Have you noticed that nothing Trump does or says surprises us anymore? The proverbial bar has disappeared below ground.
His legal sidekick has recently established a basis for using taxpayer funds to defend the boss in a sexual assault case. Taxpayer funds! This got a brief mention in the press and then we swiftly moved on to Trump lying about the pandemic.
The Westfall Act - the basis for Barr's move - has legal feet but as many scholars have said, it should not have been used in this case. The courts are highly likely to accept DOJ's rationale and E. Jean Carroll's case has a snowball's chance in hell of survival after this gangsta move.
With a fixer in Barr, Trump now has the ability to twist precedence to influence outcomes for his personal benefit. I bet Carroll never considered she'd go after the United States of America to pursue her alleged assailant and I never imagined that America would add "accused of sexual assault" to her national description!
Deep down we keep thinking this too shall pass.
In waiting for sense to prevail, we naively brush aside what we know - that lobbying is corruption, that Citizens United ripped up the fabric of common sense, that the judiciary is politicized, and the legislature has been rendered powerless. In the last 40 years of our time in this country, we've seen a deviation from center to the extreme and none of it has not happened overnight.
Nobody knows what normalcy is any more. So, how we return to it - or to the center - is a million dollar question.
This administration has exposed that the constitution doesn't guarantee checks-and-balance and it can provide air cover for a dictator. I suspect, in four more years there won't be a constitution, if this lot wins. Violence on the streets, questioning election results, and hijacking of politics by corrupt ideologues will be the normal.
Here comes the ask.
Don't skip voting thinking it is unsafe to vote or you don't have the time or it doesn't matter. Make the time to do it safely because it matters MORE than ever!
If you must, do absentee voting by mail but remember that the current Postmaster General is as trustworthy as the wily neighborhood fox. In-person absentee voting begins on 9/18 in my county. Google to find out when voting begins in your county and plan your time accordingly. If you've moved, there is still time to register in your new jurisdiction.
244 years of this experiment is not long enough. We need many more to perfect the union!
