Building Bridges<\/p>\n
Last night I went to a candle light vigil \u201cagainst corruption\u201d in the Trump Administration.\u00a0It was a small affair in Columbus, Ohio; less than one hundred, holding candles, listening to speeches, chanting and singing songs in the plaza outside the Republican Senator\u2019s offices.\u00a0 I posted pictures on social media, and they ignited the usual back and forth among my \u201cRadical Leftist\u201d (though not really very radical) and my more \u201cTrumpian\u201d friends.<\/p>\n
Some of the comments were predictable. \u00a0The conversation trended down to the most polarized, bringing up all of the old complaints and stories.\u00a0 They come from both sides, but the real problem is that there is no agreement on \u201cthe facts.\u201d\u00a0 What is a factual statement by one side is regarded as a complete lie on the other.\u00a0It goes both ways.<\/p>\n
This national crisis is going to get worse before it gets better.\u00a0 Inevitably there will be a segment of our political population who feel they have been betrayed by the rest of the country.\u00a0 That segment (whichever side) will burn with animosity, reminiscent of the \u201clost cause\u201d Confederates of the Civil War.\u00a0 It has taken more than one hundred and fifty years to begin to get over that, though the battles over the \u201cflag\u201d still go on.<\/p>\n
So while we will still \u201cburn bridges\u201d to reach a conclusion to our current catastrophe, perhaps we can lay the foundations for some new ones as we do.\u00a0 That will depend on developing a common truth based in real facts.\u00a0So here are some of them.<\/p>\n
Collusion is not a crime, but conspiracy is.\u00a0 The Mueller investigation has charged some with \u201cConspiracy Against the United States (18 USC \u00a7 371).\u201d\u00a0 This is committed \u201c\u2026when two or more people work to either defraud the government\u2026or to interfere or obstruct with a lawful government function.\u201d \u00a0Interfering with elections, using foreign money or foreign aid illegally in a federal election, or hacking into the election process all are under this provision of law.\u00a0 When President Trump says there\u2019s been \u201cno collusion\u201d it really doesn\u2019t mean much.<\/p>\n
By the way, in the recent indictment of twelve Russians for interference in the US elections, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein made it clear that no US citizens were included.\u00a0 What was left out was the word \u201cyet.\u201d\u00a0 More indictments are expected. \u00a0\u00a0Rosenstein also emphasized that in the indictments the stated goal of\u00a0Russia was to confuse and divide the American public.\u00a0 He did not mention, but the indictment states in several places, that the Russian\u2019s were also acting in support of the Trump candidacy.<\/p>\n
President Obama was NOT perfect.\u00a0 While many of us supported and worked for him, we recognize that we were not all in agreement with everything he did.\u00a0 His actions at the Southern border, while in no way as inhumane as our current policy, did little to resolve the migration crisis. His failure to enforce the “red line” in Syria showed weakness. \u00a0But, he did do his best to make the world safer, with one of his most controversial actions the Iran Nuclear Deal.<\/p>\n
The Iran deal did nothing to reduce Iran\u2019s support of terrorism.\u00a0 And it DID transfer cash from the US to Iran.\u00a0 That cash was NOT a payment from the US government, it was Iranian cash seized when the Iranian revolution took place in 1979.\u00a0 It was, essentially, Iranian money being returned to them.\u00a0 It had to be a cash transfer, because US sanctions kept Iran from using the world banking system.\u00a0 What the deal did do was to stop Iran\u2019s nuclear program for a number of years.\u00a0 It was a starting point, buying time, not a final solution to Iran\u2019s behavior in the world.<\/p>\n
The Obama administration, including Hillary Clinton, did NOT hand over 20% of our uranium to Russia.\u00a0 They did allow a sale to go through, where a Canadian company, Uranium One, owned by a Russian company, Rosatom; gained ownership in 20% of US uranium mines.\u00a0 This deal went through a rigorous screening process, in which then Secretary of State Clinton had one vote out of many.\u00a0 In the end, it was allowed, with the provision that NO uranium was to leave the US or Canada without permission of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.<\/p>\n
The Clinton Foundation donations during that time look shaky as Hell.\u00a0 In the midst of the mine purchase by Uranium One, a total of $2.35 million was donated of Rosatom, the Russian owners, to the Foundation.\u00a0 While there has been no direct connection made between the purchase and Hillary Clinton, who played a small role in US actions, it still looks terrible.\u00a0 And while the Foundation has done amazing work throughout the world, there was an ongoing ethical question of the husband of the Secretary of State running a foundation worth $250 million based on domestic and foreign donations.<\/p>\n
There is an amazing amount of Russian money floating around the US.\u00a0 The NRA got some, the GOP got some, and the Trump Organization may well be financed by some (Russians certainly have bought a great deal of Trump properties.)\u00a0 But when Vladimir Putin claimed that Bill Browder gave $400 million to Hillary Clinton, later reduced to $400000, it was \u201cfake news.\u201d\u00a0Browder actually donated $17,700 to Clinton, and his associates donated $297000 to the Democratic National Committee.<\/p>\n
But with the Supreme Court opinion in Citizen\u2019s United, there is very little control and limitation on the donation of money to political committees.\u00a0 The Court decided that money is equal to speech, and the voices of most Americans are drowned out in a tide of cash, American and foreign.\u00a0 It makes the appointment of a new Supreme Court Justice even more important.<\/p>\n
These are the facts.\u00a0 While the far-right will dispute some, and while the left doesn\u2019t want to hear others, it\u2019s the truth.\u00a0 And maybe, maybe, if we could just agree on some of them, we could begin to rebuild.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"