ofthisandthat
Weekly Letter to the President
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INAUGURATION, January 20, 2009
Drunk in its stale air
For two hundred years.
Fettered in mind and body,
The soul, the safe escape
To let me breathe the cries
Of my heart singing
Tears of mel-an-choly.
The tears flow free today
Washing the stains of blood
And sweat in brotherhood.
Raise the curtain then an'
Let the world look in
On this promised land --
We breathe free today.... almost.
--- Arshad M. Khan
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
--- Native American proverb
May 31, 2019
Mr. President: Robert Mueller let loose a thunderbolt midweek. Donald Trump had
not been charged, he said, because it was Department of Justice policy not to charge
a sitting president. Dumping the issue firmly into Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lap, he
reminded us of the purpose of the impeachment process. According to Mueller there
are ten instances where there are serious issues with the president obstructing justice
adding that his report never concludes that Trump is innocent.
So here is a simple question: If Mueller thought the president is not innocent but he
did not charge him because of Justice Department policy, and he appears also to
favor impeachment, then why in heaven's name did he not simply state in his report
that the preponderance of evidence indicated Trump was guilty?
Nancy Pelosi is wary of impeachment. According to the rules, the House initiates it
and when/if it finds sufficient grounds, it forwards the case to the Senate for a formal
trial. The Senate at present is controlled by Republicans, who have been saying it's
time to move on, often adding that after two years of investigation and a 448-page
report, what is the point of re-litigating the issue? They have a point and again it
leads to the question: if Special Counsel Mueller thinks Trump is guilty as he now
implies, why did he not actually say so?
Never one to miss any opportunity , Trump labels Mueller, highly conflicted, and
blasts impeachment as 'a dirty, filthy, disgusting word', He has also stopped Don
McGahn, a special counsel at the White House from testifying before Congress
invoking 'executive privilege' -- a doctrine designed to keep private the president's
consultations with his advisors. While not cited anywhere in the Constitution, the
Supreme Court has held it to be 'fundamental to the operation of government and
inextricably rooted in the Separation of Powers under the Constitution.' Separation of
powers keeps apart the executive branch, the legislature and the judiciary, meaning
each one cannot interfere with the other.
Nancy Pelosi is under increasing pressure from the young firebrands. Rep Alexandra
Ocasio-Cortez has already expressed the view that it is time to open an impeachment
inquiry against Trump given the obstruction of lawmakers' oversight duty.
Speaker Pelosi is a long-time politician with political blood running through her veins
-- her father was Mayor of Baltimore and like herself also a US Representative. To
her the situation as is, is quite appealing. Trump's behavior fires up Democrats
across the country and they respond by emptying their pockets to defeat the
Republicans in 2020. Democratic coffers benefit so why harm this golden goose -- a
bogeyman they have an excellent chance of defeating -- also evident from the
numbers lining up to contest the Democratic presidential primaries, currently at 24.
Will Trump be impeached? Time will tell but at present it sure doesn't look likely.