The Lawlessness

[kentuck]

It is brazen. It is in your face.

Many of the crimes are not hidden or committed in secret. They are in the open. It is flaunted in the public. And nobody does anything.

It is time to put a halt to this bullshit that "no man is above the law". That is obviously a lie.

It is not political, as the politicians would have us believe. It is criminal. The laws are on the book. They are written in our Constitution. Yet, these laws are broken each and every day.

It does not bode well for our country.

[BlueJac]

1. 100% true!

[TheSmarterDog]

2. #13

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/4/6/1650811/-The-14-Defining-Characteristics-Of-Fascism-Trump-Is-a-Fascist

[kentuck]

3. Yep.

[Ohiogal]

4. It is infuriating

That they get away with this shit. Where are our goddamn prosecutors???

[kentuck]

6. Where is our new FBI Director??

He has disappeared.

[pazzyanne]

8. Sign of the times,

I don't even know who the director of the FBI is at this time. Had to look it up. There have been so much turnover in this administrations, you get lost in the shuffle.

[NoMoreRepugs]

5. Well said. I could not agree more. It's infuriating.

[democratisphere]

7. Lies are the core and essence of this current administration.

The corruption is massively in our faces around the clock while the GOP Congress continues aiding and abetting the destruction of our democracy.

[world wide wally]

9. Trump and Congress have made a joke out of the concept that we are a "nation of laws"

We have become nothing more than another third world nation, but with a HUGE military.

[PatSeg]

10. Oh yes

The things they are doing are bad enough, but the brazenness is appalling. Like the schoolyard bully, proclaiming, "What are ya gonna do about it?" followed by a sneer and laughter. How many times have I heard, "We are a country of laws, not men"? Now, more than ever, I can appreciate the rule of law and the justice system, in spite of all its flaws.

It is criminal and if you look across the world, past and present, the countries that have devolved into tyranny and oppression, it was criminal and a breakdown in the legal system.

Trump's comment about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue and not losing any support, was more prescient than it seemed at the time. It was the moment when HE realized, "Shit, I can do anything. No one will stop me." And he has been doing so ever since.

[smirkymonkey]

28. This, above all, is what infuriates me the most.

They are so arrogant and cocky about it all. They really believe that they will never get caught or prosecuted no matter what they do and so they parade their blatant criminality in front of our faces. If justice ever catches up with them, it will be so sweet.

[PatSeg]

31. Being arrogant and cocky is bad enough,

when you are a competent crook, but these people are ridiculously inept and cartoonish. Where do they get such nerve? May they all get what they deserve 100 fold or more. And may they serve as a reminder to others who think they above the laws the rest of us have to live by. One thing that bothers me to this day about the Bush administration is so few people were held accountable.

[Timmygoat]

11. Just a random thought

Now that we are being governed by President Hannity, and talk of torture is back, I seem to remember Hannity offered to be waterboarded at the time, is there a video of this?

[Haggis for Breakfast]

39. No, he wimped out

and has never made good on his offer.

But I do remember the late Christopher Hitchens, who initially felt the same way as hannity, actually went through with it and was water-boarded by experts (and yes, there is video). He later remarked that even though he knew he was not going to die (they had doctors there overseeing his heart, etc.), and that it would stop, he said it was THE most terrifying experience of his life. (Remember that Hitchens had reported from war zones all over the world.) He later completely reversed his position and said that water-boarding was torture and that anyone who didn't think so should try it immediately.

Lord, I miss Hitch.

[Ferrets are Cool]

12. I'm gonna wear out this link...

&t=11s


But so many reasons to keep posting it.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. Authoritarianism, celebrity worship and tribalism run amok, Kentuck.

Not much different from the opium of Dear Leader in NK, the Saudi Dynasty, the King of Thailand, megachurch preachers, corporate CEOs, or reality show celebrities.

Never dreamed such a segment of our populace and public media could become so enthralled by a complete buffoon - someone who is supposed to be a humble public servant.

This problem takes us back to the very core reasons we have our Constitution. The Framers knew all to well the perils and history of human nature.

[Paka]

41. Please do not include the King of Thailand with the other thugs.

I live in Thailand and the reason he was revered is that he did very good things for the Thai people and was a very humble man. We now have a military government that is not doing such good things.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

42. Sorry if I offended your culture.

There's certainly an abundance choices throughout human history to cite in this case. My objective in the post was to point out the fallacy of blind loyalty and worship of celebrities, members of the clergy, politicians and businessmen.

This is what had stuck in my memory from some time ago that seems repulsive to human rights (from Wikipedia):

Criticism of the king, queen, crown prince, and more recently, former kings, members of the royal family, and even their pets has long been strictly prohibited, with large fines and prison sentences of up to 35 years being imposed.

Also, I was not thinking of the father who died in 2016, but instead the son Vajiralongkorn. Is he not accepted as the king? Perhaps you are referring to the father since you said "was revered".

[Paka]

44. Absolutely, the father.

I appreciate your understanding.

[Blue_true]

14. Yes, they are brazen. A President takes a bribe from a foreign power in broad daylight.

A bribe that will hurt American workers and American security. And to republicans in the House and Senate, it is like nothing happened. If President Obama had done something 1/50th as bad, tiki torches would be lighting up the entrance to the White House main gate and armed idiots would be milling around making racist statements.

[dalton99a]

17. +1

[kentuck]

30. We cannot find a better example .

[mountain grammy]

15. And justice for all

Those words in the pledge of allegiance are more offensive than “under God” in my opinion. I stand in silence for the whole thing.

[ginnyinWI]

16. Well, it is political for the ones who are looking the other way

while all of these crimes go on and on.

They are terrified of losing those precious Trumpy votes.

Something's gotta give. It's getting so bad.

[HopeAgain]

18. The law is in the money

Law in this country is for sale to the highest bidder. The NRA, AIPAC, it doesn't matter which side of the aisle you are on, power relies on resources and that is the end stage of unfettered capitalism. The rich don't only grow richer, they grow more powerful.

It has gotten to the point were we are dropping all pretenses of it being something else.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

43. K&R. Truth.

Money = Power = Corruption of human values.

We now live in a nation where how much money or other assets one owns (or controls) determines your value as a human being, at least in the political and business realms. That also determines how much leverage one has on the political system - just like in the stock market.

The rest of us live in a separate universe where our value is determined more by how we serve our fellow man.

America has always been like this to a degree, but in the past we seemed to have better limits on power. Many of those backstops have now been stripped away.....

[BSdetect]

19. And some expect them to behave at the November election?

That's when they will really rub our faces in it.

[dalton99a]

20. I hope the $500 million Chinese bribe will be a high priority item for a House investigation

when Democrats retake the House

[sarcasmo]

21. #BananaRepublic

[Botany]

22. I just heard Adam Schiff on Steph Miller and he said that they have evidence of a phone call to a ..

.... "blocked #" that went to the Trump Tower the June 2016 Russia/Don Jr/Manafort/Jared
meeting and the GOP/Nunes House Committee hearings have refused to investigate they call
and whose # it was. The backstory ? is was it Donald Trump calling the meeting.

[zentrum]

23. The wealthy and powerful

….have been above the law for a long time.

Unless you offend the wealthy and powerful—like Madoff did.

It's just more overt now.
Just as systemic racism is now more overt.

Both have been going on since day one.

[malaise]

24. Well the American people will have to remove this

Kakistocracy - this is shameless criminality on steroids

[Initech]

25. Not only that, it's in your face 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

The criminals are out in the open doing criminal things - and they're actually gaining support! So much better than her e-mails!

[malaise]

26. It's the looting of the state for personal gain

Unfuckingbelievable

[dalton99a]

29. And getting worse every day

[kentuck]

35. kakistocracies

kak·is·toc·ra·cies. Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens. Origin of kakistocracy. Greek kakistos worst superlative of kakos bad

http://www.yourdictionary.com/kakistocracy

[malaise]

36. The perfect concept for these low-life scumbags

[kentuck]

37. They are more than "unprincipled"..

They are criminals.

It's almost neo-kakistocracies. (new word)

[Enoki33]

27. What we have are different manifestations of the shooting someone

in the middle of Fifth avenue brag.

[sellitman]

32. You are right

It's very sad. The GOP has the blood of all those fallen over the years to protect our County on their hands now.

It's The GOP who are the Traitors. One and all.

[RandomAccess]

33. With all due respect

Why are you telling US? We pretty much know that.

The people you need to be complaining to are all in Congress.

I'll make you a deal -- I'll send my message to them tonight if you will. We ALL need to. Here are some easy ways to do that --

Call 24/7: 202-224-3121
Free Faxes (can incl up to 3 pages attached) to Senators: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php
Free Faxes (ditto) to Congress: https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php
TEXT your faxes: Text RESIST to 50409
Write your MoC - DEMOCRACY.IO https://democracy.io/#/

[Sophia4]

34. Report from 2012 in the City of Los Angeles

In 2006, Sight was handed the harshest sentence any artist or law enforcement official can recall for graffiti vandalism: Eight years and four months in state prison.

Released after four years for good behavior, he's perhaps the most dramatic casualty to date in L.A.'s war on street art — a multipronged effort that views young graffiti artists as public enemy No. 1 and has destroyed even those graffiti-style murals painted with full consent of building owners. As galleries and museums increasingly recognize the movement's artistic value, government officials only become more determined to wipe it from the streets.

http://www.laweekly.com/news/los-angeles-war-on-street-artists-2176203

I really hate graffiti . . . but ?

And here. I don't smoke marijuana . . . but?

For thousands of Americans, marijuana convictions still bring life-altering consequences, making it difficult to, among other things, find and keep a job, get a professional license or obtain a student loan.

Communities of color have been hit especially hard by the decades-long war on drugs. Studies show a stark racial imbalance in drug enforcement; a 2013 American Civil Liberties Union report concluded that African-Americans were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, although use of the drug was roughly equal among the races.

Across California, attorneys and drug reform advocates say implementation of Prop. 64 hasn’t been perfect; more resources are needed to process petitions and conduct outreach to people who may be eligible to clear their records and just don’t know it. But overall, they believe the law is an effective tool to undo the collateral damage of felony pot convictions, and they hope it will serve as a model for the rest of the country.

Prop. 64 “gives people the opportunity to recreate themselves and become people instead of statistics,” said Nick Stewart-Oaten, a deputy public defender for Los Angeles County.

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/california_seeks_to_erase_stigma_of_marijuana_offenses/

Hearing the rumor that the Russians had DNC and Hillary e-mails and would publish them or might publish them to help Trump should have caused Trump's team to report the theft to the police. Seems to me anyway.

But no action was taken.

[BigmanPigman]

38. Meanwhile today Tillerson gives a speach

about telling the truth and how important it is to the success of a democracy...What about the fucking moron who you lied for you hypocrite?

[Haggis for Breakfast]

40. I keep telling myself

Remember the pendulum always swings back. But damn it's hard to keep going somedays when it feels like we are the pit and they are the pendulum.