Until and unless the Trump administration is no more, and until the Trumpist Party is eliminated, there will be no accountability. The game of footsie being played by the DOJ with regard to the files is appalling, and that Republicans are playing along is disgusting.
Thank you, Jennifer Rubin! You’ve taken what can seem like an overwhelming, impossible issue - accountability in the face of morally reprehensible acts perpetrated and/or countenanced by probably thousands - and presented with moral clarity and practicality how we can deal with it. If we choose to.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Sunday pushed for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign after his name appeared in files linked to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Speaker stands with obstructionists.
A "motion to vacate" must now be supported by at least nine Republican members to trigger a vote, a significant increase from the previous single-member requirement. We need to pressure all Republican House members re Epstein.
Votes for Removal: Once a vote is triggered, a simple majority of the House is needed to remove the Speaker.
As I said Saturday, there are more than that in Dem majority states like Minnesota, California, NY. There are more in the House problem solvers' conference.
Opposition to Speaker Election: Massie was the only Republican to vote against Speaker Mike Johnson’s election in early 2025.
Failed Ouster Attempt: Massie joined a move to remove Speaker Johnson, stating he was "losing political capital by the second".
Policy Disputes: Massie heavily criticized Johnson for working with Democrats on spending bills and for not holding votes on releasing Jeffrey Epstein files.
Repercussions: Following his opposition, Massie was removed from the powerful House Rules Committee in January 2025.
In January 2025, Johnson removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, citing a desire for a "fresh start" in the new Congress. Turner, a critic of Donald Trump and supporter of Ukraine aid, was replaced following pressure from conservative hard-liners.
Every Republican, except one (1) singed to open the Epstein files. Surely there are eight that will join with Massie.
I am starting to believe that there was a “wink wink”:agreement with the DOJ….they told Congressional Republicans that the files would be “released” in a way that would make them nearly useless but would allow the Republicans to claim that they were demanding accountability, without smearing their feckless leader. If there are eight Republicans ready to stand up for the victims, they’d better get moving.
Send them packing? I don't believe this is emotional tripe. I don't think it's radical to say that Mike Johnson, John Thune and everyone in the trump regime are guilty of treason. I believe treason can carry a death sentence. Send them packing? I respectfully disagree. The entire country needs real and succinct accountability!
Why do we have rules that seem to be for everyone except those holding high-end government jobs? Why haven't they all been impeached for treason and sentenced to death for killing our country and our countrymen/women? Why has the SCOTUS spent the past year, posing for group photos, instead of doing their jobs? Why are they all still holding office? Why did I just cringe when hearing 2 fighter jets fly over our house? I am living in a nightmare created by drumpf. Why?????
What we 'need' and what we get are two different realities. Until we have a functioning Department of Justice, FBI, and responsible voters, we will continue to have problems.
We had a functional DOJ and while the J6 rioting participants were “held accountable” the instigators, planners, supporters in government or high positions were not. In fact they’re all running the government now! So we need more beyond a “ functioning DOJ”. We need to elect and support those who will publicly investigate and prosecute on both federal and state charges where applicable all those who ordered and then carried out the atrocities of the trump administration. If we get the chance.
We had a major change between the trials of the J6 insurrectionists and the president who decided to pardon the most if not the whole lot of them. This meant that there were no real consequences for their sedition. Until we get the DoJ straightened out, (with a new administration) the Nuremberg trials scenario might be an avenue to bring about some accountability, assuming the president doesn't act upon the convictions and issue more pardons (a real possibility).
I don’t think it is “emotional tripe” either. I would not have accused them of Treason if I wasn’t serious. But the debate clause makes it imperative that we remove them from Congress.
I have the same concerns. Tulsi Gabbard? Pam Bondi? King trump? Mike Johnson ? John Thune ? Stephen Miller? All people we need to be afraid of. But Senator Mark Warner told Margaret Brennan on Sunday that a year ago he didn't think it was possible that the elections could be threatened. Today he is worried. That suggests to me that people are waking up to the threat. I don't know what has to be done to ensure that we have fair and just elections. We KNOW the challenges will be there. But we must not be Polly Anna about it but at the same time we MUST believe they are going to happen. We ARE going to have midterm elections!
“Having elections” and having free and fair elections unimpeded by a criminal federal government are two entirely different things. Dictatorships have “elections” all the time…it is up to We the People to ensure that ours are legitimate…..or to resist if they’re not……
That is an excellent and true observation. Dictators do have elections that are basically theatrical performances. What they don't provide is any change in the structure of the dictatorship.
So many people to be held accountable. It boggles the mind just how many of our fellow Americans are supporting this fascist regime, - including the entire Republican party in Congress.
We have so much work to do to thwart the Republican's plan to stay in power indefinitely. It makes it hard to imagine what America will look like after restoring something democracy like in this country. We need to remember the lessons of the civil war, - laws don't matter without enforcement.
I agree. I still believe that if Lincoln had strung up Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and a handful of other Confederate leaders, the “Lost Cause” would never have developed.
Not sure that would have worked either. The whole premise of the Confederacy was the belief system of racial inequality, cruelty and greed. Those forces are clearly still with us. Remember that ideas can't be killed by killing individual people.
And since the US itself is basically an idea that has allowed a society to build under it, I believe that the current evil regime can't kill it...no matter how hard it tries...
Well, yes and no LB. Would hanging the leaders of the traitors have ended racism? No, of course not. But it WOULD have set the precedent that if you take it too far... there will be a price to pay.
I think the KKK would have had a much harder time getting as powerful as it did if some of their leaders were executed by various states for murder. As it was, they knew THEY would be alive at the end of it, so they might have felt emboldened by the way J Davis and others did not pay the price they should have.
I only question your references to 'the Republican Party'. That entity has been hijacked by MAGA and truly is no more. Look at what the party stood for in the 1950 - 1960 era and show how it is anything like that today. What we have now is completely unmoored from those practices and policies.
Well that's a great idea. Wish I had thought of that. (Even if you were mocking!)
But more seriously, I was writing postcards this morning and talking with another D volunteer, a feisty woman of 80 years. She regretted that so many of her family members were MAGA - their support so cult like that she thought they would die believing in Trump.
I would need a lot more persuading than Jen's column to believe that reeducation is possible with more Commissions. The imagery of Nuremberg trials that was most vivid was the Nazi defendants sitting in the docks as accused, awaiting sentencing.
Of course, criminal prosecutions aren't easy and take time and won't reach those who acted without conscience but who broke no laws.
Oh well. Accountability aka justice is complicated. But so important to do the right way.
I think they were referring to the enablers. Those who knew what was going on, or had strong suspicions, and chose to do nothing. To say nothing to the cops, or ask the girls how old they were. They committed no crimes, so criminal prosecution would be wrong. BUT, some public exposure, some time where they had to admit how much they knew or suspected and chose to ignore... that is accountability.
And once you know some rich member of your community stood by doing nothing while this happened around them... public shunning and shaming would be reasonable. Everyone in town pointing at them when they go out and telling each other "You remember how John let those little girls get hurt?" and things like that. That type of accountability seems worthwhile for just being complicit in others' crimes.
Mark, Everything you write makes sense. As you say that kind of accountability for Epstein enablers could be very powerful.
When I posted, I wasn't really thinking about Epstein - if names of enablers or actual sexual predators come out I don't really worry about accountability. Just have to get those names.
My comment or rant was directed at the so-called rich and powerful, the American oligarchy, who always seem to be above the law and never held to account. It's possible that the massive redirection of wealth and power to the oligarchy broke norms but was legal. That the corruption found the legal loophole. But I believe that as long as the oligarchy has a strangle hold on our country, democracy will not be restored. So I hope that there will be widespread, aggressive investigations that answer the question about whether laws were broken, and if so, that there will be criminal prosecutions. And if no laws were broken, then time for a Commission to address strengthening of laws to begin the process of regulating and neutering the oligarchy.
One year ago I would have felt silly using words like oligarchy. But less and less so.
America has a way of impressing people of conscience at times—and disappointing them at others. We do Tuskeegee Experiments, but we also have incremental progress in civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and so on. If America were a person, it would be a “C” student.
We will have to see if the powerful and the wealthy and the guilty and the MAGA stymie accountability in this and every other arena—or if we are guided by our “better angels” and live up to America’s highest values and virtues.
After all, we pioneered the Nuremberg Tris, but have allowed a white supremist sex offender to make a mockery out of all we hold dear.
A moot point but: by “America” you must mean the United States. Other countries in America have done better, like Brazil. Brazilian “trump-like” President Jair Bolsonaro “was sentenced to over 27 years in prison for his role in a 2022 coup plot aimed at preventing the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Following the conviction and the exhaustion of appeals, Bolsonaro began serving his sentence in a federal prison in Brasília, having been deemed a flight risk after tampering with his ankle monitoring device.” (Google)
How do we hold accountable those who refuse, not only to be held accountable, but mock the law & other mechanisms we expect to exact that accountability? Who are in fact held harmless by the very High Court whose mandate is to enforce that accountability.
We must march & we must protest & write & we must never be silent.
Retribution for the murders of our sisters & brothers is coming and coming soon.
The new Democratic administration will need to set up a special commission for accountability on this issue, as other nations have done with their specific accountability problems. The administration and Dem Congress will then be freer to pursue progress on the main agenda items, likely economic and "clean up" in nature, that will also need to be pursued aggressively to satisfy the voters.
There have been hints made that we should return to Nuremberg-like trials to deal with the people who have sacked democracy and endangered our people. It's not a bad idea.
We have two historical examples of what “accountability” can look like. After the Civil War, we chose a misguided path that lead to Jim Crow and the continuation of racism and the cruel subjugation of black people. In the second example, Nazism was followed by the Nuremberg trials that held Hitler’s followers accountable for their crimes against humanity. If we are able to thwart this MAGA version of authoritarian fascism, then it’s a good idea to stick with the Nuremberg example.
What is even more interesting is that the United States, that used to be for law, order, justice, honor and integrity has not. The guard rails have been destroyed.
I'm not normally a believer in conspiracy theories, for the reason given over 250 years ago by Benjamin Franklin- "three can keep a secret...........if two of them are dead!"
In fact, I may be the only person in the US of A who honestly believes both that Oswald really did act alone, and that Neil Armstrong really did walk on the moon!
But Epstein's "suicide" stinks to high heaven. This is a guy that anyone with any sense at all would put on a very strict suicide watch, yet he managed to "kill himself". The list of very powerful and wealthy men with both the motive and means to "silence Epstein....PERMANENTLY" is probably longer than a coast-to-coast bus ticket.
You're not the only one - I'm right there with you on all counts. And we've just learned recently that Epstein was talking with prosecutors- about a potential deal?
Mitch McConnell laid it out early - he said we had a right to vote for a criminal. From the get go there was an obvious lack of interest in accountability. Trump promised and did let the 1/6 criminals free - after our justice system held them accountable - judged by their peers; not stacked as Trump is doing with his corrupt loyalists. Then he voided the FCPA (to make bribery legal and cause your CPS issues) , got rid of the inspector generals (to permit Vought to misuse our funds), then he took bribes to release other criminals and relieve them of their restitution (poor Oglala Sioux took it in the shorts for Ascher spilling the beans on Hunter), and then DOJ and FBI firings, Crypto, Dem city raids, breaking the Constitution numerous times, hiding immigrants with CoreCivic moving them all around the country, ruining our country by saddling us with the largest deficit, hiding Venezuela oil money abroad, destroying relations with Canada and the EU (where we like to visit), destroying trading partner relations, changing Switzerland's tariff to get a bribe from Rolex. Trump is nothing but greed and corruption and it's not going to lead to making America better. But the GOP Congress will lie to protect their wealth and pedophile friends.
This morning’s piece offers another chance to promote my belief that the US will need a South Africa-style “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to get past the damage wrought by Trump & his MAGA wrecking crew.
Of course MAGA world will whine “Move on”—louder than even their everyday whining. But there can be no “moving on” until this country accepts that reconciliation is impossible without the truth. It will absolutely require penalties, punishments, and prohibiting traitors from ever holding public office—exactly as Trump should have been prohibited from running again for president under the Constitution’s prohibition from public office of insurrectionists.
Today we are paying the price for disregarding the Constitution’s “Disqualification Clause” (Section 3, 14th Amendment), which prohibits any person from holding federal or state office—including the presidency—if they previously took an oath to support the Constitution and subsequently engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the US or gave aid or comfort to its enemies.”
Articles of impeachment, as provided for in the House's proceedings were ignored by the U.S. Senate, led by Mitch McConnell. His "trials" to convict and remove were kabuki theater that were ineffective at getting Trump removed.
Agreed. But listing the things that "should" be done is irrelevant when those in power are determined not to do anything at all. Would a Dem majority in the House and Senate make a difference? Probably not. Why? Because they are mostly white men whose grip on power and their paychecks rely on them sweeping these things under the rug. The ONE THING that could actually have some teeth and initiate all of these "accountability" strategies? Making the Equal Rights Amendment the law of the land. Without ERA all of us who are not rich white men are hamstrung. Which is why Congress won't ratify it.
When obscene wealth and the courts are controlled by the same small group of elite criminals there can never be accountability. This is a form of feudalism or fascism. Or a mafia. Welcome to America.
It's going to take more than a decade to undo all the damage Trump has caused. While we are doing that, how about a law, no, a Constitutional Amendment saying anyone convicted of a felony is barred from holding any federal public office.
One could easily make a state law to the effect of "Anyone convicted of a felony is ineligible to appear on a statewide ballot until they have completed their sentence or had their conviction overturned."
I appreciate your optimism. I'm less so. I fear the damage, the death and destruction that the MAGA traitors have done will be with the world for a long, long time.
Of course, there is a double standard: accountability for the average person, but if you have enough power or money to throw at any issue or wrongdoing, there is no such thing as accountability. Nothing about that has changed for centuries.
Until and unless the Trump administration is no more, and until the Trumpist Party is eliminated, there will be no accountability. The game of footsie being played by the DOJ with regard to the files is appalling, and that Republicans are playing along is disgusting.
Thank you, Jennifer Rubin! You’ve taken what can seem like an overwhelming, impossible issue - accountability in the face of morally reprehensible acts perpetrated and/or countenanced by probably thousands - and presented with moral clarity and practicality how we can deal with it. If we choose to.
Absolutely ... as Jen might say
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Sunday pushed for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to resign after his name appeared in files linked to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Speaker stands with obstructionists.
A "motion to vacate" must now be supported by at least nine Republican members to trigger a vote, a significant increase from the previous single-member requirement. We need to pressure all Republican House members re Epstein.
Votes for Removal: Once a vote is triggered, a simple majority of the House is needed to remove the Speaker.
As I said Saturday, there are more than that in Dem majority states like Minnesota, California, NY. There are more in the House problem solvers' conference.
Opposition to Speaker Election: Massie was the only Republican to vote against Speaker Mike Johnson’s election in early 2025.
Failed Ouster Attempt: Massie joined a move to remove Speaker Johnson, stating he was "losing political capital by the second".
Policy Disputes: Massie heavily criticized Johnson for working with Democrats on spending bills and for not holding votes on releasing Jeffrey Epstein files.
Repercussions: Following his opposition, Massie was removed from the powerful House Rules Committee in January 2025.
In January 2025, Johnson removed Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) as Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, citing a desire for a "fresh start" in the new Congress. Turner, a critic of Donald Trump and supporter of Ukraine aid, was replaced following pressure from conservative hard-liners.
Every Republican, except one (1) singed to open the Epstein files. Surely there are eight that will join with Massie.
I am starting to believe that there was a “wink wink”:agreement with the DOJ….they told Congressional Republicans that the files would be “released” in a way that would make them nearly useless but would allow the Republicans to claim that they were demanding accountability, without smearing their feckless leader. If there are eight Republicans ready to stand up for the victims, they’d better get moving.
An excellent reason to send them packing in November.
Send them packing? I don't believe this is emotional tripe. I don't think it's radical to say that Mike Johnson, John Thune and everyone in the trump regime are guilty of treason. I believe treason can carry a death sentence. Send them packing? I respectfully disagree. The entire country needs real and succinct accountability!
Why do we have rules that seem to be for everyone except those holding high-end government jobs? Why haven't they all been impeached for treason and sentenced to death for killing our country and our countrymen/women? Why has the SCOTUS spent the past year, posing for group photos, instead of doing their jobs? Why are they all still holding office? Why did I just cringe when hearing 2 fighter jets fly over our house? I am living in a nightmare created by drumpf. Why?????
Thank Congress for having given up their regulatory duties. Serving the people or the Constitutional duties have faded.
What we 'need' and what we get are two different realities. Until we have a functioning Department of Justice, FBI, and responsible voters, we will continue to have problems.
We had a functional DOJ and while the J6 rioting participants were “held accountable” the instigators, planners, supporters in government or high positions were not. In fact they’re all running the government now! So we need more beyond a “ functioning DOJ”. We need to elect and support those who will publicly investigate and prosecute on both federal and state charges where applicable all those who ordered and then carried out the atrocities of the trump administration. If we get the chance.
We had a major change between the trials of the J6 insurrectionists and the president who decided to pardon the most if not the whole lot of them. This meant that there were no real consequences for their sedition. Until we get the DoJ straightened out, (with a new administration) the Nuremberg trials scenario might be an avenue to bring about some accountability, assuming the president doesn't act upon the convictions and issue more pardons (a real possibility).
I don’t think it is “emotional tripe” either. I would not have accused them of Treason if I wasn’t serious. But the debate clause makes it imperative that we remove them from Congress.
Agreed..if the election goes forward unimpeded…..I am not counting on that….
I have the same concerns. Tulsi Gabbard? Pam Bondi? King trump? Mike Johnson ? John Thune ? Stephen Miller? All people we need to be afraid of. But Senator Mark Warner told Margaret Brennan on Sunday that a year ago he didn't think it was possible that the elections could be threatened. Today he is worried. That suggests to me that people are waking up to the threat. I don't know what has to be done to ensure that we have fair and just elections. We KNOW the challenges will be there. But we must not be Polly Anna about it but at the same time we MUST believe they are going to happen. We ARE going to have midterm elections!
“Having elections” and having free and fair elections unimpeded by a criminal federal government are two entirely different things. Dictatorships have “elections” all the time…it is up to We the People to ensure that ours are legitimate…..or to resist if they’re not……
That is an excellent and true observation. Dictators do have elections that are basically theatrical performances. What they don't provide is any change in the structure of the dictatorship.
Precisely
DEMs can run on two A's for all elections: Affordability and Accountability.
So many people to be held accountable. It boggles the mind just how many of our fellow Americans are supporting this fascist regime, - including the entire Republican party in Congress.
We have so much work to do to thwart the Republican's plan to stay in power indefinitely. It makes it hard to imagine what America will look like after restoring something democracy like in this country. We need to remember the lessons of the civil war, - laws don't matter without enforcement.
I agree. I still believe that if Lincoln had strung up Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and a handful of other Confederate leaders, the “Lost Cause” would never have developed.
Not sure that would have worked either. The whole premise of the Confederacy was the belief system of racial inequality, cruelty and greed. Those forces are clearly still with us. Remember that ideas can't be killed by killing individual people.
And since the US itself is basically an idea that has allowed a society to build under it, I believe that the current evil regime can't kill it...no matter how hard it tries...
Well, yes and no LB. Would hanging the leaders of the traitors have ended racism? No, of course not. But it WOULD have set the precedent that if you take it too far... there will be a price to pay.
I think the KKK would have had a much harder time getting as powerful as it did if some of their leaders were executed by various states for murder. As it was, they knew THEY would be alive at the end of it, so they might have felt emboldened by the way J Davis and others did not pay the price they should have.
what do you do with all the charlie jerk people ??
I only question your references to 'the Republican Party'. That entity has been hijacked by MAGA and truly is no more. Look at what the party stood for in the 1950 - 1960 era and show how it is anything like that today. What we have now is completely unmoored from those practices and policies.
Sorry. Lost me at “accountability does not necessarily mean criminal prosecution”.
So rich who have enough money to absorb the costs of civil litigation get no jail time. And the lesson again is , if you are rich you walk.
No, no, no. Jail time. No get out of jail pass for the rich. Rich must be scared by the only deterrence that possibly works, jail time.
I say bring back public beheadings.
Well that's a great idea. Wish I had thought of that. (Even if you were mocking!)
But more seriously, I was writing postcards this morning and talking with another D volunteer, a feisty woman of 80 years. She regretted that so many of her family members were MAGA - their support so cult like that she thought they would die believing in Trump.
I would need a lot more persuading than Jen's column to believe that reeducation is possible with more Commissions. The imagery of Nuremberg trials that was most vivid was the Nazi defendants sitting in the docks as accused, awaiting sentencing.
Of course, criminal prosecutions aren't easy and take time and won't reach those who acted without conscience but who broke no laws.
Oh well. Accountability aka justice is complicated. But so important to do the right way.
I read that differently than you did.
I think they were referring to the enablers. Those who knew what was going on, or had strong suspicions, and chose to do nothing. To say nothing to the cops, or ask the girls how old they were. They committed no crimes, so criminal prosecution would be wrong. BUT, some public exposure, some time where they had to admit how much they knew or suspected and chose to ignore... that is accountability.
And once you know some rich member of your community stood by doing nothing while this happened around them... public shunning and shaming would be reasonable. Everyone in town pointing at them when they go out and telling each other "You remember how John let those little girls get hurt?" and things like that. That type of accountability seems worthwhile for just being complicit in others' crimes.
Mark, Everything you write makes sense. As you say that kind of accountability for Epstein enablers could be very powerful.
When I posted, I wasn't really thinking about Epstein - if names of enablers or actual sexual predators come out I don't really worry about accountability. Just have to get those names.
My comment or rant was directed at the so-called rich and powerful, the American oligarchy, who always seem to be above the law and never held to account. It's possible that the massive redirection of wealth and power to the oligarchy broke norms but was legal. That the corruption found the legal loophole. But I believe that as long as the oligarchy has a strangle hold on our country, democracy will not be restored. So I hope that there will be widespread, aggressive investigations that answer the question about whether laws were broken, and if so, that there will be criminal prosecutions. And if no laws were broken, then time for a Commission to address strengthening of laws to begin the process of regulating and neutering the oligarchy.
One year ago I would have felt silly using words like oligarchy. But less and less so.
America has a way of impressing people of conscience at times—and disappointing them at others. We do Tuskeegee Experiments, but we also have incremental progress in civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and so on. If America were a person, it would be a “C” student.
We will have to see if the powerful and the wealthy and the guilty and the MAGA stymie accountability in this and every other arena—or if we are guided by our “better angels” and live up to America’s highest values and virtues.
After all, we pioneered the Nuremberg Tris, but have allowed a white supremist sex offender to make a mockery out of all we hold dear.
And no with the SAVE act we’re about to remove women from their full rights after all this time! That’s more than a C grade that’s a minus F.
I'm fairly moderate on election integrity, however I do take your point.
A moot point but: by “America” you must mean the United States. Other countries in America have done better, like Brazil. Brazilian “trump-like” President Jair Bolsonaro “was sentenced to over 27 years in prison for his role in a 2022 coup plot aimed at preventing the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Following the conviction and the exhaustion of appeals, Bolsonaro began serving his sentence in a federal prison in Brasília, having been deemed a flight risk after tampering with his ankle monitoring device.” (Google)
I guess it isn’t a moot point about saying “America” after the fantastic Bad Bunny performance whereas he points out there’s more than one “America”!
remember, only half our population can claim the name "We The People"
How do we hold accountable those who refuse, not only to be held accountable, but mock the law & other mechanisms we expect to exact that accountability? Who are in fact held harmless by the very High Court whose mandate is to enforce that accountability.
We must march & we must protest & write & we must never be silent.
Retribution for the murders of our sisters & brothers is coming and coming soon.
‘Retribution’ sounds a little tRumpian. How about Justice?
Justice for these murdering psychopaths is retribution.
It’s a pity our laws don’t allow for them to be skinned alive.
tooo gross....how about they get put in their own prisons...or Guantanamo Bay ?
The new Democratic administration will need to set up a special commission for accountability on this issue, as other nations have done with their specific accountability problems. The administration and Dem Congress will then be freer to pursue progress on the main agenda items, likely economic and "clean up" in nature, that will also need to be pursued aggressively to satisfy the voters.
There have been hints made that we should return to Nuremberg-like trials to deal with the people who have sacked democracy and endangered our people. It's not a bad idea.
We have two historical examples of what “accountability” can look like. After the Civil War, we chose a misguided path that lead to Jim Crow and the continuation of racism and the cruel subjugation of black people. In the second example, Nazism was followed by the Nuremberg trials that held Hitler’s followers accountable for their crimes against humanity. If we are able to thwart this MAGA version of authoritarian fascism, then it’s a good idea to stick with the Nuremberg example.
Interesting that both France and Great Britain have already fired or dismissed government officials that have been involved with Epstein.
What is even more interesting is that the United States, that used to be for law, order, justice, honor and integrity has not. The guard rails have been destroyed.
What a terrific essay! I agree wholeheartedly.
I'm not normally a believer in conspiracy theories, for the reason given over 250 years ago by Benjamin Franklin- "three can keep a secret...........if two of them are dead!"
In fact, I may be the only person in the US of A who honestly believes both that Oswald really did act alone, and that Neil Armstrong really did walk on the moon!
But Epstein's "suicide" stinks to high heaven. This is a guy that anyone with any sense at all would put on a very strict suicide watch, yet he managed to "kill himself". The list of very powerful and wealthy men with both the motive and means to "silence Epstein....PERMANENTLY" is probably longer than a coast-to-coast bus ticket.
So I just can't help but wonder................
You're not the only one - I'm right there with you on all counts. And we've just learned recently that Epstein was talking with prosecutors- about a potential deal?
Mitch McConnell laid it out early - he said we had a right to vote for a criminal. From the get go there was an obvious lack of interest in accountability. Trump promised and did let the 1/6 criminals free - after our justice system held them accountable - judged by their peers; not stacked as Trump is doing with his corrupt loyalists. Then he voided the FCPA (to make bribery legal and cause your CPS issues) , got rid of the inspector generals (to permit Vought to misuse our funds), then he took bribes to release other criminals and relieve them of their restitution (poor Oglala Sioux took it in the shorts for Ascher spilling the beans on Hunter), and then DOJ and FBI firings, Crypto, Dem city raids, breaking the Constitution numerous times, hiding immigrants with CoreCivic moving them all around the country, ruining our country by saddling us with the largest deficit, hiding Venezuela oil money abroad, destroying relations with Canada and the EU (where we like to visit), destroying trading partner relations, changing Switzerland's tariff to get a bribe from Rolex. Trump is nothing but greed and corruption and it's not going to lead to making America better. But the GOP Congress will lie to protect their wealth and pedophile friends.
And he STILL walks about A FREE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
SHAME!!!!!!!!!
DISGUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This morning’s piece offers another chance to promote my belief that the US will need a South Africa-style “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to get past the damage wrought by Trump & his MAGA wrecking crew.
Of course MAGA world will whine “Move on”—louder than even their everyday whining. But there can be no “moving on” until this country accepts that reconciliation is impossible without the truth. It will absolutely require penalties, punishments, and prohibiting traitors from ever holding public office—exactly as Trump should have been prohibited from running again for president under the Constitution’s prohibition from public office of insurrectionists.
Today we are paying the price for disregarding the Constitution’s “Disqualification Clause” (Section 3, 14th Amendment), which prohibits any person from holding federal or state office—including the presidency—if they previously took an oath to support the Constitution and subsequently engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the US or gave aid or comfort to its enemies.”
Articles of impeachment, as provided for in the House's proceedings were ignored by the U.S. Senate, led by Mitch McConnell. His "trials" to convict and remove were kabuki theater that were ineffective at getting Trump removed.
Agreed. But listing the things that "should" be done is irrelevant when those in power are determined not to do anything at all. Would a Dem majority in the House and Senate make a difference? Probably not. Why? Because they are mostly white men whose grip on power and their paychecks rely on them sweeping these things under the rug. The ONE THING that could actually have some teeth and initiate all of these "accountability" strategies? Making the Equal Rights Amendment the law of the land. Without ERA all of us who are not rich white men are hamstrung. Which is why Congress won't ratify it.
When obscene wealth and the courts are controlled by the same small group of elite criminals there can never be accountability. This is a form of feudalism or fascism. Or a mafia. Welcome to America.
It's going to take more than a decade to undo all the damage Trump has caused. While we are doing that, how about a law, no, a Constitutional Amendment saying anyone convicted of a felony is barred from holding any federal public office.
One could easily make a state law to the effect of "Anyone convicted of a felony is ineligible to appear on a statewide ballot until they have completed their sentence or had their conviction overturned."
Shouldn't be too hard, right?
Excellent idea, and, no, in normal times it shouldn't be too hard. But these are not normal times.
Completed their sentence: NO. Had their conviction overturned: YES.
that gives them a way out like jiz
I appreciate your optimism. I'm less so. I fear the damage, the death and destruction that the MAGA traitors have done will be with the world for a long, long time.
Empires rise. Empires fall.
Of course, there is a double standard: accountability for the average person, but if you have enough power or money to throw at any issue or wrongdoing, there is no such thing as accountability. Nothing about that has changed for centuries.