Fred’s Weekly Note Archive
In recent days, we have seen a lot of bending the knee to Donald Trump by high-powered corporate leaders and the Super Rich. And when you look at the billionaires being nominated to top government positions and the billionaires who poured big money into Trump’s campaign and now into his inauguration, we see the beginnings of […]
The rule of law is a foundational principle for our nation and our democracy. It is the basis for the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. President-elect Donald Trump, however, apparently thinks the rule of law doesn’t apply to him. That’s how we ended up on January 6, 2021, with a vicious […]
President-elect Donald Trump appears determined to create an American autocracy, established by government appointments and led by Trump. There apparently is one overriding qualification that his appointees must meet – loyalty to Trump – not to the Constitution, not to the nation, not to the rule of law. Absolute loyalty and bending the knee are […]
America’s Oligarchs have arrived. With their arrival, Trump’s faux “populism” is likely headed for the same dustbin where his “draining the swamp” commitment ended up. Trump likes rich people. The first big test of Trump’s “populism” will be who gets what in the huge tax cuts Trump and the Republican Congress are expected to enact […]
So it begins. President-elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to staff his Administration and “loyalty” is key his allies say. But, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, says “fealty” and “subservience,” not loyalty, is what Trump seeks. Some might say his early picks include an All-Star team of unqualified losers. Among them: Ethically challenged former Rep. […]
Our nation survived the Civil War. We survived World War I. We survived the Great Depression. We survived World War II. We will survive four more years of Donald Trump. But it is going to take a lot of hard work by people who believe in our Constitution, our democracy, and the rule of law. […]
Former President Donald Trump lies, threatens retribution, and sells influence. Not exactly a role model for children – or anyone. For four years, Trump has been lying that he won the 2020 presidential election. He continues lying at his rallies, in interviews, on podcasts, and whenever the opportunity arises. He also lies about his accomplishments, […]
What in the world was Chief Justice John Roberts thinking when he wrote the Supreme Court’s majority opinion on presidential immunity in Trump v. United States? Just who did he think he was dealing with when he wrote an opinion establishing absolute and presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for former President Donald Trump? Trump had said […]
In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Buckley v. Valeo that “contribution ceilings were a necessary legislative concomitant to deal with the reality or appearance of corruption inherent in a system permitting unlimited financial contributions.” [emphasis added] Thus, the Court upheld the limits on campaign contributions to candidates enacted in response to the Watergate scandals. In 2002, Congress banned […]
“There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual, he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1785 It’s no […]
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