Previous Routine Joe Arpaio Presser
Racial profiling vis-à-vis Joe Arpaio
(the former sheriff from AZ) and his recent Trump pardon from this headlines and story from The Atlantic here:
Trump has
made it clear that the limits of the law, and the powers of the courts, hold no
weight in his decision-making, and indeed will be brushed aside at his convenience.
The issue in the Arpaio case was and remains the integrity of the federal judiciary.
Arpaio was not convicted of an ordinary
crime, but he did deliberately disobey a federal court order and lying about
that. Beyond that, during the litigation that led to his conviction for
criminal contempt, he hired a private detective to investigate the wife of a
federal judge hearing a case against his office.
Any judge can understand the
threat posed by law enforcement personnel who seek to strike back at judges and
their families, perhaps for purposes of blackmail or revenge — and the deep
arrogance of a president who regards such behavior as praiseworthy.
In fact, since even before the
election, Trump has brandished his hostility to judges almost as aggressively
as his disregard of racial decency.
Examples:
When federal district Judge Gonzalo Curiel was assigned the
Trump University civil fraud case, Trump attacked the Indiana-born Curiel in
front of a campaign rally as “Mexican” and “a total disgrace.”
When Judge James Robart (George W. Bush appointee) of the District of
Washington enjoined the first version of Trump’s “travel ban,” Trump on Twitter
dismissed Robart as a “so-called judge" and told his supporters “If
something happens blame him and court system.”
When another District Judge enjoined his “sanctuary cities” defunding order, Trump
publicly threatened to break up the Ninth Circuit.
When a terror cell carried out a car
attack in Barcelona earlier this month, Trump immediately zeroed in on the
“travel ban” case, now pending before the Supreme Court: “The courts must give
us back our protective rights,” he tweeted.
Atlantic story continues here – a very worthwhile read. Also, my earlier post is here same subject.
My summary for what it’s worth:
Trump is out of control and out of
his depth in the office that he has shown on so many issues. In short, is
unprepared, not ready to learn, and certainly was not in the least bit remotely
qualified to lead the country. I can’t say 100% for sure that he is unfit, but
boy he’s close to that line, I believe and that’s based on record to date and
nothing else – in short: It’s nasty and ugly from the first day (January 20,
2017).
From that date, I was willing (and
have said so openly) to wait and see and actually give him a chance to serve
effectively just as many of his loyalists said alongside many GOPers in office that:
“He is new at this – give him a chance – he will grow into the position.”
Obviously, that has not worked. In
fact, he seems to get worse each day rather than improve each day by learning.
He comes across each new day as a “Dictator-in-the-making”
– at least in my view. I certainly do not know what the outcome or final
solution will be – but my gut instinct tells me he needs to step down or be
removed and for the country’s sake, the soon the better.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment