The Coming Senate Trial…Below are links from the newsfeeds the past few days, while our more extensive commentaries for all 3 parts have been posted recently on Sunday evenings. Whenever the Senate trial starts, it’s only common sense we need evidence in the form of documents & witnesses. Every trial has that! We don’t want a rigged trial & it’s outrageous to allow the administration to keep covering up the most pertinent evidence! A key aide John Bolton has actually suggested the Senate hold a hearing with him. He certainly has relevant information, especially when he once used the term “drug deal” to describe the Ukraine scheme where Trump seemingly hatched a bribery/extortion plot against Ukraine. For jurors who don’t want to hear from him, they have no interest in the truth!
A poll a week before Christmas indicated 71% of Americans want Trump aides to testify (https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/474885-poll-7-in-10-say-trump-should-allow-top-aides-to-testify-in-senate), so only the most hardened Trump loyalists don’t want to learn the facts. Now that Bolton has volunteered to testify if subpoenaed, there’s no good reason why the Senate shouldn’t want to hear from him. He specifically called for a Senate subpoena, which puts the onus on some GOP senators to request that so it wouldn’t place Bolton by himself on an island among Republicans. It also signals doubt about whether he’d appear if the subpoena instead came from the House. So let’s hope at least 4 GOP senators can find their consciences & vote to invite key witnesses like Bolton, even if they wait to do it after articles of impeachment have already been turned over from the House.
Bolton is a wildcard & it’s hard to predict how much of a bombshell his testimony might be. In working directly with the president & he likely resigned in part over that drug deal, he knows what went down & the extent Trump withheld military aid explicitly because he wanted dirt on the Bidens from Ukraine. But Bolton also has a book coming out he wants his Fox News conservatives to buy, so he would be hesitant to alienate that crowd. Plus as a rabid hawk, he’s tickled pink that Trump bombed that Iranian leader. We could only hope a Bolton hearing wouldn’t turn into Lewandowski-moments by dodging the hardest questions. Reports are he’s got new evidence not favorable to Trump. So let’s anticipate & expect his offer to testify is based on love of country, where he doesn’t want his legacy to go down on the wrong side of history. And should the prez try invoking executive privilege, that would only add to the mountain of evidence there’s a massive cover-up.
Based on many of their statements, GOP senators have become part of that massive cover-up. During Watergate many Nixon aides went to jail for their involvement in the cover-up, but America back then was far less partisan & adhered more strictly to the rule of law. These days the radical echo-media has convinced GOP politicians & supporters that tribal loyalty trumps abiding by the Constitution, so that now extremist party apparently favors tyranny over democracy. Back in the day when our society did abide by the law, we could have rightfully arrested today’s GOP senators for obstruction based on their current posture. It’s a sad state of affairs & doesn’t bode well for our democracy going forward, unless the GOP can suddenly find their long-lost principles. For perspective, here’s the important recent news articles:
Deadly Game Between Us & Them
We dodged a bullet for now on last night’s Iranian missile attacks on military bases housing American soldiers, since had there been casualties, it likely would have sparked a full-scale war. Trump’s rationale for his initial strike last week, claiming evidence of Iran planning imminent strikes, those specifics turned out beyond vague & basically nonexistent (he was caught in yet another lie). GOP Sen. Mike Lee was livid about today’s briefing as the administration’s incompetence was on full display. So Trump’s attack was likely more a political calculation & distraction away from impeachment headlines. And what little goodwill we had previously built up with the Iranian people has been blown to bits. As payback for Trump’s order to kill a leading commander & beloved figure in their country, Iran leadership to save face had to retaliate against U.S. interests in pacifying their angry population while also falsely claiming casualties. Iran tipped off the Iraqis, while it’s also possible they deliberately missed our troops to avoid the serious repercussions which would surely come from America.
That region is now more of a hotbed than ever. We should brace for more provocations ahead, whether coming from us or them. With tensions high the slightest infraction can spark rage, plus our sanctions increase their desperation, so any of this tit for tat can quickly escalate out of control. On another note, we’ve got to wonder if that plane crash in Tehran just after the missile launches was more than just coincidental. Perhaps a stray Iranian missile? Going forward expect cyberattacks against us which could be difficult to trace the source. Or if Iran attacks us with proxies, there’s less of a risk to them from our counterattacks. Things did calm down a bit today but this ongoing high-stakes skirmish is far from over.
On the bigger problem with Iran, we’re still stuck with the same dilemma we’ve also faced with North Korea, how do we stop a bad actor on the world stage from developing their nuclear program? Trump has tried diplomacy with North Korea & hardline bluster with Iran, but so far neither seems to be working. Any more provocations from Iran could open the door for us to bomb their nuclear facilities, which may be a risk we must take. In revealing my hawkish side, I agree with Trump that Iran must not be allowed to have nukes, especially with the current radicals there in charge. To avenge Soleimani’s death, I can unfortunately perceive of Iran playing the long game when once they have the capabilities, can funnel nukes through their terrorist network. That’s a threat not so far off & an unimaginable risk the world cannot afford to bear. So with Iran soon on the cusp of developing bombs, the choice comes down to regime change &/or bombing those facilities. I just don’t see any other viable alternatives. Here are articles mostly prior to Iran’s missile strikes:
https://www.theguardian.com/
Today’s News in the Aftermath
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