As a hardcore Liberal, and given the vagaries of human existence, I resist calling things “wrong  .  .  .  an injurious, unjust, or unfair act.” (Merriam-Webster)

This said, when Americans live in tents and scrounge of food, while illegal immigrants are housed and fed at taxpayers’ expense, something in our laws and regulations is fundamentally, terribly wrong!

The Supreme Court will decide if “executive privilege” protects Donald Trump from prosecution for his actions as President of the United States.  If such an exemption were affirmed, any President would seem exempt from censure for raping children on the White House lawn!

The notion of the law precluding prosecution of the President for alleged illegal acts calls to mind Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist: “If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, “the law is a ass—a idiot!”

Trump’s lawyer argues that Donald should not be on trial while he is campaigning for election as President of the United States.  Under this reasoning, by announcing her or his candidacy for the office of President, any indicted person could forestall and potentially preclude prosecution.

“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance
when the need for illusion is great.”
Saul Bellow

Constitution of the United States of America,14^th Amendment, Section 3:
“No person shall .  .  .  hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath .  .  .  to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same  .  .  .” (emphasis added)

Having sworn to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” President Donald Trump orchestrated and ordered a physical assault on the United States Capitol, Congress, and the Constitution.

Some argue the President does not “hold any office” of the United States, and is, therefore, exempt from censure under the 14^th Amendment, Section 3.  Ignoring its common-sense absurdity, this assertion hinges on the definition of an “office.”   

Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution states:
“The executive Power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America.
He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years  .  .  .” (emphasis added)

Merriam Webster defines “Officer” as “one who holds an office of trust authority or command.” (emphasis added)

Ergo: Under Article II, Section1, the President of the United Staes holds an “office” of the Unted States and is subject to the Constitution’s 14^th Amendment, Section 3.

In “Tired of Winning” Johathan Karl quotes an assertion by an official who worked closely with Donald Trump that the former President, “lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring.  He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent, and stunningly ignorant of virtually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs.  He is a traitor and a malignancy in our nation and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law.”

What might this imply for Donald’s MAGA minions?

Jimmy Buffet’s demise recalls lyrics around America’s drug of choice.

• Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville  .  .  .
  But there’s booze in the blender and soon it will render
  That frozen concoction that helps me hang on.”
  Jimmy Buffet
  
• “Jose Quervo
  You are a friend of mine.
  I like to drink you with a little salt and lime.”
    Cindy Jordan
  
• “Tiny bubbles
  In the wine
  Make me happy,
  Make me feel fine.”
    Leon Pober
  
• “Oh whiskey, you villain, you’ve been my downfall.
  You’ve kicked me, you’ve cuffed me, but I love ya for all.”
    The Pirates Charles
  
• “Pour me somethin’ tall an’ strong.
  Make it a Hurricane before I go insane.
  It’s only half-past twelve but I don’t care.
  It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
    Jim “Moose” Brown and Don Rolins

We suffer.  Alcohol numbs the pain—for now.  Given its consequences: hangovers; alcoholism; organ damage; spousal, child, and other abuse; automobile and other accidents; and lost productivity, our alcohol dependence seems masochistic.  Compared to the costs related to alcohol, the money America spends on its “War on Drugs” is Petty Cash.

It’s not just America.  British belly-up for stout, gin, and scotch.  Wine is a French and Italian staple.  Beer keeps Germans fat and happy.  To push Russians over the edge, confiscate their vodka.  Saki in porcelain cups have the Japanese smiling.  Tequila keeps Mexicans afloat.   

Alcohol dependence seems a European, hence, American issue.  In Africa, Asia, India, China, the Near and Middle East, it appears not problematic.  The Quran and Islamic dietary law forbid alcohol and other intoxicants.     

Why is a significant chunk of humanity alcohol dependent?  Again, to be human is to suffer.  Eons back, someone discovered that ingesting spoiled fruit juice or elixir from fermented grain alleviates suffering—for the moment.

It “helps me hang on,” is “a friend of mine,” ”Make(s) me happy; Make(s) me feel fine.”  In the end, “I love ya for all!”

It’s Happy Hour somewhere.   

Cheers!

On Moring Joe, September 25, conversative commentator Charles Sikes opined, “Joe Biden can say: ‘Yes, I’m old, but he is crazy.’”  Crazy is three years junior to Old.

Lest we question, a handful the Crazy one’s Malignant Narcissistic notions:

• Toxic chemical injections to cure COVID-19.
• John McCane, and hence all prisoners of war, is not a hero.
• Reputedly, armed forces personnel are “suckers” and “losers.”
• He beat “Obama” in 2016 and 2020!
• Biden could start World War II.
• Wind turbines kill birds.  As always, Donald’s source is not specified.  Automobiles kill 500 times, communication towers 50 times, and buildings’ windows twice the number of birds killed by wind turbines. 
• Wind turbines kill whale! 
• Despite over sixty failed court challenges, overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and near-universal consensus that he lost, Donald insists he won the 2020 Presidential election.
• In consort with Trump’s Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper, Joint Chiefs of Staffe Chair, General Mike General Milley assured his Chinese counterpart America would not attack his country.  Presumably, for acting without his expressed blessing, Donald called this “act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would be death!”
• On the heels of, (1) orchestrating an attack on the Capitol, Congress, and Constitution, (2) pressing Secretaries of State, Governors, and Legislators to overthrow 2020 election results, and (3) absconding with thousands of official government documents, Donald Trump insists, “I did nothing wrong.”
• Undocumented immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our county.”

Old or Crazy. Your choice.

Like Cervantes’s mentally unhinged Spaniard, ours jousts with windmills.

Locking up Donald Trump would greatly simplify the Secret Service’s job of protecting the erstwhile President.  Today, as Donald bounces between Mir-a-Lago and Bedminster, shakes hands with starstruck admirers in Arizona or Alabama, harangues before MAGA Minions in Tennessee or Texas, Secret Service agents face daunting logistical challenges.  In Federal lockup, Trump’s protectors’ problem would be boredom.     

In Bernie Madoff’s final residence, the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, NY, “Club Med,” Trump would be free to swap lies with other nonviolent, white-collar crooks.  In this rigorously scheduled and circumscribed environment, a couple of agents would shadow their man from mess hall to common area to the “yard.”  Overnight, one could park outside his cell.

Keep Donald Trump safe!  Lock him up!