Them Damned Poster Boys

It is an
unmistakable warning aimed directly at the private sector.When Nordstrom dropped the Ivanka brand, Donald Trump took to Twitter.

“Terrible,” he tweeted, complaining that his daughter was being treated unfairly. His press secretary called it a “direct attack on his policies.” The president was issuing an unmistakable warning to the private sector that Trump business interests are to be given special treatment, or he will attack.

Nordstrom stock took an immediate hit. The retailer explained its decision was based solely on sales performance. Data doesn’t lie.

The presidency is trusted with unequaled powers. Demanding unfair advantage to enterprises owned by relatives and strong-arming competitors isn’t among them. The mere threat of an IRS audit can cost shareholders millions of dollars.

The Constitution lists bribery as an impeachable offense. Extortion is nothing but bribery combed across the forehead in the opposite direction.

We have a history of presidents and legislators getting things wrong.

They have been known to deny the freedoms of speech and assembly, the right to equal protection of the law and the ability to bring suit against powerful interests. They continue to suppress the vote.

Our federal courts were created to safeguard against those abuses. They are the conscience that helps us see our errors and mend our ways.

A president who is contemptuous of that judicial responsibility, who spends nights questioning the honesty of federal judges who find against him, trying to undermine confidence that they are fit to hold office, that president weakens our freedoms.

Our Founding Fathers knew there would be bad actors among us so they set up the Judicial Branch in a way that would make it immune to tweets. Federal judges, you see, are appointed for life. [Article III]

Donald Trump’s travel ban against Muslims is being challenged in U.S. Federal Courts. First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment.

The country that produced the vast majority of 9/11 terrorists is not included in his ban. Could that be because Mr. Trump has extensive business holdings in Saudi Arabia?

There’s no way to know. Candidate Trump promised to make his tax returns public — now he refuses.

When Russia seized Crimea and intensified its campaign to destabilize Ukraine, the U.S. imposed sanctions.

Now an inexperienced American president has entertained the idea of putting the freedom of nearly 300 million Eastern Europeans at risk by lifting those sanctions.

More than once Donald Trump has said he’s impressed that Vladimir Putin wields “very strong control over a country.” That’s exactly the kind of raw authority our constitution was written to protect us against.

Putin interfered in our elections to help Mr. Trump. Senator John McCain calls it an “act of war.” What reasons could Putin have for wanting Trump in office? Is he sitting on secrets he can use to control our president? Lifting sanctions might be just the beginning of his demands.

Ronald Reagan insisted on “trust-but-verify” when dealing with the Russians.

Unlike our current president, he knew that KGB agents like Putin will sneak a round into every chamber of the cylinder if you let them. They’ll hand you the revolver and play on your vanity until you press the barrel to the side of your head.

Donald Trump’s eagerness to level a false accusation against millions of American voters is chilling.

For the record, state attorneys-general have confirmed that illegal voting was basically non-exist in the election. The AGs know the facts.

A man unhinged over losing the popular election might try to rewrite history by singling out Muslims, immigrants, scientists, union members, entire populations.

We’ve seen this movie before. Guy cranks up police state. Guy blames Jews, gypsies and homosexuals for crimes they didn’t commit. Guy has ’em murdered.