At the height of the Great Recession, unemployment reached 10 percent.
During the Obama Presidency, unemployment declined over 5 percent.
When Barack left office, the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent.
My Mama taught me to always say Thank You.
So, Barack, I thank you,
for leading America out of the Great Recession and into the Great Rebound.
On December 19 the Electors will meet in their States’ Capitals to cast their votes for President of the United States. The Electors have the obligation to ensure that the person holding the office of President is qualified. Now is the time for Electors to use their constitutional powers to protect our Republic from an unqualified and dangerous president. The Republican electors can do this by denying Trump the majority of electoral votes by voting for a different Republican. (It is not realistic to expect the Republican electors to vote for Clinton.) Then Congress will have the option of electing that alternate person; the Constitution details this process. That this option has never been taken is no argument for it not being used. Everything ever done was once unprecedented. The Founders gave the Electors the power to choose an alternative knowing that someday it would be needed, and that time is now.
Trump has shown himself to be unqualified for the office of President, he has refused to eliminate conflicts of interest, he has acted in a potentially treasonous manner, and he has not upheld the principles of the Bill of Rights. Before even taking office, he has already cast doubt on whether he can uphold the oath of office, to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Lack of Qualifications. Trump has refused intelligence briefings, and he has refused to consult top diplomats before conversing with foreign government officials. His preferred mode of communications is via Twitter, and he has used this platform for petty and vengeful attacks. If he cannot be trusted with the post button on his phone, how can he be trusted with nuclear buttons of our military?
Potential Violation of the Bill of Rights. Trump continues to show disdain for the Press and has repeatedly threatened the freedom of the press by expanding libel laws. He has conducted himself since November 8th in a secretive manner, refusing a press poll and not engaging in press conferences. He has supported the use of waterboarding and of using Guantanamo for holding and trying US citizens. He supports registering immigrants based on their religion, which could easily develop into such a registry for US citizens.
Potential Violation of the Constitution’s Emolument Clause. The Trump Organization is a global investment conglomerate. Trump has refused to eliminate conflicts of interest by establishing a true blind trust for his Organization and investments, and he has still not released his tax returns, which would give a clearer picture of his finances. Trump has intimated that he thinks he is exempt from the Emolument clause; he incorrectly thinks it only applies to the Legislative Branch. Without a real blind trust, we cannot eliminate the possibility that Trump will conduct foreign policy in a manner that would be advantageous to his global investments, thus using his office to increase his wealth.
Possible Treasonous Acts. Trump has said that he might not defend NATO countries in Russia’s path of invasion. How close this is to “giving Aid and Comfort” to the Enemy. Trump encouraged Russia to attack his political opponent, Clinton, during the campaign, and he took full advantage of the Russian propaganda being leaked via Wikileaks. He has recently discouraged the investigation into the intrusion by hacking of Russia, and he has disparaged our government’s intelligence officials who have concluded that Russia was behind the Clinton email hacking and the hacking into states’ voter records.
The Hamilton Option is not about placing a Democrat in the White House. It is about placing a qualified president in the White House. Even though the popular vote went to Clinton, the election is determined by the electors. For the record, I am a Democrat, yet my love of country leads me to support the realistic option of an alternative Republican for president. There are many qualified and dedicated Republicans who I would support as my President.
Following are links to articles that further spell out the potential danger of a Trump presidency, and support the actions of the electors to choose differently.
From the NY Times Op Ed, Why I Will Not Cast My Electoral Vote for Donald Trump, by Christopher Suprun
From The Atlantic, Trump Could be in Violation of the Constitution His First Day in Office, by Norman Eisen and Richard Painter
The Electoral College Should be Unfaithful, by Kathleen Parker
And some references:
Oath of Office
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Applicable Clauses of the Constitution
AI, S9, C8: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
AIII, S3, C1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
1st Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
6th Amendment. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
7th Amendment. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
8th Amendment. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Trump Quotes
“Would you try to get the military commissions, the trial court there, to try U.S. citizens?” the Miami Herald reporter asked.
Mr. Trump responded: “Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems, and I don’t like that at all. I don’t like that at all. I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine.”
“Would I approve waterboarding?” Trump said in November 2015. “You bet your ass I would. In a heartbeat. I would approve more than that. It works,” he added. “And if it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway for what they do to us.”
1968 Mustang GT, not very relevent to this blog, but very cool.
Perhaps trump was right about the election being rigged. To be honest I think it was. I have no actual evidence to support that claim but I now know that making wild unfounded accusations is what winners do. Winners bemoan that an electoral system is rigged to hedge their bets in case they lose, and then when they win they spin around faster than Steve McQueen’s Mustang in Bullitt to praise the system that got them elected. So here are my accusations for the election being rigged, which, in honor of the new president-elect, will not include links to actual factual information.
I believe a case can be made that the media, the same media that trump accused of being disgusting and corrupt, enabled trump’s rise during primaries by televising every time he spoke or blew his nose because it raised their ratings. After trump clinched the nomination, the media was all but silent about the 75 lawsuits that he faces (oops, I just gave you a number which is dangerously close to a possible fact [in fact it is a fact]). Then there are the twin propaganda websites that masquerade as real news media, Breitbart News and Infowars, who belched out the ugliest meanest conspiracies against Clinton, which trump was happy to use and never disavow.
Voter suppression most likely played a role in this election. I would go into it in detail but that would require research and facts, so, forget it. Certainly Clinton winning 2 million more popular votes than trump but not winning the election, points to the election being rigged or at least being a broken system…bigly.
A case can also be made for the FBI interfering in the election to tip the scales to trump by notifying Congress about the emails found on Anthony Weiner’s computer a week before election day. An unnecessary move, only necessary if the FBI was trying to influence the election in favor of trump by giving him more ammunition for his propaganda machine. Combine this with the FBI’s tepid response to Russian hacking and wikileaks feeding falsified information against Clinton, and I wonder if the FBI is looking forward to working with a “law and order” president.
This is all supposition, I admit. But as I heard a congressman say in an interview when responding to a reporter pointing out that fact checking had disproven one of trump’s claims, “You have to take that fact checking stuff with a grain of salt. What really matters is people’s impression of truth.” That congressman was right. Trump was able to give the impression that he had a modicum of interest in helping the working class despite his elite upbringing, his record of cheating contractors, and his promise to lower taxes on the wealthy and not the working class. And by the way, I don’t remember the name of the congressman who said that thing about fact checking being overrated. I think he was from Virginia or some other state — who cares.
We will not benefit by furthering the political and cultural divide in our county. We have common ground and there we must stand. The map to that common ground shows routes around the slippery slopes of stereotype and detours away from the steep canyons of bigotry. We must be willing to wander onto the unfamiliar path of understanding and compassion even when the easier familiar path of self-righteousness is straight ahead. We must make our way out of the brambles of tribalism and find our way to the trail that leads to the land promised two centuries ago, where all people can share equally in the bounty of the green valley of freedom.
soundwords 