Thanks Heather! It appears that the indictment is a masterpiece in application of the law. When Nixon lied everyone was horrified on both sides of the aisle. When Trump lies he has the almost unanimous support (with few notable exceptions) of the GOP. What happened to citizenship?
Thanks Heather! It appears that the indictment is a masterpiece in application of the law. When Nixon lied everyone was horrified on both sides of the aisle. When Trump lies he has the almost unanimous support (with few notable exceptions) of the GOP. What happened to citizenship?
And what has happened to our gut rejection of lies and liars? Nixon's abuses of power were, while properly deemed unacceptable given the impact of a president's duties and powers, seem rather quaint in light of over four decades of much bigger lies and "dirty tricks" that became standard operating procedures for the "Republican Party". Have no doubt that lies are dangerous; during COVID, promoting wars, persecuting minorities. Many people have suffered and many have died due to lies. Free speech, and especially protection of unpopular speech is essential to a free society; but... It becomes a concern for a society when lies, or any behavior, imposes harms on others. In unclear cases I am inclined to err on the side of free speech, but there are cases where the impact of lies is unacceptable, fraud being one of them, for example, collecting money for "charity" one intends to keep. And egregious lies and liars that may be legal can still be condemned by the court of public opinion.
I still wonder about political promises that are promoted by ongoing and demonstrably knowing lies that benefit the liars and measurably harm the public. Is that just free expression, or is it arguably fraud?
And follow a despot's playbook that's plagued humanity for eons. "Government" per se, the ground rules we share when we so much as play a game of cards together, was never "the problem".
Authoritarianism; corruption; any significant abuse of power IS.
Perhaps I should add that in my view "abuse of power" is involved in nearly any harmful negligent or bullying human interaction, from bullies in a schoolyard, abusive relations between couples, exploitive employee relations, murder, racism, wars, etc., etc. It is additionally odious when those entrusted with fiduciary duties to others abuse their powers, from abusive parents to cheating, opportunistic civil officers of any sort.
That's exactly what the Dominion civil jury decided. Somehow corporations seem to get far more traction in the use of our legal system than "we the people".
Actually I'm misstating this a bit now that I think about it.. My memory is that the judge expressed skepticism of Sidney Powell's argument that no political speech should be taken seriously, and Dominion and Fox settled out of court because the handwriting was on the wall. I was disappointed that the perps would not be grilled further.
I think that S.P. Jack SmithтАЩs indictment may hopefully spark the needed awareness around Free Speech / First Amendment concerns. As a democracy we state boldly that Free Speech undergirds everything. trump & co. have led us to a moment where many of us are questioning the wisdom of the First Amendment. Yet S.P.Jack Smith rightly brings this query into focus. trump may say what ever he wants, believe what he wants, lie to others. BUT, it DOES NOT protect him from being held accountable for unlawful actions. Our great challenge as a democracy -for all democracies- is to actually prosecute/hold accountable the unlawful actions of people. We do not do this. We can site more cases of liars and cheats beating the system than we can of JUSTICE actually being served in a meaningful way. There seem to be little stomach/courage/ability to actually/effectively hold liars/cheats/grifters accountable. THAT we need to fix. The First Amendment is not our problem. Enforcing laws on the powerful and well-positioned is.
Thanks Heather! It appears that the indictment is a masterpiece in application of the law. When Nixon lied everyone was horrified on both sides of the aisle. When Trump lies he has the almost unanimous support (with few notable exceptions) of the GOP. What happened to citizenship?
It's also a masterpiece in telling a story: simple, easy-to-understand narrative supported with concrete, easy-to-grasp facts.
And what has happened to our gut rejection of lies and liars? Nixon's abuses of power were, while properly deemed unacceptable given the impact of a president's duties and powers, seem rather quaint in light of over four decades of much bigger lies and "dirty tricks" that became standard operating procedures for the "Republican Party". Have no doubt that lies are dangerous; during COVID, promoting wars, persecuting minorities. Many people have suffered and many have died due to lies. Free speech, and especially protection of unpopular speech is essential to a free society; but... It becomes a concern for a society when lies, or any behavior, imposes harms on others. In unclear cases I am inclined to err on the side of free speech, but there are cases where the impact of lies is unacceptable, fraud being one of them, for example, collecting money for "charity" one intends to keep. And egregious lies and liars that may be legal can still be condemned by the court of public opinion.
I still wonder about political promises that are promoted by ongoing and demonstrably knowing lies that benefit the liars and measurably harm the public. Is that just free expression, or is it arguably fraud?
Repubs have most assuredly read the parts of Mein Kampf about lying and propaganda. They follow it to a tee.
And follow a despot's playbook that's plagued humanity for eons. "Government" per se, the ground rules we share when we so much as play a game of cards together, was never "the problem".
Authoritarianism; corruption; any significant abuse of power IS.
Perhaps I should add that in my view "abuse of power" is involved in nearly any harmful negligent or bullying human interaction, from bullies in a schoolyard, abusive relations between couples, exploitive employee relations, murder, racism, wars, etc., etc. It is additionally odious when those entrusted with fiduciary duties to others abuse their powers, from abusive parents to cheating, opportunistic civil officers of any sort.
Abuse of power - the despot's playbook. 100% correct
Fraud. It's intended that members of the public should believe what is said. It's not comedy, it's not satire, it's fraud.
That's exactly what the Dominion civil jury decided. Somehow corporations seem to get far more traction in the use of our legal system than "we the people".
Actually I'm misstating this a bit now that I think about it.. My memory is that the judge expressed skepticism of Sidney Powell's argument that no political speech should be taken seriously, and Dominion and Fox settled out of court because the handwriting was on the wall. I was disappointed that the perps would not be grilled further.
I think that S.P. Jack SmithтАЩs indictment may hopefully spark the needed awareness around Free Speech / First Amendment concerns. As a democracy we state boldly that Free Speech undergirds everything. trump & co. have led us to a moment where many of us are questioning the wisdom of the First Amendment. Yet S.P.Jack Smith rightly brings this query into focus. trump may say what ever he wants, believe what he wants, lie to others. BUT, it DOES NOT protect him from being held accountable for unlawful actions. Our great challenge as a democracy -for all democracies- is to actually prosecute/hold accountable the unlawful actions of people. We do not do this. We can site more cases of liars and cheats beating the system than we can of JUSTICE actually being served in a meaningful way. There seem to be little stomach/courage/ability to actually/effectively hold liars/cheats/grifters accountable. THAT we need to fix. The First Amendment is not our problem. Enforcing laws on the powerful and well-positioned is.