Is this a debate or a riot?

Last night's Democratic candidate debate was a mess, from Elizabeth Warren's unprovoked attack on Mike Bloomberg before the first question was answered to the petty back-and-forth between Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, this was no way to choose the leader of the free world.

This was the debate that was going to introduce Bloomberg to the Democratic electorate. Viewers heard a lot about Bloomberg's alleged racism and misogyny, but Bloomberg seemed totally unprepared for for the attacks and unable to defend himself. Bloomberg had spent millions in advertising as he avoided the traditional political path, but he should have invested in some answers to questions that were sure to be asked. This debate should kick the legs from under Bloomberg's sudden rise in the polls, but it might not. His ads have been well done and effective. But if he wins the nomination, he will have much harder fight against an incumbent president whose debate style specializes in insults, falsehoods and distortions.

Bernie Sanders' debate performance was unchanged. He evaded questions about his campaign's ruthless attacks and misinformation about his opponents. The socialist democrat senator managed to change the subject every time he faced a tough question. Challenged to explain how he'd finance his health care plan and other pie-in-the-sky promises, he switched to his attacks on billionaires, Wall Street, millionaires, tax policy, on and on. Nothing about how you afford it. You've heard it all before. Sanders is nothing if not relentless and evasive.

The more moderate candidates — Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden — spent precious time attacking each other instead of appealing to the majority of Americans who don't want Trump reelected and don't want a radical turn toward socialist five-year plans. Biden has improved since the first debate but still doesn't inspire confidence in him.

Given his poor showing in his first debate, Bloomberg does not look like the solution to Democrats' problems. If he can't defend himself against Sanders or Warren, how will he do against the imperialist opponent in the White House who has proclaimed he can do anything he wants to do, and neither Congress nor his own attorney general can stop him.

Democrats need to get together on a less-than-socialist candidate or get used to government run by gut instincts between golf outings.

Justice under Trump is like gangster fiction

This post was published in the Wilson Times Feb. 15, 2020.

The fix is in. That is the only conclusion one can draw from the retribution rants of President Donald Trump and the willing compliance of his consigliere, William Barr.

Gaining acquittal on impeachment charges from the complacent, obedient GOP caucus in the U.S. Senate has unleashed Trump to follow his worst, meanest instincts. He’s out to extract payback to everyone who has crossed him and even from those who simply failed to give him their unequivocal fealty. He will do everything he can to make life miserable for Sen. Mitt Romney, the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in the Senate impeachment trial.

He has already extracted revenge from Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland by firing. Both had the audacity to go before the House Intelligence Committee, after being subpoenaed, to honestly testify about the president’s request for electoral assistance from the president of Ukraine. Other witnesses are also being dismissed from the administration and humiliated, if possible, in the process. Even Eugene Vindman, twin brother of Alexander and also a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, was perp-walked out of the White House in retaliation for … what? He didn’t testify about Trump. He remained in the background, never running afoul, as far as the public knows, of Trump’s white-hot temper. This amounts to a tyrant’s “blood vengeance” against whole families.

Senate Republicans, who admitted that the evidence compiled by the House showed that Trump had used his powers to obstruct the House investigation and attempted to conceal his improper actions, claimed Trump had learned a lesson from the painful impeachment inquiry and would be on better behavior henceforth. The president’s retribution tour, just a week after his acquittal in the Senate, proves this president refuses to learn from his mistakes.

Having escaped punishment in the Senate, Trump is unleashed. All of his “enemies” are in danger from a president without restraints, a president who had earlier asserted that Article II of the Constitution gave him the authority to do whatever he wanted to do. (It does no such thing.) With its impeachment vote, the Republican majority in the Senate removed the last restraint within the federal government on Trump’s abuse of power.

It only gets scarier. With Barr, Trump’s sycophant-in-chief, wielding the awesome powers of the U.S. Department of Justice, there truly may be no constraint on Trump doing anything he dreams of doing. Barr, well known as an advocate of expanded presidential powers, is in a position to sculpt the Justice Department to suit Trump’s whims.

On Tuesday, Trump went on another rant, this one about the conviction and imminent sentencing of some of his cronies. As he has done in the past, he attacked federal judges over their rulings. He went too far for four career prosecutors involved in the Roger Stone sentencing. Stone, a long-time friend and errand boy in the Trump gang, was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering. Prosecutors recommended seven to nine years in prison for unapologetic Stone, a sentence within federal guidelines. If you’re not familiar with Stone, watch the 2017 documentary, “Get Me Roger Stone.” It’s available for streaming.

But Barr’s Justice Department has overruled its prosecutors on the sentencing recommendation, leading them to resign in protest. Also up in the air are sentencing for Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager, and Michael Flynn, former Trump national security advisor. Manafort was convicted, and Flynn pleaded guilty to their charges.

Perhaps worse than all this is a new policy at Barr’s Justice Department. It declares that no investigation can be opened into any presidential candidate without the written consent of Barr. Think he’ll sign off on an investigation of Trump or any of his troupe? Not on your life. The fix is in.

Gangster fiction terminology may be the only way to comprehend the Trump administration. Fictional gangsters would solve their legal problems by getting their cases dismissed by a judge the mob “owned.” Trump owns an entire Justice Department and still tries to intimidate federal judges with his Twitter tantrums. Like a gangster godfather, Trump protects those who are loyal and obedient and punishes those who cross him or disappoint him.

The scales of justice are being trampled by this administration.

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