“We did not send him there to vote his conscience. We did not send him there to do the right thing or whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us.” Dave Ball, chair of the Washington County GOP, unloaded on U.S. Senator Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) vote to convict former Pres. […]
Archives
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Trustees or Delegates? Some Debates Never Die
16 Feb 2021
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President Trump has been impeached again, and this evening, the single article will be delivered to the Senate, where a trial is expected to begin on February 8th. The evidence of what happened is beside the point. President Trump’s speech is on the record, and members themselves donned ventilators, crouched beneath tables, and watched as […]
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The G.O.P. in Crisis?
03 Dec 2020
President Trump continues to insist he won the 2020 presidential election. Courts, so far, disagree. While many of Trump’s allegations are aired on Twitter, he has also found platforms on FoxNews and other outlets. In his most recent interview with Maria Bartiromo, Trump said not only the election was rigged, but the F.B.I. and D.O.J. […]
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Trump is Still Unfit
30 Oct 2020
In Nov. 2016, I blogged about my “Trumpotheses,” which were my own core beliefs about leadership as applied to Donald Trump’s oncoming presidency. They were: Experience Matters. Leaders with practical experience in their field perform better than those without such experience. Character Matters. Leaders with strong character (defined as truthfulness, integrity, fairness, and consistency) are […]
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Ginsburg’s Death Eclipses a Remarkable Life
19 Sep 2020
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer. She was 87. As a law student, Ginsburg graduated first in her class at Columbia Law, but found it difficult to land a position. Her mentor told a judge friend he would no longer send students to him as clerks if he did […]
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Obama vs. Trump: Presidents Collide in Real Time
20 Aug 2020
Former President Barack Obama used his platform at the Democratic National Convention to assail sitting Republican President Donald Trump as a threat to “our democracy.” Trump responded, IN ALL CAPS, via Twitter. If you like history hot and in your face, like a pizza straight out of the oven, 2020 always delivers. Last night was […]
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President Trump & the Limits of Legal Power
03 Jun 2020
President Trump has pledged to use military force if governors and mayors are unable to pacify cities across the country. As more stores, government buildings, and monuments are burned or razed, troop deployments to Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, Los Angeles, or New York are still possible. President Trump has the legal power to use the armed […]
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The President and the Pandemic
15 Apr 2020
I have the ultimate authority. President Donald Trump, April 13, 2020 Mt. Trump was built with a shovel. It started with “rapists and thieves,” which was quickly followed by “I like people who weren’t captured.” The dirt pile became a hill and grew into an overwhelming peak. “I got a beautiful letter.” “Mexico is gonna […]
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Mr. Trump’s Just Pardon
19 Feb 2020
In 1987, Michael Milken committed an unpardonable sin; he was reported to have made over half a billion dollars in income as the lead high-yield bond trader for Drexel Burnham Lambert (DBL). This is a fantastic amount today, of course, but in 1987 it was beyond comprehension. How could any one man do that? Clearly […]
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**Over several posts, I hope to look at 1) what the Constitution says about impeachment, 2) presidential impeachments in history, and 3) how President Trump’s actions should be judged in light of the Constitution, history, and other standards frequently brought to bear.** The third presidential impeachment trial unfolds before us. Our Senators will soon cast […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach