America learned much from the impeachment process against President Richard Nixon and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. If Mr. Trump is subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and refuses to honor that subpoena, it reaches the Supreme Court and the Court decides that the subpoena is valid and Mr. Trump still refuses to honor it, then America will experience another learning milestone in presidential politics and law and order. And with the way that things are going right now with Mr. Trump’s new legal team, that learning experience may come sooner than later.
Former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was recently added to Mr. Trump’s ever-changing legal team, went on Fox and admitted to Sean Hannity that Mr. Trump was aware of the $130,000 paid to Ms. Stephanie A. Clifford (a.k.a. Stormy Daniels), before he made the rounds at Fox and possibly put Mr. Trump in even more legal jeopardy than he was already in. During the press briefing on May 3, members of the press pounded Ms. Sanders with tough questions about what mayor Giuliani had said, questioned the value of Mr. Trump’s word and even questioned whether Ms. Sanders herself had knowingly lied to the American people.
It was also revealed in breaking news recently that Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen’s, telephone had been wiretapped for a period of time prior to the raid on his office by the FBI. This raid prompted an interesting discussion between Alan Dershowitz and another guest on the May 3 MSNBC show, which was guest-hosted by Steve Kornacki. It is my opinion that, in essence, Mr. Dershowitz trashed the law enforcement system – as it relates to the wiretap on Mr. Cohen’s phone, was skeptical as to whether officials did not find a crime first and then fit it to the person – in this case Mr. Cohen – in order to secure approval to tap his phone, and then he also stated that he did not trust government or the judges and other law enforcement personnel. He said that all Americans should be concerned about this.
It is also my opinion that countless numbers of everyday Americans have been surveilled, and many continue to be surveilled currently, via the aforementioned wiretap method and via many other methods. We reluctantly accept this invasive prying into our lives by our government in the name of national security. The government says that it is needed in order to protect us and keep us safe. And when they find something that that everyday American is doing that threatens America and its citizens in any way and are able to prevent that planned act from coming to fruition, they hold it up proudly and say things like, ‘see, this is why we have this program in place. It protects America and saves countless lives.’
Unfortunately, most Americans have come to realize and accept that things do not work the same way for the rich and powerful in America; the high-level, white-collar folks. Far too many rich and powerful people, whether they are regular citizens or elected politicians receive special treatment. Because if they do go to prison, the places where they serve their time and how they serve that time is far different from where that everyday American serves their time and how they serve it. And this applies especially to politicians. These are the people that have the potential to do even more damage to America than that everyday American could ever do. And yet they too often are treated with kid gloves. That should not be the case!
Further, this should apply especially to Mr. Trump who is the leader of our country. No one should be above the law! He is the one who should be leading the effort to assure that all of our laws are enforced…and enforced equally and fairly! Yet he and members of the Republican-led congress seem to be doing everything within their power to prevent Special Counsel Mueller from doing his job to get to the bottom of this whole thing involving Russia. Why are they doing this when there is so much evidence that indicates that something went terribly wrong during the 2016 presidential election and is threatening to continue to go wrong in the 2018 elections and beyond?
America is in grave danger and that danger needs to be confronted and addressed. As American citizens, especially those that are of voting age, it is incumbent upon us to do our part to confront and successfully address that danger. It is far past time to drop the partisan politics and address this grave threat as patriotic Americans. We can always get back to the dogma, squabbling, and playing of politics; but we will only be able to do that if we first assure that our democracy continues to exist as we now know it.
So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line