Department Of In-Justice
Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi testified at the Senate Department of Justice Hearing on oversight. When it came to questioning from Democrat senators, many of their questions went unanswered, and many of her responses were irrelevant, combative and appeared to come from a prepared list of specially prepared retorts customized for each individual Democrat senator. The list was long.
Most of the questions from Democrat senators pertained to an alleged $50,000 bribe that Trump Border Czar Tom Homan took from FBI agents posing as businessmen, prosecuting Trump’s political enemies, firing prosecutors and FBI agents that worked on cases that Trump didn’t like, and attacks on Venezuelan boats among others. When Atty. General Bondi would get a question she didn’t like from a Democrat, she would start flipping through her folder to find just the right canned somewhat offensive response for that particular senator. It was almost comical.
Many of Atty. General Bondi canned responses went unused. If they had been used, the following is my rendition on how the interaction between the Atty. General and the senators would have played out:
Senator: Atty. General, what happened to the $50,000 that Tom Homan took from the FBI agents on tape? Bondi: Homan is a great patriot. Senator, if I remember correctly, your momma wears army boots. Senator: My mother’s shoes are irrelevant to this discussion. Just answer the question. Bondi: Question asked and answered, but senator, I have noticed that your head is big. Senator: My head is not big, I’ve measured it and it is of normal size; Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, reclaiming my time. Ms. Atty. General, let’s see if you can answer at least one question, I have been told by many sources that you have been firing agents and DOJ prosecutors for working on cases that Trump didn’t like. Bondi: You know what senator, nah nana naaw nah. Senator: Balderdash, reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, this atty. general is unconscionable. Please ask the Atty. General to answer the question.
OK, my characterization of Atty. General’s interaction with senators at the oversight hearing might have been a slight exaggeration, but if you had watched the hearing as I did, you would know it wasn’t very far off the mark.
On a more serious note, the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ is being decimated. Hundreds of attorneys have either been reassigned, resigned, forced out or have been fired. When Donald Trump took office in January, there were approximately 380 prosecutors in the Civil Rights Division. As of May, it has been reported that a total of 250 prosecutors had left the division.
NBC News has reported that rather than focusing on enforcing federal laws against discrimination, the division is now charged with pursuing priorities laid out in a series of Trump’s executive orders, including “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” and “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”. According to internal memos, new priorities have been outlined that are dramatically at odds with the way both Republican and Democratic administrations have enforced civil rights law including the first Trump administration.
The DOJ Civil Rights Division was established on December 9, 1957, to enforce federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. Two of the most critical laws, especially in this current political environment that the Civil Rights Division is tasked to enforce are The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and The Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The mid-term elections are 13 months away. With the current direction the country is going, the mid-term elections may be the most important election in your lifetime to date. It is critically important that the guardrails on presidential power that seem to have been eroded become reestablished if we as citizens intend to preserve our democracy and thus our rights afforded to us by the constitution.
At a minimum, Democrats need to take the majority in the House. The House would be able to take back control of the monetary purse strings, and reign in members of the Trump administration through committee subpoenas to call them to task.
You can go ahead and expect some type of voting shenanigans from the Trump administration prior to the mid-terms, and support from the current DOJ in enforcing voting laws probably will not be forthcoming. Fortunately, voting laws are still on the books, and we can still turn to the courts. A heavily conservative Supreme Court is a HUGE question mark and potential obstacle!
Nobel Peace Prize
There is no secret that Donald Trump had been actively campaigning to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for some time now. He seems to be really offended that Obama received the award and he never has. That fact seems to stick in his craw.
I’ll be honest, I give much credit to President Trump for brokering the ceasefire between Israel and HAMAS and providing for the release of the hostages. I would have even considered giving Donald Trump my vote for the Nobel Peace Prize if I had a vote, but there is one huge disqualifier that I will disclose below.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Corina Merchado. Merchado, 58, is currently in hiding in Venezuela for attempting to run for president on a democracy plank. and is very critical of the authoritarian Maduro regime.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, who obviously supported awarded Trump the prize, accused the Nobel Committee of placing “politics over peace.” That comment sounds like the “pot calling the kettle black”.
There is a very good reason why President Trump didn’t receive the Nobel Peace Prize. When you blow up boats with people in them for virtually no verifiable reason off the coast of Venezuela 2700 miles away from U.S. shores, that is totally disqualifying for the Nobel Peace Prize and probably for life.
It is ironic that the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is an anti-authoritarian and pro-democracy activist in Venezuela. I CAN’T MAKE THIS UP!
No Kings Rally
The “No Kings Rally” will be held this Saturday in hundreds or even thousands of locales across the country. The Republicans are attempting to characterize the rally as a “Hate America Rally”, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Trump administration has declared Antifa a terrorist organization and will be treated like the drug cartels. We know how that is going, but White supremacy and its’ sub-groups are the most dangerous right-wing domestic threats in this country today. Trump’s previous FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to that fact before congress. Even the Trump administration’s DOJ website data attested to that fact until Trump has it removed.
How do you know who is Antifa? Is any non-violent protester considered Antifa. They don’t run around wearing Antifa badges, and they are not an organized group, they don’t have an official leader, headquarters of address. You can’t even write them a letter, but Trump just wants to be able to designate anyone he wants as Antifa every time there is even a peaceful protest. Trump can’t tolerate any dissent at all in any form, that’s how thin his skin is.
The “No Kings Rally” this Saturday may actually shock the world. The world will be watching!
All opinions herein are solely the opinions of Herb Booker and hbooker2.com. Comments are welcome and can be sent to hbooker2@yahoo.com, or at the bottom of this page.