When wannabe tyrants want to grab total control of the reins of government, they wreck an independent judiciary. The most recent example of that is in Turkey where voters approved his consolidation of three branches of government into one and permitted him to appoint all judges without any constraints. What is disturbing is that it was done with their people's permission, which shows how fragile democracy is. It is an idea but is only as good as the people who support it. From Hitler to Putin to Erdogan, all used fear and hatred of ethnic groups (Jews) (terrorists) , or a government and economy in chaos (Putin) . With control of all the levers of government in one hand, any opposition cannot gather enough strength to cause a reversion to democracy peacefully without violence, putsch, war, or revolution.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/judges-ruling-means-trump-administration-must-allow-illegal-border-crossers-to-seek-asylum/2018/11/20/

https://reason.com/blog/2018/11/05/report-pentagon-says-migrant-caravan-doe

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/662043904/trump-says-he-will-void-birthright-citizenship-law-through-executive-order

https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/15/europe/turkey-erdogan-referendum-politics/index.html

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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

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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Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of our democracy

Original revised and re- posted on 2/13/17; in print, Sky Hi News as Democracy in the Age of Autocracy 2/15/17

A jaw dropper: Said Stephen Miller on Sunday talk shows regarding the Muslim country ban and the judicial review of it:

“As we begin to take further actions,...that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.”

The part of that statement that is objectionable is not that the executive branch has strong powers to protect the country from threats from terrorism; it does.. It is the phrase we: "will not be questioned" which indicates that due process, anti discrimination clauses, freedom of the press, separation of powers, and rule of law have no constraints provided by the Constitution in matters of national security. What this does is lay ground work and precedence for application to "further actions" of other executive powers.

Who is Stephen Miller? A chief policy advisor to President. Trump and a former aide to our new US Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. If this is the view of the Trump administration of separation  of powers and the rule of law and an independent judiciary, we are looking at many, many more court challenges and Constitutional crises before the Trump administration is able to stack the federal judiciary with his appointees and controls all three branches of government.

Are we looking at the end of our beloved form of democracy that has kept us from being ruled by an autocrat  for 250 years?  The only powers standing between that happening, given the attitude being expressed by the administration,  lie in the hands of the other two branches, judicial and legislative, jealously guarding their own Constitutionally granted powers. If Miller represents the views of President Trump and the advisers to which he listens, that is an issue of greater importance than any facing us at this time. .

That burden of protecting our democracy falls the heaviest on the GOP members of the Senate  in screening judicial appointments to assure the independence of that branch.

We should revisit our school days civics classes and remember the beauty of our Constitution founded by those who had had their fill of being governed by an autocratic king.  The fear and abhorrence of autocracy was not just specific to our revolution in the 1776.. It is applicable to all wannabe autocrats who have plagued mankind since the beginning of civilization. Even in the memory of those of us living is the  natural tendency by strong men for power grabs initially using the nominal authority of constitutional democracies .It has happened  from Germany to Italy in the last century  to  Turkey and  Russia in the current era.

We have fought wars to protect our freedoms, but the danger comes now  from within our country,  Many are even willing to excuse Trump's admiration of autocrats and dictators so consumed they are by their desire for change, any change, from the past.

The fear is that Donald Trump seems to be  unschooled in public governance, depending on those he trusts  to guide his hands to make good on his campaign promises.  He is fueled by the glow of his rallies and the adoration of his followers. .  Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of our democracy before this all gets out of hand.

Via Reuters reposted by the Washington post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/trump-adviser-stephen-miller-says-the-presidents-power-will-not-be-questioned/2017/02/13/0f772184-f14f-11e6-9fb1-2d8f3fc9c0ed_video.html

http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/99191541/m/836106145

Will Donald Trump be unhorsed at the GOP convention? No.

Will Donald Trump be unhorsed at their party convention? No. He has the votes and the support of his base.
That is because 65% of the GOP do not believe Trump's attack on the judge was racist. The provisions of the Constitution and amendments are clear on so many levels...from rule of law and independent judiciary to religious tests to civil rights and protection of minorities are so involved in his statements. He may himself not be racist and he is angry at the judge, but he used racism to make his case. That  is very disturbing and the sign of very dangerous demagogue. It is especially serious in this case where he is using his bully pulpit as a candidate of a political party to protect his own financial interests and not even a political or moral issue. The connection is that
if all looked at Trump U and how it was marketed, it would verify charges that he is a con man that is a minimum unethical. The implications of the impact on an independent judiciary and the rule of law were carefully spelled out by Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren yesterday.

 http://hotair.com/archives/2016/06/08/yougov-poll-51-say-trumps-comments-about-judge-were-racist-65-of-republicans-say-

https://gma.yahoo.com/elizabeth-warren-call-donald-trump-loud-nasty-thin-090148066--abc-news-topstories.html

http://www.c-span.org/video/?410847-2/vice-president-joe-biden-delivers-remarks-american-constitution-societys-2016-convention

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzLMf6QGONQ   
For Warren's speech