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  • Implications of WH Claim “The President Is Not A Civilian”

Implications of WH Claim “The President Is Not A Civilian”

William L. Kovacs

August 2020

Implications of WH Claim “The President Is Not A Civilian”

Most days after reading a few newspapers and watching a few cable “news channels,” (liberal and conservative outlets), I ask myself – how does the president of the U.S. believe he can lead a country and honor his oath to defend its Constitution when he is at war with many of its people and laws on a daily basis?

I really do understand that many of our “leaders” break the law on a regular basis but they try to deviate from expected norms in secret so they can continue holding office and appear to have integrity. We Americans are very tolerant of hypocrisy. We have to be. We live under the rules our politicians impose on us but somehow, exempt themselves from compliance.

But lately, Donald Trump’s vicious attacks on protesters for breaking the law, while sticking his disregard for the law smugly in our face, makes silence impossible.

Before proceeding further, I must admit, I voted in 2016 for Donald Trump. I cheered for him as he fought the “Deep State” over its false accusations involving collusion with Russia. His deregulation effort was needed to allow the country to grow again. He was on the path to greatness, even if his tweeting is obnoxious. Unfortunately, his mouth gets in the way of “Making American Great Again.”

A few recent events illustrate this point. His Phoenix and Tulsa rallies and the White House statement explaining why the president need not follow civil law, provide a glimpse of his disregard of the laws all of us are forced to live under.

The July 23, 2020 event in Phoenix, Arizona is a good example of hypocrisy. The President hosted a rally for students amid Arizona’s growing Coronavirus crisis. Trump’s rally did not abide by his own CDC guidelines, and arrogantly disregarded the City of Phoenix’s mandatory mask policy. Moreover, the President himself refused to wear a mask. He should have, even if for no other reason than as an elected official he needs to show respect for laws citizens must live under. Trump has many legal avenues to change laws he disagrees with. He certainly sues on every other believed wrong that pops into his head.

In his Phoenix speech he had the gall to viciously attack protesters for breaking the law, while he was breaking the law as he spoke.  He told his followers they are “smarter” than others and they are the “elite” while having the protests deemed an unlawful assembly at which the police used flashbangs to disperse the crowd.

After the Phoenix event, the press reported that at the earlier Tulsa event, the Trump campaign directed the removal of thousands of “Do Not Sit Here, Please!” stickers on the chairs to ensure social distancing. Trump denied asking for the stickers to be removed. Denials and blaming others is his campaign style.

Is there no end to his hypocrisy?

More concerning, however, is the statement made a few days later by the White House.  “The president is not a civilian” therefore, he does not need to comply with New Jersey’s quarantine law which requires a 14-day quarantine when coming into the state from another state with an increasing number of COVID-19 cases. This statement should scare the living crap out of all citizens – if the president is not a “civilian” leader, then he is a “military” leader.”

[It should be noted that the president canceled the New Jersey trip so he could remain in DC to ensure “law and order.”]

The U.S. has had twelve generals as presidents, e.g. Washington, Grant, Jackson, Eisenhower, each of them led this nation as civilian leaders. Our military is under civilian control until now when a president, who never served in the military, claims he is a military leader of our country.  Supporting these claims, Trump in a  recent ABC interview,  stated he could do whatever he  wants since “A president can run the country.”

Trump’s threats and belligerent actions are legendary from lawsuits to evictions, to refusals to release subpoenaed documents, and involvement in over 3500 lawsuits earning him the title of “Plaintiff in Chief,” according to an article in the ABA Journal.  Even before he was nominated in 2016, he told every reporter who would listen, if he did not get the nomination, “I think you’d have riots.” He went on to say “I think you would have problems like you’ve never seen before. I think bad things would happen; I really do.”

Tuesday, November 3, 2020, can’t come too soon. We citizens are not given many choices by the political elite who view voters as cheap commodities, needed only to win elections and pay taxes. That is all we are worth to them.

As I asked in a prior article – Out of 328 Million People, Can’t We Find Better Candidates than a plagiarizer named “Sleepy Joe” and a narcissist named Trump? Fortunately for Libertarians, they have Jo Jorgensen, as their nominee for president. She is a solid candidate with a practical approach to governing. She is a superstar compared to the two establishment losers. But she needs more than votes from Libertarians. To win and she can win, if she aggressively talks to independents about how a Libertarian president is good for the nation. In Gallup’s May 28 – June 4, 2020 poll – 25% of Americans identified themselves as Republicans; 31% as Democrats and 40% as Independents. The votes are available, now is the time to put in the hard work to get them.

 

 

 

 

 

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  • Kakistocracy is Two Major Political Parties: Articles About

Kakistocracy is Two Major Political Parties: Articles About

William L. Kovacs

July 2020

Kakistocracy is Two Major Political Parties: Articles About

ReformTheKakistocracy.com, a blog that explores ideas for reforming the federal government so it works for people not politicians, announces it has consolidated, on one page, links to its top 12 articles on the need for a major, third-political party, to bring new ideas into the political debate.

This collection of articles discusses how the two major political parties have captured over 99% of all elected offices. Such control blocks new ideas from outside sources from entering the political debate. The collection also contains articles on creative remedies to bring competition into the political system.

The compilation is timely in an election year in which millions of voters are frustrated with the choices given them by the two major political parties, yet reluctant to “throw away” their votes on minor candidates. The compilation of articles helps answer the question of why our political candidate choices are so limited and what voters can do about it.

The links to each of the articles are below:

  1. Out of 328 Million People, Can’t We Find Better Candidates https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/out-of-328-million-people-we-can-find-better-candidates/
  2. Hostile Takeover of US by Major Political Parties https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/hostile-takeover-of-us-by-major-political-parties/
  3. The Republican and Democratic Suppression of Third Parties and Ideas https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/the-republican-and-democratic-suppression-of-third-parties-and-ideas/
  4. Denial of Ballot Access: In Search of Meaningful Remedies to the Deprivation of Constitutional Rights https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/denial-of-ballot-access-in-search-of-meaningful-remedies-to-the-deprivation-of-constitutional-rights/
  5. Using the Antitrust Laws to Open the U.S. Political System to Competition https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/using-the-antitrust-laws-to-open-the-u-s-political-system-to-competition/
  6. Commission on Presidential Debates: Insight Into a Rigged System https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/commission-on-presidential-debates-insights-into-a-rigged-system-recent-effort-to-block-ballot-access-an/
  7. Jungle Primaries Will Break the Two Major Parties’ Control https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/jungle-primaries-will-break-the-two-major-parties-control/
  8. States Seek Permanent Democrat Rule https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/states-seek-permanent-democratic-presidential-rule/
  9. The Decline of U.S. Leadership: Truman to Trump https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/truman-responsibility-trump-blames/
  10. 2020: A Libertarian President? Voters Want a Third Party https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/2020-a-libertarian-president-voters-want-a-third-party/
  11. Is Socialism Acceptable Under the U.S. Constitution? https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/is-socialism-acceptable-under-the-us-constitution/
  1. https://www.reformthekakistocracy.com/the-constitution-mandates-government-officials-act-as-fiduciaries/ The Constitution Mandates Government Officials Act as Fiduciaries

 

 

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  • The Decline of U.S. Leadership: Truman to Trump

The Decline of U.S. Leadership: Truman to Trump

William L. Kovacs

June 2020

The Decline of U.S. Leadership: Truman to Trump

Lido di Ostia Leaders can be elected

U.S. presidential leadership has changed dramatically from Harry Truman, a real-wartime president, to Donald Trump and Governor Andrew Cuomo, who claim to be “wartime leaders” in the fight against a pandemic.

In the late 1940s, we had a president with a sign on his desk “The Buck Stops Here.” President Truman clearly meant “…that responsibility will not be passed on to anyone else.” President Truman took responsibility for many extraordinary and controversial actions. He dropped atomic bombs on Japan to end the war in the Pacific, announced the Truman Doctrine to fight the spread of communism, created the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, proposed civil rights legislation at a time of racial segregation, integrated the military, and ordered the Berlin Airlift to bring supplies to West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded it.

Murwāra Trump and other present-day “leaders” blame others for their mistakes

Today we have a president who “leads” the “war” against COVID-19 by stating “I don’t take responsibility at all” for the slow rollout of testing for the virus. President Trump seems to blame everyone in the world for his questionable management of the pandemic.

Trump blamed China for not warning us sooner. He would have taken action had he known sooner.

Trump blamed Obama for not stockpiling needed protective equipment.

Trump blamed the Centers for Disease Control for initially developing faulty tests.

Trump blamed Governors for not purchasing more ventilators and General Motors for not producing ventilators more quickly. He also blamed hospitals for misusing masks and other equipment.

Let us not forget the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. He “led” the response to coronavirus in his state, the state which the highest number of cases and deaths; seven times more than California and eleven times more than Florida.

Throughout the U.S., over one-third of all coronavirus deaths occurred in nursing homes. This fact had been known from the beginning of the pandemic when Washington state reported on the first deaths. With deaths being reported daily, Governor Cuomo ordered New York nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients, a fact Miranda Devine called “a death sentence for other residents as the infection spread like wildfire.”

But Governor Cuomo blamed President Trump and the CDC guidelines as the reason for his order. As the deaths continued to rise, he subsequently blamed the nursing homes for accepting the patients he ordered them to accept.

Blame boosts ego by demeaning others

Blaming provides a way of devaluing others, with the end result that the blamer feels superior, seeing others as less worthwhile making the blamer ‘perfect’.”

In an article entitled., “Blaming Others: 6 Reasons Why People Play the Blame Game,” Connie Stemmle, discusses how blaming others comes as second nature to people used to getting their way. More significantly, however, people blame others for their actions to boost their ego in an attempt to validate that they are right and someone else is wrong. “This shows a sign of low self-esteem.”

Blamers lack leadership traits

The Center for Creative Leadership does extensive research on “leadership.” It found that great leaders consistently possess 10 core leadership skills: Integrity, Ability to delegate, communication, self-awareness gratitude, learning ability, influence, empathy, courage, and respect.

The characteristics needed to be a great leader are mostly lacking in a person who constantly blames others just to satisfy their ego by shifting responsibility and accountability for their actions.

Leadership is about working with people to achieve results

If leadership is about working with people, President Trump fails miserably. A few recent examples make the point.

At his Arizona rally he refused to follow his own administration’s guidelines on wearing a face mask to protect others from COVID-19 and refused to comply with the laws of both Arizona and the city of Phoenix.

At his Tulsa, OK rally the president’s campaign removed all the on the stickers on seats that informed attendee “Do Not Sit Here, Please!” so as to comply with social distancing.

The White House indicated the president would not comply with New Jersey’s quarantine law when he entered the state to golf. The White House indicated the president “is not a civilian.” Is he now a military ruler?

The president threatened protesters (U.S. citizens) at the Tulsa rally, calling them agitators, looters or lowlifes.

Fact-checkers estimate the president made 18,000 false or misleading claims in1,170 days in office.

Most disheartening is who will be our next leader?

More disheartening than the failure of our current President or Governor Cuomo to take any responsibility for their actions are the likely presidential nominees. In a recent article, I noted: “The United States has 328 million people. We have some of the most educated and creative minds in the world. But in 2020, amid a pandemic, the two major political parties appear to be nominating candidates for president, so exceptionally flawed, that all one can ask is – can’t we find someone better than these two?”

Has the U.S. fully transitioned into a Kakistocracy – rule by the least able or least principled citizens?

Blaming others, refusing to obey the law and misleading the nation with false statements, is more than an attempt to escape from responsibility. It is a total refusal to lead.

Benjamin Franklin commented – “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good at anything else.”  This is the “State of our Union.” Where is Harry Truman when we need him?