Stop Spending

   The Federal Reserve today boosted interest rates and said it will do it again.

   The bad news is that borrowers will pay more to indulge their practices, and will cut back on spending. In turn, this is likely to recede the economy in general.

   The good news is that savers will get more for their money, so rather than spend on getting more stuff at rising prices, their savings accounts will gain.

   Already, savers have seen interest rates rise to more than 1 percent, from near zero not long ago, and the latest move by the Fed will encourage people to save more and to spend less.

   Businesses will not be happy to see their income drop, but cynics point out that they have been boosting prices to such an extent that it hurts consumers.

   So who's to blame for soaring prices?

Evidence Gathering

   The latest hearing and presentation of evidence against ex-president Donald Trump was broadcast in prime time by almost all the major TV networks.
   The sole exception was Fox.
   Instead, the evening Fox commentators spent their time snapping at the current president, Joe Biden, and other topics favored by right-wingers.
   So why was the biggest and most important news story so far this century being ignored? Because it was critical of the ultra-right network's favorite political leader.
   One would think that's all the more reason to carry the story and to fight back against the accusers. But what if the accusers are correct?
  Ignoring truth doesn't make it go away. It only makes the practitioners more ignorant.
   In its best sense, the word "ignorant" simply means "not knowing." In itself, that's not an evil practice, but deliberately refusing to acknowledge the existence of information that conflicts with your opinion, or condemning those who offer such information soon becomes an exercise in silliness.
   Or worse.
   History is filled with examples of leaders who condemn those who disagree as heretics, and therefore evil. But what if the established belief is mistaken, or at worst, is itself evil?
   In the Roman era, the tribesmen who invaded seldom trimmed their facial hair, so they were called barbarians, after the Latin word for beard, which was barba. To this day, professional beard trimmers are called barbers.
   In the mid-20th Century, those who did not subscribe to the beliefs of ruling politicians in Germany were rounded up and put to death. Similar tragedies have happened in other nations around the world, when persuasive orators have incited violence against those who disagree.
   Currently in America, we are seeing the consequences of what happens when an orator does not get his way. The so-called true believers resort to violence as a way to force others to accept ideas that their leader failed to persuade the larger population to accept on Election Day.
   But many of those who invaded the Capitol of the U.S. government are now being prosecuted and jailed for their attempt to cancel the results of the prior election.
   The leaders and planners of that insurrection are also being investigated by civil and criminal authorities as well as by other governmental agencies, and targets of these probes go all the way up to the former president himself, Donald Trump.
   The evidence is increasingly firm, as probers acknowledge the enormity of the task -- to gather evidence and proof that the president himself participated in and committed criminal and civil offenses, going all the up to treason.
   That's why the probe is going so slowly and carefully.
   So why are the Fox people ignoring the most important story in American history?

Witness Tampering

   The latest allegation against Donald Trump is witness tampering.
   So far, there is no solid evidence that he actually did attempt to influence a potential witness to the Jan. 6 committee, only that he tried to talk to the witness. But the witness rejected the phone call and notified his lawyer, who then reported it to the panel.
   But even if he failed to contact the potential witness, there was an attempt. And that is big news.
   Add that to all the other information being gathered about what Trump did before, during and after the Jan. 6 uprising, and the future looks increasingly dim for the ex-president.
   Meanwhile, there are plans to call before the investigators former Vice President Mike Pence and attorney Rudy Giuliani, as well as other key members of the Trump team.
   Clearly, the panel is going very slowly in gathering evidence. It is also sharing information with prosecutors, who are building criminal cases aganst Trump, both federal and state.
   No president of the United States has ever been prosecuted for any criminal offense, but that does not mean they are immune.
   No one is above the law, despite Richard Nixon's claim that "if the president does it, it's not illegal."

Cojones

   Cassidy Hutchinson had the courage to testify under oath, live on national television, about what Donald Trump was doing and saying before and during the events of Jan. 6.
   The ex-president and his supporters in response launched denials and personal criticisms of the young woman, but they did it privately and sometimes anonymously, and not under oath in a public congressional forum.
   She has something the Trumpistas do not.

Banned From Office

No person shall hold any government office in the United States who has engaged in insurrection or supported those who do.

   The above is a lightly edited summary version of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and it means that any talk by Donald Trump of seeking another term as president is just that -- talk.
   Nor can he hold any other office, federal or state. He may indeed seek a political office, but that would be a waste of time and effort, since he could not take office, unless Congress, "by a two-thirds vote of  each House, remove such disability."
   That's a direct quote of the Constitution. And that, of course, raises the issue of whether Trump succeeds first in winning election to any office, and second whether Congress, by a two-thirds vote, says it's OK.
   Unless, of course, the candidate incites another "insurrection or rebellion," as the Constitution puts it, and succeeds in overturning the existing government of the United States and thereby takes power.
   If so, say farewell to the government system in America that has been in place since 1789.