As I indicated last week I am going to select bizarre news stories for your perusal, in addition to other commentary on specific subjects. Note: I’ve substituted the word “bizarre” for “stupid.” The latter does not reflect the objectives for this new weekly endeavor.
-Rep. Maxine Waters said, “If There Was ‘Collusion’ With Russia [relating to the election], Trump Committed [an] Impeachable Offense.” Note: No expert has opined about whether this represents and impeachable offense, although it would certainly devastate the Trump presidency if proven to be true.
The congresswoman is a member of the Black Caucus that seems to be most upset by the election of Donald Trump. The odd thing about this call to action is that it has arisen before Trump has taken office.
Black lawmakers are convinced that Trump and Putin conspired during the presidential campaign although nothing has been proven.
At some point the pols and the media will need to move on enabling Trump to deal with the pressing problems and challenges facing the nation.
-In a related story John Lewis (D-GA), another member or the Black Caucus, said he doesn’t recognize Trump’s election to president because Russia did influence the process. Lewis is more convinced that Trump has committed an offense. The congressman has inspired about 50 other liberal Democrats to join him in boycotting Trump’s inauguration.
Many of these pols feel that Trump’s tweet about Lewis in response to his comments and actions was disrespectful; he indicated that Lewis should worry about the problems of his congressional district and stop encouraging others to not participate in the transition of power.
Lewis in an icon having marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and some believe that he should be immune to any criticism for things he says. Some Americans disagree.
Lewis indicated that this would be the first inauguration he will not attend. He either forgot or lied because he also boycotted George W. Bush’s inauguration in 2001.
-Is the boycott of Trump’s inauguration sensible? Let’s consider the ramifications of this unusual act of defiance.
It is unprecedented having only occurred one other time (GWB’s inauguration). The inauguration has always been a moment when the opposing political parties in Washington join together to support a newly elected president.
It will make it impossible for Democrats to work with Republicans on day one of the new administration. Trump has a huge agenda that should have input from both political parties. The ultimate objective is to clean up the mess that the previous president has made domestically and internationally.
The rationale of the action is pretty “far-out,” a conspiracy in which Trump and Putin collaborated to defeat Hillary Clinton. Most Americans believe Hillary lost the election because she was a horrible candidate and failed to recognize that the country wanted change.
Understandably it’s very insulting to Trump even though he has downplayed the action’s significance. We all know that the new president doesn’t react well to unfair comments and actions by others.
If Trump performs well the group that boycotts will be under duress in their own elections in 2018.
-Approval polls indicate that Trump is the most unpopular president-elect in history. The question is why should any one believe the same pollsters who were so wrong about the presidential election?
-Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier that passed on secret information to Julian Assange (of WikiLeaks) who in turn published the information, has had his prison sentence commuted by President Obama. This story is truly bizarre because Assange said he would turn himself in to authorities if Manning received clemency. And the continued persecution of Assange for the crime of publishing information from Manning no longer makes any sense.