IF TRUMP ISN’T IMPEACHED, FIRST STEP TO A U.S. DICTATORSHIP

…A US President that thinks he’s a king

Trump’s efforts will make the world less safe, and the United States more disrespected.

The president has totally gone against his oath of office when he restricted any of the White House officials or his cabinet members from talking to the Impeachment Inquiry and to keep the Inquiry from receiving any White House documents.  The whole concept of our US Constitution says that the US House of Representatives is required to keep an eye on the Executive Branch.  So, President Trump is obstructing Congress from doing what they took their oaths of office to do.

But the president doesn’t stop there in the damage he is doing to America, and its reputation.

As a case in point, due to President Trump’s horse trading, the US Congress, (mainly the Republican Senate) has used the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to make it clear that it will impose no penalties on Saudi Arabia or on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for directing the murder of The Post’s journalist and a Virginia resident, Jamal Khashoggi, or for their prosecuting the horrific war in Yemen.

Amid this congressional horse-trading on matters as disparate as Trump’s desired Space Force, and the funding for the border wall, it appears that all the Republicans, fearful as always of President Trump’s wrath, made clear that they would, ”refuse to agree to any meaningful accountability for Saudi Arabia through the defense bill.”

This disheartening, but not entirely surprising news, it comes five days after a Saudi military officer murdered three US Navy sailors at the Pensacola Military Facility in Florida.

Of course, our president responded to these killings by refusing to label the killing as an "act of terrorism", as it was, and he put as highly positive a spin on the Saudi government’s reaction as possible.

To their credit, House and Senate negotiators left in the final NDAA a requirement for a formal determination to be made by the US intelligence community on whether the crown and other Saudi leaders directed Khashoggi’s killing and covered it up.

I am personally scratching my head about this as almost one year ago, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution holding the Saudi crown prince (MDS) responsible for the murder.  And guess who voted to pass this resolution?  Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), they all joined the Democrats in introducing tough legislation to punish the Saudi crown prince and others deemed responsible for the killing.

In the House, bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) imposing visa restrictions on the culprits passed by the overwhelming number of 405 to 7.

But then the Senate Republicans refused to put Malinowski’s bill up for a vote, so once again, the Senate Majority leader McConnell added one more House resolution to the hundreds that will never see the light of day.

Since it has been determined that a Saudi hit team killed and totally dismembered The Post’s contributing columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018, Republican and Democratic members of Congress have waxed eloquent on the need to hold the crown prince responsible for the murder.  And they did so in opposition to a president who has continued to side with the Saudi dictator over his own diplomats, all intelligence professionals and Congress at every available opportunity.

By failing to stand up to Trump’s authoritarian dictatorial sympathies, by not penalizing Saudi leaders, and particularly, the US Senate has signaled to the globe’s dictators that they are free to assassinate any journalist, and to  kill civilians in war.  This is the case, so long as these same dictators continue to convince President Trump that they are his friends.

In so doing, Trump and the US Senate has given a horrible gift to human rights violators that will make the world less safe, and the United States more disrespected.

Once again, I rest my case.

Copyright G. Ater 2019