It’s hard even after all that has happened to take Donald Trump seriously. That he is a bully, a liar, a tax cheat and a thoroughly evil person is obvious, and his lack of the mental capacity to fully grasp the role of the presidency when he was in the White House is almost laughable.
Almost, except that it makes those of us paying attention angry instead.
We are living with the aftermath of his absurd presidency and his attempt to steal the 2020 election to this day. The Congressional committee probing the Jan. 6th riot is bringing it all back into sharp focus, which makes a lot of us angry once again.
And that is a good thing.
And I’m returning to the subject today because a couple friends pointed out to me that when I labeled Mike Pence a hero yesterday for refusing to obey Trump’s command to overturn the election I failed to note that Pence’s own lawyer had told him he would probably go to jail if did so.
That’s a valid point and it reduces Pence’s stature to that of a flawed hero at best. Meanwhile, politically there is nothing I respect about Pence. He supported all of Trump’s misguided policies for the four years they were in office and even today is courting Trump voters in his own quest to try and get the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
The last thing this country needs is more Trump.
Whether it was the threat of jail or a moment of true conscience that caused Pence to verify the electoral votes confirming Biden as president doesn’t really matter. He did it, thank god.
Democracy as it exists in the U.S. is both fragile and unfinished. Many of the systems, including the electoral college itself, are outdated and undemocratic. If we had a true democracy, for example, the person winning the majority of the popular votes would be president. There would be no need for the V-P to verify the electoral votes because there would be no electoral votes.
In addition, there is no excuse for tiny states like Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska or the Dakotas to continue to have two senators each when their entire populations are smaller than the city of San Francisco’s, let alone California’s, which has over ten times as many people as those five states combined. Yet they get just as many senators as California does!
There is nothing democratic about that.
Alas, we’re stuck with an imperfect system that perpetuates the inequalities that allow dangerous individuals like Trump to sneak into office. But the final line of defense in the U.S. system is the rule of law, which for the most part remains in place.
But that brings us to the Supreme Court. Don’t get me started on that topic…
Thanks to Joel Kirshenbaum and Mike Kepp for advising me on the “Pence as hero” matter.
TODAY’s LINKS: (6/18/22 — 41 stories from 25 sources)
Putin lambasts the West and declares the end of 'the era of the unipolar world' (CNN)
Putin insists West's 'economic blitzkrieg' is a failure (NHK)
Ukraine moves closer to joining the EU; Zelenskky says historic decision will help to defeat Russia (CNBC)
The Dutch intelligence service said it had uncovered a Russian military agent attempting to use a false identity to infiltrate the International Criminal Court which is investigating accusations of war crimes in Ukraine. (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Farmers, Contending With Stolen Grain and Mined Fields, Now Say Land Is Being Seized (WSJ)
UK pledges to train thousands of Ukrainian troops (BBC)
VIDEO: European Leaders Meet With Zelensky in Kyiv (Reuters)
‘Marching towards starvation’: UN warns of hell on earth if Ukraine war goes on (Guardian)
What We Know About Trump, Pence, and January 6th (New Yorker)
For Mike Pence, Jan. 6 Began Like Many Days. It Ended Like No Other. (NYT)
Trump lawyer who pressured Pence to reject electors asked for pardon after Jan. 6: recap (USA Today)
January 6 committee wrestles with the same unsolvable question about Trump -- how to hold him to account (CNN)
Trump, Told It Was Illegal, Still Pressured Pence to Overturn His Loss (NYT)
Ginni Thomas’s emails with Trump lawyer add to tumult at Supreme Court (WP)
So far, Ginni Thomas has avoided answering questions under oath about her involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. That could change thanks to the reports of emails between Thomas and John Eastman, the lawyer who advised Trump how to upend the election result. Thomas, the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, told the Daily Caller she “can’t wait to clear up misconceptions” about her involvement. [HuffPost]
The House’s endangered species: Republicans who break from the base (Politico)
Biden approval rating at 39% amid economic fears; 47% 'strongly disapprove' (USA Today)
New Mexico’s top prosecutor told a GOP-led county commission to comply with an order to certify results from its primary election on June 7, the latest development in a case arising from far-right conspiracy theories over voting machines. [AP]
How Elites Misread Public Opinion (Politico)
Afghanistan is not ours to fix (The Hill)
Turkey Deports Thousands to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan (VoA)
Nupur Sharma protests: The police brutality video that shocked India (BBC)
Fears Grow Over Iran’s Nuclear Program as Tehran Digs a New Tunnel Network (NYT)
FDA authorizes 1st COVID-19 shots for infants, preschoolers (AP)
Covid hospital admissions rise in Europe as sub-variants fuel new wave (Financial Times)
Iowa court: Abortion not protected by state constitution (Politico)
Why cryptocurrencies have gone from the next hot thing to a full-on meltdown (NPR)
Americans support student loan forgiveness, but would rather rein in college costs (NPR)
Britain said Julian Assange can be sent to the U.S. to face spying charges. The founder of WikiLeaks. He faces 18 U.S. criminal charges related to the site’s publishing of thousands of diplomatic cables and classified files in 2010. (WP)
California may require labels on pot products to warn of mental health risks (KQED)
Could liability insurance prevent gun violence in California? (Politico)
Three wildfires have laid waste to 1,600 hectares of pines and bushesin eastern Spain since Wednesday as a European heatwave pushes temperatures close to record highs. In neighboring France, the Gironde department around Bordeaux banned outdoor public events and those at indoor venues without air conditioning. (Reuters)
The West just experienced an aspect of the climate crisis that scientists have warned of for years (CNN)
A string of climate disasters has hit U.S. even before summer (WP)
Fifty Years After Watergate, A Generation of Frightened Editors (Politico)
How the bluest asteroid in the solar system got its color (Space.com)
Some polar bears found a way to survive without sea ice. They evolved. Isolated for hundreds of years in the southeast corner of Greenland, the bears can now hunt and travel on glacial ice that sticks out from the ice sheet. (WP)
The Warriors' Latest Title Might Be Their Most Surprising (538)
McCartney marks 80th birthday with Springsteen, 60,000 pals (AP)
Report: (Balloon) Didn’t Pop (The Onion)
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