The Big Lie

 If you tell a lie big enough, loud enough and often enough, some people will start to believe it. -- Attributed in various forms to Adolph Hitler and Joseph Goebbels.

   There was a time in American journalism not long ago that the L word was almost never used in print or broadcast media. Moreover, in personal conversation, calling someone a liar would quickly get the user punched out. Beginning several years ago, however, untruths spread by Donald Trump became so blatant, so often and so easily disproven that journalists and commentators began using the L word consistently. In short, he lies and here's the truth.
   In the 1930s, propaganda disseminated by Nazi politicians in Germany used the technique consistently, defending it by accusing the British government of telling lies and insisting that their version was the truth.
   The term "big lie" reportedly was coined by Adolph Hitler in his 1925 book, "Mein Kampf."
   Recently in America, Donald Trump began using this strategy even before he was elected in 2016, claiming that the only way he could lose would be if there was massive fraud throughout the nation.
   In fact, he did lose the popular vote, but took the office of the presidency by winning the electoral vote. Even so, he continued to insist that he really did win the popular vote also, even as he became president.
   Four years later, he lost both the popular vote and the electoral vote, but claimed that was only because of massive fraud throughout the nation. His supporters filed some sixty appeals to state and federal courts to  overturn the electoral college tally. All were rejected, as well as two that reached the Supreme Court, which included three justices nominated by Trump himself. Moreover, both Supreme Court appeals were rejected unanimously.
   This did not stop him from continuing his efforts to remain in office, however. He actively endorsed a rally by supporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 6, the day Congress was to formally count the electoral college vote and endorse Joe Biden as the next president.
   The result of his endorsement was an attack by demonstrators on the Capitol, forcing Congress to shelter as the National Guard and police were called in to repel the assault and uphold the result. Biden was inaugurated as scheduled on January 20, but Trump did not attend.
   Since then, Trump has repeated his claim that he really did win, but it was only through fraud that Biden became president. Meanwhile, the use of the term "the big lie" has become common in news reports, both by commentators and among traditional news journalists who report fact and whether claims are true.
   This, however, has not stopped many in the Trump corner to continue to insist there was widespread fraud in the vote count.
   In addition, they have begun claiming that the events of January 6, documented by video of the insurrection, did not happen. News reports show Trump supporters saying this, but they also show video of the insurrection next to the the claims of denial.

Third Term?

    Donald Trump told an audience of conservatives that he was considering running for "a third term" as president in 2024, basing his plan on his conviction that he really won last year, but the election was stolen from him.
   One wonders whether he has actually read the Constitution, which specifically forbids anyone from more than two elected terms.
   Unless he finally admits he actually did lose his bid for re-election last year. This would make him eligible to run again.
   But to admit he lost?
   Fat chance.

Power Playing

   So why did Sen. Mitch McConnell vote to acquit Donald Trump if he already knew he was guilty of inciting the insurrection on January 6?
   Answer: To maintain his own grip on power as leader of Republicans in the Senate.
   Seven Republican senators voted guilty, a record for opposition party members in a presidential impeachment trial. But of those seven, four were recently re-elected to six-year terms in the Senate, so their jobs were safe, and three are retiring, so voting no didn't matter.
   The final score was 54 guilty votes, but 67 were needed for a two-thirds majority.

Not Guilty -- But

   The U.S. Senate failed to reach the two-thirds vote needed to convict Donald Trump for offenses committed while in office, so he was thereby acquitted of the charges against him.
   However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell strongly criticized the former president for his behavior, and pointed out that Trump still faces potential criminal and civil charges of inciting the assault on the Capitol building January 6 in an effort to stop the electoral vote count that would certify the presidency of his successor Joe Biden.
   McConnell used the rationale that Trump was no longer in office, therefore impeachment was pointless. But he did slam the former president's behavior, in effect encouraging civil and criminal authorities to file charges against him.
   Now that Trump no longer has the support of the political leader of the Republican Party, the likelihood that he will succeed in any future effort to achieve public office is diminished.
   Moreover, if Trump is convicted of criminal charges that he incited the riot, that would severely harm any attempt to be elected to anything. In addition, he still faces various charges that have already been filed against him.
   

Pound the Table

   Lawyers often follow this axiom: When you have facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, pound the table.
   The opening remarks of the defense team today in the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump amounted to table pounding. The case against the former president offered hours of video and background on just how he provoked his supporters into storming the capitol to prevent counting and certification of the electoral votes that turned him out of office.
   The single charge against him is incitement of insurrection, and House managers spent two days detailing the evidence. Today, the ex-president's lawyers began their defense by pounding the table and alleging that there was no evidence to support the charges.
   Separately, three senators met yesterday with the defense team to discuss the case and decide on defense strategy. Commentators pointed out that the three senators are not only jurors in the case, but also witnesses to the incident that brought on the charges. For them to also participate in the defense is therefore highly questionable.
   However, this is not a legal matter, but political. The worst that can happen in an impeachment case is that the accused is ousted from office and prevented from seeking another. The first part is moot, but if the president is acquitted (for the second time) he will be able to seek the presidency again in four years.
   In addition, any allegations against an official who is ousted through impeachment can still be pursued in the courts. In this case, criminal and civil court actions against the now former president are already under way in state courts, and potentially could be filed in federal courts.

Defense Lawyers Quit

    All five members of Donald Trump's impeachment defense team have resigned from the case, a bit more than a week before the Senate trial is scheduled to begin.
   One wonders why.
  Here's a possibility: The lawyers wanted to say the impeachment was unconstitutional, because Trump was already out of office, and thus the issue of impeachment was moot. The sole charge was incitement of insurrection, based on his speech to supporters who immediately broke into the Capitol building. However, Trump wanted to focus on the idea that he really did win the election, and therefore the invasion of the Congress by rioters was justified.
   The real reason why the lawyers quit is not known.
   Yet.

Never Again

   Donald Trump is banned from ever again holding any public office in the United States.
   Not because Congress may impeach and convict him, nor because the vice president and the Cabinet may remove him from office, but because the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, approved in 1868, already prohibits it.
   Specifically, the Constitution says, "No person shall ... hold any office, civil or military, under the United States ... or as an officer of the United States (who) shall have engaged in engaged in insurrection ... or given aid or comfort" to those who do.
   There is little doubt that he encouraged the mob gathered for his speech to march to the Capitol to prevent the formal approval of a new president. Nor is there any doubt that he comforted those who did raid a session of Congress for failing to succeed in their insurrection.
   Therefore, whether Trump is removed from his position before his term expires next week, or whether the House of Representatives impeaches him, or whether the Senate convicts him even after his term expires, he will never again be able to hold any government office.
   He has talked of running again for the presidency, but even if he does, he is Constitutionally prohibited from moving back into the White House.