Category Archives: Insurrection

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Biden Under Fire While Trump Has His Own Problems

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(Note: Since my computer was in the shop getting software fixes for some days, there was no blog post last week.)

While it’s still early, the 2024 elections look like a nail-biter. Unless one of them falls seriously ill or Trump ends up in prison before November, the presidential election will most likely be a tight race between President Biden and Donald Trump.

            Usually, an incumbent president has an advantage in his bid for re-election. But only a third of those surveyed in a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll approved of President Biden’s job performance — a record low for any president in the last 15 years. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating is eight points higher than Biden’s.[1]

            Still, Trump’s not in great shape either. A recent poll of Iowa voters conducted days before Monday’s caucuses found 43 percent of those who supported Nikki Haley said they would vote for Biden over Trump in a general election.[2]

    Another sign of Trump’s general election weakness is a number of his former staffers speaking out publicly against him. Sarah Matthews, a press aide on Trump’s 2020 campaign and in the Trump White House who resigned on Jan. 6, 2021, noted, “I would support Biden over Trump…I won’t support someone who refused to participate in a peaceful transfer of power, tried to overthrow a free and fair election, and incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.”[3]

            At the same time, Biden’s strong support of Israel in its war against Hamas is definitely hurting his re-election chances. In a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 57 percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the war.[4] With over 24,000 Palestinian civilian deaths due to Israel’s massive bombings, Biden is being sued for complicity in Israel’s alleged commission of genocide in Gaza.[5]

            Biden’s immigration policy at our southern border is also not popular. Many feel that too many poor, illegal immigrants are entering the country.[6] While lower, nagging inflation is yet another issue pulling his approval ratings down.                                       

            Then there’s Biden’s age. He sometimes appears unsteady on his feet or unsure of his words. He often does not present a strong leadership image. Two-thirds of Democratic-leaning voters want their party to nominate someone other than Biden for president.[7] Additionally, MSNBC pundit and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough noted that every Democrat he has spoken to privately believes President Biden is “too old” to run for reelection.[8]

            Though there’s nothing he could do about his age, Biden and his Democratic colleagues seem unwilling or unable to change course regarding some of these other issues. This is particularly true when it comes to Israel. As a result, he is losing a good portion of the youth vote that got him elected in 2020. And they are not just frustrated with Biden, they are actually angry with him.[9]

    Both candidates have their work cut out for them. Trump needs to figure out how to convince skeptical Republicans to stick with him. On the other hand, if Biden does not start listening to the people who elected him, he may not only fail to win this critical election, but he may also be responsible for losing American democracy to authoritarian rule.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4408318-bidens-approval-rating-drops-to-new-low-poll/#:~:text=In%20an%20ABC%20News%2FIpsos,percent%20approved%20of%20his%20performance.

[2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-may-help-republicans-against-110000920.html

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/politics/biden-israel-gaza-poll.html

[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/14/us-president-biden-sued-for-complicity-in-israels-genocide-in-gaza

[6] https://cis.org/Arthur/Why-Biden-Implementing-Immigration-Policies-Few-Americans-Favor

[7] https://www.axios.com/2023/09/07/poll-biden-2024-second-term-democrat-voters-cnn

[8] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4202366-scarborough-says-democrats-privately-say-biden-too-old-to-run/

[9] https://www.vox.com/politics/24034416/young-voters-biden-trump-gen-z-polling-israel-gaza-economy-2024-election

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Can American Democracy Survive Trump’s Sedition?

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There’s a lot going on these days that makes my blood boil. The tragic war between Israel and Hamas is on the front burner, along with Biden’s refusal to recognize it’s time he passed the presidential torch to the next generation.

But I just read a recent column by my new favorite journalist, Lucian K. Truscott IV, that made my blood boil even more. In it, Truscott reminds us that:

“…while Judge Engoron (who is presiding over Donald Trump’s NY civil fraud case) and his clerk are undergoing a tsunami of harassment and threats that took 250 single-spaced pages to list, Trump is riding around in armored Secret Service “Beast” SUV’s and traveling on his private jet, surrounded by Secret Service agents carrying M-4 automatic submachine guns, as he continues to egg-on his hordes of MAGA followers.”[1]

I am outraged. How can we law-abiding taxpayers be footing the bill for Trump’s protection while our government’s judges continue to allow the indicted, fascist-leaning ex-president to incite his followers to violence?

What the hell is happening in our country that allows such seditious, if not, criminal behavior to go unchecked? How can protecting this lawless, insurrectionist ex-president and his subversive conduct be more important than safeguarding American democracy? This must be stopped!

It’s clear that our democracy is under attack and Trump is leading the charge. So clear that the federal government has indicted him on three criminal conspiracy counts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.[1] (Including three other cases against him, Trump faces a total of 91 felony counts.) Still, even if Trump is convicted, it probably will not stop his supporters from doing whatever they can to put him back in the White House.

No question we have our work cut out for us if we are to save our besieged democracy from Trump and his unruly gang. Fortunately, Indivisible has published A Practical Guide to Defeating MAGA[2] which provides a promising way forward. They know it won’t be easy. In fact, they warn, “It’s going to take all of us working together to beat back the MAGA movement and save our democracy.”[3]

In their 19-page Guide, Indivisible lays out two strategies that executed well together can defeat MAGA Republicans and preserve our democracy. Simply put, they are:

Push Democrats to fight for important wins and sell those wins to the public, and

Define the GOP as the unpopular extremists they are.

I urge you to join Indivisible in this critical effort. Go to https://indivisible.org/ and sign up. We must come together. Our country needs us now more than ever.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/trump-my-free-speech-rights-dont

[2] https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf

[3] https://indivisible.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/20220104_Indivisible_%20A%20Practical%20Guide%20to%20Defeating%20MAGA.pdf

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The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Beginning of the End for Donald Trump

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Many thought this day would never come. My gut told me that American democracy would not survive if it let Donald Trump off the hook. Then, on August 1, 2023, more than two and a half years after the January 6th attack on our nation’s Capitol, Trump was indicted for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former president is finally being held accountable for his treasonous conduct.

            While there is no guarantee that justice will prevail, there is now a clear and convincing path to Trump’s being found guilty as charged. For those who still remain skeptical, consider these factors:

            The Judge Assigned to the Case.  U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama and confirmed by a 95-0 bipartisan Senate vote, will oversee the case. She has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, even handing down harsher sentences than Justice Department prosecutors recommended. At one sentencing hearing, Judge Chutkan explained, “It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man – who knows full well that he lost – instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert.”1

In November 2021, Judge Chutkan ruled against Trump in a prior hearing when she refused his request to block the release of documents to the U.S. House’s Jan. 6 committee by asserting executive privilege.2

            The Trial Venue. The January 6th conspiracy case will be tried in Washington, D.C., a pretty progressive city with a multicultural population. Unlike the Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida, the jury pool will not be drawn from a Republican-friendly area more inclined to look favorably upon the former president.

Trump has already questioned whether an impartial jury can be seated in D.C. But Judge Chutkan previously ruled in the case of one January 6th defendant that the assumption the jury pool would be politically biased against them was “not an appropriate basis for changing venue.” She found that “Jurors’ political leanings are not, by themselves, evidence that those jurors cannot fairly and impartially consider the evidence presented and apply the law as instructed by the court.”3 Judge Chutkan will not permit the trial to be moved to another venue.

            The Timing of the Trial. It is critical that the case be tried before the November 2024 presidential election. The American people must know the outcome of this trial before they go to the polls, assuming Trump is the GOP nominee, which now seems likely. But Trump and his attorneys will do everything they can to delay the trial until after the election. They will argue that they need more time for discovery and pre-trial motions in such an important case.

Additionally, Trump will contend that the government had over two years to prepare its case, and, in all fairness, he should have just as much time to get ready for the trial. In fact, Jack Smith, the special prosecutor handling the case, was not appointed until November 18, 2022, less than nine months ago. Prior to that, the Department of Justice was focusing on prosecuting people who participated in the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Preparing the case against Trump was not the DOJ’s focus until Smith came on board. Thus, Smith can argue that giving Trump, who has known for several months that an indictment was coming, another nine months to get ready for trial would be equivalent to what the prosecutor has had to put his case together.

            The 1974-75 Watergate case involved high-level officials in the Nixon administration who were charged and convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. It was a complex political trial comparable to the January 6th insurrection case. President Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case.4 The seven defendants were indicted on March 1, 1974, and tried and convicted in January 1975, less than a year later.5 Given the Watergate precedent, Trump’s trial could be completed by next summer.

            Trump already has two other trials scheduled for next year. In one of them, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has signaled that he is ready to set aside former President Trump’s March 2024 trial date in New York to make way for a possible trial related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6th insurrection trial.6 That would make a Spring 2024 trial date for the insurrection case feasible. It would also provide Trump’s attorneys with approximately nine months to prepare for trial.

            The Prosecutor. Special Counsel Smith has a reputation for winning tough cases against war criminals, mobsters, and crooked cops.7 As a former prosecutor for the NM Public Education Department, I know that prosecutors do not bring charges against someone unless they are confident that they have the evidence to prove their case. I’m sure Smith has that confidence as well.

Smith called for a speedy trial in this case.8 One very significant indicator of Smith’s desire to bring this case to trial as soon as possible is that despite noting six other co-conspirators, none of them were indicted. Indicting others would have required more discovery and pre-trial motions which would have been more reason to extend the trial date. Smith is well aware of the importance of trying and winning this case before next year’s election.

The Key Witnesses. Almost all of the key witnesses in this case are credible Republicans, most of whom were appointed by or closely associated with Trump. Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, confirmed that Trump “knew well he lost the election.”9

Former Vice President Pence stated that Trump pushed him to reject the Electoral vote count on January 6th in violation of his Constitutional role and send the election to the House of Representatives.10 There are many more GOP witnesses of high standing ready to testify how Trump plotted to overthrow the government. The picture they will paint is of a power-hungry tyrant itching to turn American democracy into an autocracy under his total control.11 The DOJ and the American people cannot allow this to happen.

The time has come. For Donald Trump, it’s the beginning of the end.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

  1. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66383603
  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wevombMsZFY
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Manchin and Schumer to McConnell and the Republicans, “Gotcha!”

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Did Democrats Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer pull a fast one on Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, or what?

A month ago, Sen. McConnell declared, “Let me be perfectly clear. There will be no bipartisan USICA (a $52 billion bill to support the U.S. semiconductor industry) as long as Democrats are pursuing a partisan reconciliation bill.”[1]

Two weeks later Sen. Manchin put the brakes on the Democrats’ reconciliation bill. Believing that the partisan bill was dead, McConnell and 16 of his Republican colleagues then joined with all 50 Democrats to pass the CHIPS semiconductor bill on July 27. Within hours Sens. Manchin and Schumer announced an agreement on a $740 billion reconciliation bill[2] that McConnell can’t derail.[3]

It was the kind of cunning maneuver McConnell is known for, but this time the Democrats were in the driver’s seat. McConnell has been sticking it to the Dems for way too long. Could this just be the beginning of the payback McConnell and his right-wing colleagues clearly deserve?

The Democrats are finally learning to play hardball. And, right in the nick of time. With the mid-term elections fast approaching, the Dems need to demonstrate to the voting public the stark differences between them and the GOP. Forcing Republicans to vote on popular legislation they oppose, especially if the bill ultimately fails, helps the Dems make the case that the public needs to vote more Democrats into office if they want these bills to pass.

For example, take the bill enacting the right to contraceptives. A few days ago, Senate Republicans blocked the bill,[4] despite the fact that 84% of likely Republican primary voters support safe access to contraceptives.[5] Almost all House Republicans voted against this bill as well.[6] And most of them also voted ‘no’ on a same-sex marriage bill and a couple of other popular social issues.[7]

Even more reprehensible, last week Senate Republicans rejected a bill to assist veterans suffering from exposure to toxic chemicals while on duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Twenty-five Republican senators blocked the measure, even though they had voted in favor of it just one month earlier. Their about-face was in retaliation for being outmaneuvered by Schumer and Manchin in the CHIPS Act voting previously noted. “Getting even” with the Democrats apparently overrode their longstanding strong support for our troops. This may very well cost the GOP when America’s veterans go to the polls this fall.[8]

Meanwhile, as the Justice Department begins to zero in on Trump’s criminal culpability for the January 6th insurrection, a bright light will also shine on his Republican Congressional enablers. McConnell and his colleagues who have failed to stand up to Trump are, in fact, accomplices to Trump’s crimes. If Senate Republicans had voted with the Democrats to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial after he had instigated the attack on the Capitol, he would have been barred from running for president again under Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution.[9]

The House Select Committee’s hearings have made it clear to millions more Americans how Trump and his party conspired to overthrow the 2020 election. All the Republican Congresspeople who voted against certifying that election and supported Trump’s Big Lie should be held accountable in my view. But that will be up to their constituents in November. The voters may yet reject those who chose overthrowing our government rather than upholding the Constitution, which they had sworn to defend.[10]

Though the polls and history suggest this is the Republicans’ year, recent events have given the Democrats renewed hope for winning the mid-term elections. In addition to all the above, abortion rights, gun control and climate change provide further Democratic momentum. And I just bought gas for under $4/gal. So, inflation may cease to be the overriding issue it has been projected to be. Then Democrats may well declare the ultimate “Gotcha” on the night of November 8th. Wouldn’t that be something?!

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://seekingalpha.com/news/3853443-mcconnell-looks-to-block-52b-in-chips-funding-over-spending-packages

[2] https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/07/joe-manchin-climate-bill-inflation-reduction-act.html

[3] https://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnell-assails-manchin-spending-deal-after-dems-strip-his-leverage-2022-7

[4] https://truthout.org/articles/republican-blocks-contraception-access-bill-from-coming-to-vote-in-senate/

[5] https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/07/19/poll-independent-womens-voice-republican-primary-voters-support-safe-access-birth-control-contraception/9921658251250/

[6] https://truthout.org/articles/republican-blocks-contraception-access-bill-from-coming-to-vote-in-senate/

[7] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/house-republican-votes-marriage-contraception/

[8] https://www.npr.org/2022/07/29/1114417097/veterans-burn-pit-bill-republican-senators

[9] https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-3/clause-7/#:~:text=Judgment%20in%20Cases%20of%20Impeachment,and%20Punishment%2C%20according%20to%20Law

[10] https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Oath-of-Office/#:~:text=Today%2C%20Members%20of%20the%20House,following%20the%20official%20swearing%2Din.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Republican Dishonor Will Remain

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“Tonight, I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”[1] That was the message Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), co-chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection, gave to Congressional Republicans as the committee’s historic hearings began on June 9th.

After concluding three public hearings, Cheney’s warning has become even more foreboding. Yet, despite Trump’s unforgiveable transgressions against American democracy, a great many Republicans continue to support him and believe his Big Lie that the election was stolen.[2] The power Trump has over his party is just mindboggling.

A major test of the impact of the Select Committee’s hearings will be to what extent they influence Americans’ opinions not only of Trump, but of his Congressional Republican enablers. In a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, “58% of Americans think Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the riot.”[3] That is six points higher than before the hearings began.[4]

As the hearings continue, I believe that majority will likely grow even larger.  In fact, “ex-justice department lawyers say new revelations at the hearings increase the likelihood that Trump will be charged with crimes involving conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding or defrauding the United States…”[5]

It stands to reason that an increasing majority would want to hold Trump’s Congressional enablers accountable as well. Afterall, the backing of a majority of Republican Congresspeople bolstered Trump’s baseless claims,[6] at least in the eyes of Trump voters.

The most effective way to hold those Republicans accountable would be at the polls this November. While conventional wisdom holds that the insurrection will not be a major issue in this year’s midterm elections, the Select Committee’s hearings could change that.

Of course, inflation and the economy will be very important factors in the election. However, if the hearings continue to provide overwhelming evidence of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and destroy American democracy, then the seats of all the Congressional Republicans who gave credence to the Big Lie could be vulnerable. Instead of supporting Trump’s efforts to subvert the election, these Republicans could have stood up for the truth and our democracy. But their fear of Trump and their thirst for power were stronger than their allegiance to the Constitution and our democracy. For that, as Rep. Cheney noted, their dishonor will remain.

While Trump will not be on the ballot this November, the survival of our democracy will be. Republicans who supported Trump and his attempt to overturn the election are the enemies of democracy. They must be fully exposed as co-conspirators. Americans must understand that a vote for any of them is a vote to destroy our democratic process and create a Trump-led autocratic government. It is up to everyone who wants our democracy to survive to make that crystal clear to all Americans going to the polls this fall.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.npr.org/2022/06/09/1104083111/liz-cheney-stark-message-gop-trump-supporters

[2] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/midterm-primaries-trump-retains-majority-gop-support-poll/story?id=84452201

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/gma/6-10-americans-trump-charged-130009380.html

[4] Ibid.

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/19/trump-charges-january-6-hearings-capitol-attack

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/07/us/elections/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Will the January 6th Select Committee Succeed?

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While it’s not a sure bet, I believe the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol will succeed. And, in my view, there is only one measure of success. That is, the Department of Justice will indict Donald Trump for crimes against our nation based on the evidence the committee presents to the American people.

The country is clearly divided on whether Trump is culpable for the insurrection. Thursday’s first televised hearing was only the beginning of the committee’s effort to lay out its case that he is criminally liable. With Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy) leading the charge, it was a good initial step.

The committee’s evidence was convincing that there was a conspiracy to overturn the election. For example, it showed video of a meeting between leaders of two far-right groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, the night before the attack. Then Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards testified that she observed about 200 members of these groups marching to the Capitol at 10:30 the morning of the insurrection, well before Trump urged the crowd at the Ellipse to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”[1]

If the “riot” was a spontaneous response to Trump’s speech, why were these right-wing groups already meeting in advance of January 6th? Why were they encountering police at the Capitol prior to Trump’s Ellipse speech? It stands to reason that they must have conspired in advance to be on the frontline of the larger attack they knew was coming.

The essential question that the committee must answer with concrete evidence in its subsequent hearings then is, to what degree was Trump involved in the effort to overthrow our government. What did Trump do or not do to advance the insurrection and with whom did he interact? As Rep. Cheney asserted, that attempt went well beyond the January 6th attack on the Capitol. In fact, it continues to this day.

Cheney explained that over the course of several months Trump had a “sophisticated seven-point plan” to overturn the 2020 election and prevent the transition of presidential power. In the next couple of weeks, the committee’s hearings will provide substantial evidence of Trump’s central role in executing his plan. When all else failed, the January insurrection was the final stab at accomplishing his goal.

Other elements of Trump’s scheme included:

  1. Spreading false and fraudulent information to the American public claiming the 2020 election was stolen from him,
  2. Replacing the Acting Attorney General, so that the Department of Justice would support his fake election claims,
  3. Pressuring state election officials, and state legislators, to change election results,
  4. Instructing Republicans in multiple states to create false electoral slates and transmit those slates to Congress and the National Archives, and
  5. Summoning his supporters to Washington and directing them to march on the US Capitol.[2]

When you put this all together, it’s clear that Trump’s intent was to overturn the election and remain in power by unlawful means. In practically all criminal cases, proving the accused’s intent is a critical element in obtaining a conviction. It’s now up to the committee to present evidence in its upcoming hearings that establishes Trump’s intent beyond a reasonable doubt. If it can do that, and I think they can, Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice will prosecute Trump for crimes against the United States.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/09/january-6-committee-hearing-live-updates/7529743001/

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/09/politics/jan-6-hearing-cheney-trump-overturn-election-plan/index.html

The Struggle for the Soul of America: A View from Afar

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It’s another beautiful morning in paradise. I’m sitting alone on the beach in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Tiny waves create a recurring rhythm as they roll ashore just 20 feet in front of me while a gentle sea breeze embraces my entire body.

I feel very fortunate to be here, so calming and reassuring. At the same time, on the other side of our planet, Ukrainians are being mercilessly killed as they desperately attempt to save their homeland from a senseless Russian invasion. Many millions more are suffering all over the world from hunger, disease, natural disaster, and armed conflict.

In our own country, people are struggling to save democracy. The Democrats are having great difficulty providing what the vast majority of Americans want due to a recalcitrant minority who can’t or refuse to accept the core principles of our nation. They don’t get that universal forces have brought us together from all over the globe, a diverse people from many different countries, races, religions and backgrounds all yearning for the same thing: a better life with “liberty and justice for all.”

Unfortunately, Americans have very different ideas of what that means. Some people believe they have the liberty to do whatever they please regardless of the consequences that may impose on others. Donald Trump is the epitome of that way of thinking. On the other hand, other people feel that we are not free until all our fellow Americans are free.

Perhaps, an even bigger issue is how Americans are divided on the meaning and application of justice in our country:

Is it just for a security guard who shoots and kills an unarmed black teenager to go free because the guard had suspicions about the teenager’s activities?

Is it just for a few Americans to accumulate billions of dollars while many others live in poverty, a good number of them homeless?

As we saw on January 6, 2021, we are in the midst of an armed and deadly conflict over the very soul of our nation. Are all Americans brothers and sisters in one big, complex family? Or are we a huge conglomeration of individuals just in it for ourselves?

I think what really divides us is our fear of the other. Whether it’s the other gender, race, nationality, sexual preference or what have you. Those driven by their fear seek power. They want to control the ‘other’ to alleviate their own fear. It’s scary and depressing what they are willing to do to gain and maintain control. And it’s impossible to predict how this will all turn out.

With all that, I am fortunate to be able to take a ‘time out’ away from all the turmoil of our world. To see the broader picture from afar. I feel great gratitude for my stay in Puerto Rico. Most people do not have the time or resources for such luxury. So, with renewed vitality and vision, I’m ready to return to the real world and continue in the struggle for the soul of America.

At the same time, the ocean will keep on washing onto the shore, wave after wave after wave forever. And we are just a tiny moment in eternity.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Is Trump’s Support of Putin’s Ukraine Invasion a Bridge Too Far for Republicans?

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It’s hard to know what to make of the Republican Party these days. The Grand Old Party used to stand for family values and against the former communist Soviet Union, now Russia. Remember when Republican President Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire?” That was before Donald Trump came along and turned the GOP upside down.

Trump recently congratulated Russian President Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine calling it a “savvy” move and a “stroke of genius.”[1] With Trump heading the Party, many Republicans followed his lead and began seeing Russia in a more favorable light. In a recent Gallup poll, only one-in-three Republicans saw Russia as a threat.[2]

As for family values, the only one Republicans support is the right to be born. Once a mother gives birth and an actual family exists, the GOP wants no part of it. A few months ago, with Trump cheering them on, Congressional Republicans rejected President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation to support stronger families. The bill would have extended child tax credits, provided universal preschool for all 3 and 4-year old children, offered free school lunches for millions of low-income students, expanded healthcare, capped childcare costs and more.[3]   

But maybe Trump’s embrace of Putin and his invasion of democratic Ukraine was a bridge too far for even most Republicans.  A recent NBC poll “found that 56% of GOPers describe themselves as supporters of the Republican Party, with 36% saying they are supporters of Trump. That’s a reversal from late 2020, when 54% described themselves as supporters of Trump and 38% supporters of the GOP.”[4]

Trump’s biggest supporters in 2020 were white male voters without a college degree. Seventy percent of them went for Trump. Now only 50% favor him while 46% disapprove. Additionally, voters over 65 are generally more conservative. Trump won 52% of them in 2020. A recent poll indicated that 60% of those older voters now view Trump unfavorably.[5]

At the same time, Biden’s performance has not been receiving very high marks. The latest poll has him at 53% disapproval and 43% approval.[6] Still, a January survey found that Biden would best Trump, 53% to 43%, in a hypothetical 2024 rematch.[7]

What to make of all this? More Republicans appear to be tiring of Trump’s empty bluster. They are seeing Trump as the con man that he is, whether it’s his Big Lie about the 2020 election or his support of Putin. They abhor Trump’s vengefulness and his constantly putting himself above the interests of their party.

What remains to be seen is the Democrats’ response. Bill Maher recently suggested that the Democrats need to be gracious to those former Trump lovers. Not to shame them for their failure to see through Trump, but rather “provide a face-saving path” out of Trump world.[8]

This is another opportunity for the Democrats to regain their mojo. With the coming House Select Committee’s hearings on the January 6th insurrection, the receding of the COVID pandemic, the nominating of a highly qualified, black woman to the Supreme Court, the recovering economy and Trump’s losing his shine, Biden and the Democrats may yet win back the voting public next fall.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://fortune.com/2022/02/23/trump-cheers-putin-ukraine-invasion-as-savvy-genius-russia/

[2] https://time.com/6150495/republicans-russia-putin-trump/

[3] https://www.deseret.com/2021/11/19/22792043/build-back-better-bill-senate-families-biden-congress

[4] https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2022-02-11/bidens-loss-isnt-trumps-gain

[5] Ibid.

[6] https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-BIDEN/POLL/nmopagnqapa/

[7] https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2022-02-11/bidens-loss-isnt-trumps-gain

[8] https://www.thewrap.com/bill-maher-warns-democrats-not-to-humiliate-republican-voters-whose-trump-fever-is-cooling-down-video/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Are Democrats Turning the Corner?

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The popular consensus until now has been that the Democrats are in deep trouble and will likely get hammered in the coming November elections. Considering their inability to pass the Build Back Better social reforms bill or voting rights protections and Biden’s low polling numbers, the Democrats clearly looked like big losers come next fall. Then suddenly, the winds of change appear to be turning in their direction.

One of the main issues that the failed voting rights legislation addressed was partisan gerrymandering.  Republican controlled state legislatures have been drawing House district lines that reduce the number of districts that favor Democrats. Since the GOP only needs to flip five seats to take control of the House, their gerrymandering efforts seemed to be getting the job done.

But the Democrats have been fighting back in the courts and winning. In fact, according to the L.A. Times, “when all is done, it’s even possible Democrats could emerge with a slight gain compared with the current maps.”[1] For example, the Ohio State Supreme Court struck down the Republican legislature’s partisan redistricting map.[2] And, on Friday the North Carolina Supreme Court did as well.[3] The Democrats’ chances of holding onto the House majority are clearly improving.

Another recent development that should help the Democrats next fall is Biden’s upcoming pick of a black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. While Blacks’ support of the Democratic Party has been waning since the 2020 election, Biden’s naming a black woman to the Court will likely reverse that trend. Republican opposition to this nomination will have racial overtones which will further motivate Blacks to get out the vote and defeat GOP candidates at the polls.

A third cloud looming over the Republicans’ election prospects is their response to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. This week the Republican National Committee formally censured the two members of their party, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger, who serve on the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection. The RNC censure accused their two colleagues of “participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”[4] Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority (72%) of Americans, including 45% of Republicans, believe the people involved in the attack on the Capitol were “threatening democracy.”5

Many GOP lawmakers are now downplaying what happened on January 6. The House Select Committee will soon hold televised hearings to lay out to the nation exactly what occurred then and leading up to that day. Will swing voters in November want to support those Republicans who not only refuse to acknowledge the truth regarding the attempted coup, but also continue to back Trump who is plotting to do it again?

Finally, Biden and the Democrats have a positive record that should increase their electoral fortunes. The recent tremendous rise in employment figures along with the great reduction in omicron cases give voters reason to stick with the Democrats. Of course, a lot can and will happen in the nine months until the election. But the Democratic picture is certainly brighter today than it’s been in quite some time.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2022-01-21/state-courts-rein-in-gerrymandering-a-help-to-democrats-essential-politics

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/04/north-carolina-congressional-map-struck-down-00005974

[4] https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/politics/liz-cheney-adam-kinzinger-censure-rnc/index.html

[5] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/majority-americans-jan-attack-threatened-democracy-poll/story?id=81990555

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Are Trump and His Republican Party Going Down?

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The walls are closing in on Donald Trump. It’s now clear that Republicans in at least five states won by Joe Biden conspired to fraudulently overturn the 2020 presidential election. In one of those states, the Michigan “Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock said that the Trump presidential campaign directed Republicans in Michigan to seat fake GOP Electoral College delegates.”[1] No doubt Trump’s campaign directed the other states to do the same.

This effort was led by Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.[2] It’s inconceivable that Giuliani would have implemented such a scheme without his client’s knowledge and approval.

At the same time, the New York Daily News has reported that NY “state Attorney General Tish James reveal(ed) that the cheating conman (Trump) we’ve known all these long decades cheated and conned in illegally misrepresenting the finances of his real estate firm.”[3] The Daily News editorial board called Trump “this miserable insipid democracy-threatening horror of a man.”[4]

Meanwhile, “a district attorney in Atlanta on Thursday asked a judge to convene a special grand jury to help a criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.”[5]

And it does not appear that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court is ready to come to Trump’s rescue either. On Wednesday, in an 8 to 1 decision, the Court refused Trump’s request to block the release of White House records to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.[6]

In the coming weeks how all these pieces fit together will most likely become abundantly clear when the House Select Committee conducts nationally televised hearings regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection. What will take longer to decipher is the American public’s response to what these hearings reveal. Specifically, how will the committee’s revelations affect next November’s elections?

We know that Republican members of Congress met with some of the rioters before January 6th. Reports indicate that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows also interacted with them.[7] In fact, 147 Republican members of the House and Senate voted to overturn Biden’s election.[8]

Americans are about to learn who really tried to steal the 2020 election. Once they understand the extent to which Trump and the Republican Party went to unlawfully overturn the election will they be willing to trust them with the reins of power and vote them into office? While the Democrats recently lost the battle over voting rights, it appears they still may have a pretty good shot at winning the struggle for the soul of America.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/michigan-gop-co-chair-says-004310038.html

[2] https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/20/politics/trump-campaign-officials-rudy-giuliani-fake-electors/index.html

[3] https://www.yahoo.com/news/digging-donald-trump-comeuppance-coming-090000451.html

[4] Ibid.

[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/us/politics/georgia-trump-election-investigation.html

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/politics/trump-supreme-court-jan-6.html

[7] https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/exclusive-jan-6-organizers-met-congress-white-house-1245289/

[8] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/07/us/elections/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html