Subpoenas 101

The situation shrieks irony.  Republicans, knowing they're about to lose control of the House of Representatives and its investigative functions, are piling on, in a manner and to a degree that even Donald Trump would admire.

Today's piler-on-in-chief is Representative Bob Goodlatte (R - VA).  As Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Goodlatte has issued subpoenas to James Comey and Loretta Lynch.  Those subpoenas ostensibly serve an investigation of - are you ready? - Hillary Clinton's email.  What's more, in flexing his political pandering muscles, Goodlatte specified that Comey and Lynch must testify behind closed doors.

It'll be interesting to see if that actually happens.  Mr. Comey has said that he's be willing to testify only if any hearing was public.

Subpoena 101, Mr. Goodlatte.  Even a Congressional subpoena can be ignored, quite possibly more easily than a judicial one.  For a Congressional subpoena to be legally binding, the committee issuing it must do three things.

1. The committee's investigation of the subject area must have been authorized by the House at large.
2. The investigation must be in service of a valid legislative purpose (without necessarily involving actual or proposed legislation).
3. The actions the subpoena attempts to enforce must be demonstrably pertinent to the subject matter area that has been authorized by the House.

Through his lawyer, Comey has said that he will resist in court what he called an abuse of process.  Since the scheduled testimony is for early December, and court proceedings could take several weeks, it's clear that  Mr. Goodlatte'sunderstanding of subpoenas (and the calendar?) are a bit lacking.

Narcissism

Here's how Merriam-Webster defines narcissism. 

Here are more insights on the term:

egocentricity, egocentrism, egoism, egomania, egotism, navel-gazing, self-absorption, self-centeredness, self-concern, self-interest, self-involvement, self-preoccupation, self-regard, selfishness, selfness

How does Donald Trump manifest these characteristics?  Let us begin to count the ways ...

Trump at War

Yesterday, he launched a war of words with Chief Justice John Roberts.  Today, he carried out a first strike against common sense, authorizing our military on the U. S. border with Mexico to use lethal force should they feel themselves to be in danger.  Then he polished off  his attempt at Thanksgiving optics by suggesting that he might close the entire border with Mexico should the 500 serious criminals he believes are headed our way actually get here.

The man is meshugah ...

Giving Thanks

I say this without the least hint of snark or sarcasm.

Among the bazillion things I feel grateful for is the fact that Chief Justice John Roberts took Donald Trump to task today.  Roberts posited that Trump's criticism of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was at least a bit over the top.

Violence Against Those Who Are Different

One would think that accepting and appreciating diversity includes accepting and appreciating those whose sexual orientation is different than ours.

Unfortunately, that's not the case.  In the past year, at least 52 transgender, bisexual, lesbian, or gay  people were murdered.  The leading cause of these deaths was gun violence; death by stabbing was the second most common cause.  Grim reminders of  the fact that in at least 72 nations, homosexuality is a crime, punishable even by death.

Shades of the Access Hollywood Tape?

On October 27th of this year, in referring to the 2016 Presidential election, Donald Trump said:

Did you see the women vote? I think I won the election because of ... women, not ... men.

Trump made this claim 10 other times,  on Oct. 20, Oct. 18, Oct. 13, Oct. 10, Sep. 26, Aug. 24, Aug. 4, Aug. 2, Jul. 26, and Mar. 10.  In these statements, he's citing exit poll results.  But apparently he was unaware that those results apply to only white women.  For all women, exit polls show he received only about 40 percent.

Hate Crimes

Clearly, not everyone is as comfortable with diversity as I am.  According to the FBI, hate crimes in the United States went up 17% in 2017.  That sad statistic is fueled by another; the number of anti-Semitic incidents rose 37% last year.

The current administration may have qualms about combating prejudice and xenophobia; we must not.  We must help stop violence based upon ethnic background, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Here are a couple of places to start.  The latter, the Southern Poverty Law Center, offers a unique tool - a hate map ...