The View from Right Field

“Grifting” for a Cause

Last year the Lincoln Project was a big deal in the mainstream media: a group of Republicans running ads against Donald Trump.  It was big news.  It made the mainstream media feel good.  It was a story they could throw in Trump supporters’ faces. 

Except now, we are finding out there were problems with the Lincoln Project.  Last week, the Associated Press reported on at least ten allegations of harassment (I think sexual harassment) by one of the co-founders of the group.¹  Interestingly, it appears the members of the group’s leadership (or at least some of them) were told about this in June of last year, but the AP only reported it last week.  I guess the AP was busy.

On Convicting Donald Trump

Even though I think the better constitutional argument is that it is constitutional to impeach and try former President Trump (he was, after all, impeached while he was still in office), I probably wouldn’t have impeached him (for the reasons stated here).  However, once he was impeached, given what he did, I couldn’t not convict him. 

As I said here, I don’t know if he “incited” an “insurrection” in the legal meaning of those words, but what he did was wrong.  A president doesn’t have to be guilty of a crime to be impeached and convicted (and a president doesn’t always get impeached and convicted just because he committed a crime – see, for example, Bill Clinton).  What former President Trump did was sufficiently wrong that, as I said above, I couldn’t not convict him.  Unfortunately, it appears that not enough Republicans agree with me.

Impeachment Jeopardy: The Only Senator to Vote to Convict a President of His Own Party

Who is Mitt Romney?
--------
UPDATE (2/13/21 5:30 pm): The answer should be changed to: “The Only Senators to Vote to Convict a President of Their Own Party.”
The question should be changed to: “Who are Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse, Paul Toomey, Richard Burr, and Bill Cassidy?”

On President Biden’s First Week

I have not posted since Joe Biden was inaugurated last Wednesday, so maybe I will now.  I thought President Biden’s inaugural address was pretty decent.  It did not get into details, but it hit a lot of things I believe in.¹  Whether he is going to be able to do those things, who knows.  It depends on him, his team, and the other team(s)².

I don’t agree with some (a lot-?) of the executive orders, etc., that President Biden has issued/signed, but I have not commented because, well, it is early.  Also, the way Donald Trump left the presidency, especially since the Electoral College met in December, has bothered me so much that it is hard to criticize what President Biden is doing.  I don’t know if President Trump “incited an insurrection” on January 6 in the legal meaning of those words, but what he said was not, in my opinion, acceptable.³

Just Because I’m Glad Trump Is Leaving, Doesn’t Mean I Agree With Biden

A comment on the upcoming change in administrations that many in our polarized America may not appreciate: Just because someone is incredibly glad Donald Trump is leaving the White House, doesn’t mean they think Joe Biden will wind up being a good president or that the Democratic Party has the right policies for the United States.

President Trump has been a terrible president; possibly the worst in our history.¹  His administration did some good things (I’ve talked about them before), but the farther we got into his term and the more the decisions were made by him, rather than some of the people he appointed, the worse things got.²  While the last two months would not have happened if he had won re-election, a second Trump term could have been even scarier, perhaps especially in foreign policy and other areas where he could have acted on his own.

The Tolerance of “I Might Be Wrong”

A long time ago, I wrote a post entitled “Truth and the Right to be Wrong.”¹  I said in part:

“I believe that some things are right and that some things are wrong.  But my certainty does not make me think I have the right to force my beliefs on others … because I think we all have the right to be wrong. …

Some will object to my concept of ‘the right to be wrong’ on the ground that I am disrespecting them and their beliefs when I say they are wrong. That is not true.  In fact, I am giving them the ultimate respect: I am defending their right to believe what they do even though I know they are wrong. …

Making Sure This Week Is Our Last Memory of Donald Trump

Kimberley Strassel said, in Friday’s Wall Street Journal: “A politician has to work hard to destroy a legacy and a future in a single day.  President Donald J. Trump managed it.”  Early Thursday morning, after a mob, urged on and incited by Donald Trump, assaulted and occupied the Capitol, the Senate voted 93 to 6 against his objection to Arizona’s electoral votes.

And that is the way I want Donald Trump to leave Washington.  I want these things to be the final memories his supporters have of him as he leaves office: A President who incited a mob to assault his own Capitol and a man who lost in the Senate 93 to 6.  Because that is how he deserves to be remembered.

A Thought on Using the 25th Amendment to Get Rid of President Trump

If you use the 25th Amendment for a purpose for which it was not intended, even if it is a really good purpose, do not be surprised if you are not happy the next time the 25th Amendment is used for a purpose for which it was not intended.

Being a Republican in the Age of Trump

People ask me how I can be a Republican with Donald Trump as President – or at least they would ask me that if I wasn’t socially distancing from just about the entire world.  I understand the question.  And I would add people like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, more representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives than I care to mention, and others, too.

But then I read about Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Ryan Germany, his counsel.  Those guys are very impressive.  Plus there’s Senator Ben Sasse from Nebraska and Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – and more, even if, at times, it seems like not enough.

As Donald Trump’s World Continues to Turn – Around Him

I have no idea if Donald Trump really thinks he didn’t lose the presidential election.  But then I generally have no idea what President Trump is thinking about anything.  And he will be gone in seventeen days (even if he doesn’t think so), so I don’t have to worry about him too much longer (– I hope).  What is worse (at least for me) are the Republican politicians who are continuing to lend support to President Trump’s claims that he really won the election – even after the Electoral College met on December 14.  (I would have preferred if they had done it before December 14, but continuing to deny Joe Biden’s victory after that date is appalling.  I wrote here about what a better person did 60 years ago where there was real evidence of fraud.)

It now appears that Missouri Senator Josh Hawley will support claims by several House Republicans challenging one or more state’s electoral votes when the House and Senate meet for the counting of electoral votes on January 6.  Obviously, Democrats did this to President George W. Bush in January of 2005 with respect to Ohio’s electoral votes (even though President Bush won Ohio by over 100,000 votes).   Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California supported claims by Democrats in the House.  It wound up delaying the counting of the electoral votes by a couple of hours, but that was all – other than maybe setting a bit of a precedent for what supporters of President Trump are doing today.  (John Kerry did not support the effort to overturn or reject Ohio’s electoral votes.  He was a classier guy.)