Day 560

Day 560 Thursday August 2, 2018     1,018 Days to Go

Henry II and Thomas Beckett versus Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions

“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

–                  Edmund Burke (possibly)(1730-1797)

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”

–                 George Santayana (1863-1952)

“We’re doomed to repeat the past no matter what”

–                  Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

“Doom on! Garth.”

–                  Wayne’s World non-quote

—                     (ie He never said it , but should have)

Okay, quiz time: How is what happened to Thomas Beckett, Henry II’s friend, like what has happened and is happening to Jeffery Beauregard Sessions III? Compare and contrast. Extra credit for C&C * of the above quotes and why they are attributed in the way they are.

*(Compare and Contrast – not a drink! Darn, do I have to spell everything out? I do? Okay then.}

Also, who would name their kid Beauregard? What family would do it three times? (Hint: The answers to both questions can be found in the question above.)

Let’s begin:

It was 6^th grade Mr. Perrine’s history class. It was there that I learned about Henry II and his friend Thomas Beckett. Beckett had served for many years as Henry’s Chancellor. As a reward Henry appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury. There were squabbles between church and state. Beckett as archbishop took the church’s side, much to the annoyance of Henry. The issue at hand was who had authority over the clerks who administered justice in the kingdom. The church had managed to take over this function. Henry wanted to restore it to the state, as it had been under his grandfather’s reign. There was a lot of back and forth. Agreements were made, sometime under duress, and then backed out of. Thomas also had a flare for the dramatic with pomp. An ostentatious display when a king is running around trying to hold his kingdom together because of unruly vassals and a French king who is stirring up trouble did not go over well in the 12^th century (just sayin’!) It really hurt that Henry and Thomas were, or had been, close friends.

It is still not clear 850 years or more after the fact what Henry said or didn’t say, but talk about words having consequence! Four of his knights left the court and brutally slew the archbishop. Beckett had fled to the Canterbury Cathedral where a service was in progress the knights caught him at the steps of the altar and hacked him to death with their swords, eventually splitting his skull. Imagine being in the pews watching that!

Mr. Perrine speculated that the king probably emphatically said something like, “I wish someone would rid me of this person.”

It was emphatic enough that four of his knights left France, sailed for England, and killed the archbishop in front of a crowd in the cathedral.

So where are we with Trump and Sessions?

Yesterday, the president tweeted that Jeff Sessions should “stop the Rigged Witch Hunt…”

Where to begin with that?

Let’s start with the responses of Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Sanders. Also, let’s throw in Sanders’ reaction to the president’s followers’ behavior at his Florida rally of the day before yesterday.

Giuliani and Sanders both said that the president uses twitter to express his opinions.

Question: From what we know about Henry II and Beckett isn’t that what the king was doing?

Giuliani went on to say that what the president had said in the tweet about Sessions wasn’t an order, but merely his opinion. To which I ask, “WTF?”

At the Florida rally the Trump supporters were harassing the press: yelling at the CNN reporter in particular. It was on the edge of violence. Even reporters who have been to many Trump rallies have said this was different. The hostility was at a new level. We know from Trump’s past behavior that he will do nothing to curb this sort of activity.

What did Sanders say about this? The president is free to express his opinion like everybody else.

To which I say, “WTF?”

The scariest thing I saw about the Florida rally was a Trump supporter who was interviewed who said Trump’s brain was made of a material we can’t even begin to comprehend. (Or something like that.)

I agree! But for totally different reasons. I think I come out on the far far far opposite from that poor lost soul.

(But I do think Trump’s brain is made out of the same stuff as the rest of us mortals – just to be clear.)

So now where are WE?

Well, there is talk about obstruction of justice and the question is raised, “Did the president with that tweet about Sessions obstruct justice or conspire to obstruct justice?”

Rudy says no because when you conspire you do it in secret. You whisper it. You don’t do it in public, in front of everybody.

I’ve got news for Rudy. Trump does it in the open, in public, in your face.

There is nothing in the statute on obstruction of justice that says it has to be done in secret, or that it has to be whispered. One legal scholar said that had the words the president tweeted been found on a piece of paper sent to Sessions, or made available for Sessions to see, that it would be clear evidence of obstruction. Remember, it was just a day or so before this tweet that Rudy was saying collusion is not found in any law. ( No Rudy, it’s called conspiracy. Collusion is a synonym for conspiracy. ) Rudy, whispering is not found in the law on Obstruction of Justice.

Hey, wait a sec, “Has the president ever cleared the room and whispered things to the person in the room?”

Would that be evidence of behavior in line with what Rudy says is how you obstruct and collude? Excuse me, conspire?

Hum, lemme look in the Way-Back Machine.

What ho!

I see two men: one shorter than the other, but standing straight with a grin on his face, the other taller, fuller in the waist, and smiling clownishly. They are next to podiums that say, “Helsinki.” It’s not to long ago. July 16^th! Why it’s not even a month old. What happened? Oh, our president met with the President of Russia behind closed doors. What did they talk about? No one knows, for sure.

Hey Rudy, does that meet your definition of collusion (excuse me conspiracy)?

If these two men met, well not in secret (but they did that before – remember), but they whispered stuff to each other, (well maybe they talked in normal voices, but no one else was there to hear so it’s the same effect as whispering) would that be behavior that looks like conspiracy, or an attempt to conspire? (Remember, you don’t have to succeed to conspire. Sorry, Don Jr. a nothing happened meeting with Russian agents is still ground for conspiracy.) Oh wait, if it’s with a foreign power, an enemy foreign power, an enemy foreign power that is attacking us, wouldn’t that be treason Mr. lawyer for the president?

Hush, I’m peering into the Way-Back Machine again. The frames are flickering by. It’s slightly burnished around the edges here. I see a room. Two men are sitting at a table. The room is blue. It’s the White House. It’s the Blue Room. One man is tall. He looks uncomfortable. The other man has an orange complexion with raccoon white eyes. This must be the aging of the Way-Back Machine’s frames. No, it’s not. The orange one is Donald Trump. (I should have realized that sooner!) His shoulder are hunched. He’s leaning forward. His lips are moving. Let me see what I can read on his lips: Blin? Win? Flynn! That’s it “Flynn!”

Wait there’s more: Row? Flow? Go! It’s “Go!”

“Flynn … Go” what does that mean?

Hold on. Lemme back it up.

Darnnit, what happened? Here’s Kim Kardashian and some … nevermind. I hate it when the Way-Back switches channels like that. Oh no, now an ad for Premium Service. I’ve got Super Duper Premium Elite Service. What? I have to login in again? What do you mean my password is no good? Okay, text me a number to my phone. Got it.

Hold on, while I login again.

“Comey, White House, dinner…”

Got it. Here we go.

“Bet? Get? Let!” It’s “let.”

“Let Flynn Go!”

OMG! Trump is asking Comey to “Let Flynn Go.”?

He’s doing it when no one else is around. It’s like he’s whispering.

Hey Rudy, does that meet your definition of collusion (I mean conspiracy)? Meeting alone and whispering?

Or doing it when no one else can hear it?

What would that be called Rudy? You know, when someone in a position of power or knowledge asks an investigator to let something go? Especially, if that person is your boss? I mean if the president asks the FBI Director to do something, something illegal, isn’t that … What’s the word? (’scuse me while I bang my head with my hand.) Isn’t that Obstruction of Justice? (Three words, no wonder I was having a problem remembering.) I mean … oh? It’s wasn’t an order so you think it’s okay? Hum, is that what the other legal experts are saying? No! (What would Henry II say?)

What? Oh, I see if the president of the United States says, “I want you to do such and such,” and you work for him? That could be a career ending move. And in the case of Jim Comey it was.

Okay, so is it just me or have we witnessed in plain sight the president of the United States committing treason, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy?

In other stuff: I am starting a day-camp for Trump supporters’ children. This camp will include all the fun and games immigrants and refuges to this country experience, including:

– shackling your parents,

– being lied to,

– and best of all put in a cage!

Yes, all this and more awaits you at The Immigrant Day Camp. A fun filled time for all. Your children will also get to be marched into a court room and have the living bejesus scared out of them by being asked a bunch of questions with lots of big words and phrases that they don’t understand.

Also, coming soon – Grocery ID! So you can actually buy groceries wherever you want. This innovation suggested by the president himself. It’s the most revolutionary thing to hit the grocery store since Papa Bush discovered bar code scanning machines!
(“Yes, sir if there is no little series of black lines, called a barcode, you’ll have to do a look-up, just type in “broccoli.” Oh you don’t like broccoli? Well, then you can just leave it to the side and not ring it up. They’ll re-shelve the item. No, they won’t actually put it on a shelf, that’s just the term they use, like re-stock. It’s a synonym: re-shelve … restock, like collude and conspire. Yes sir that is correct. You don’t have a loyalty card? Here use mine. Yes, it’s okay. What? You want everyone to have a loyalty card? For the grocery store? Oh, to you sir? I don’t know about that…”)

1,018 Days to Go

PS Gimme Some Kind of Sign!

** Answers to the quote quiz. The quote attributed to Burke is just that, attributed. There is no record that he ever said it.
The non-quote is just that. Someone being quoted who the authors’ know for a fact the person to whom the quote is attributed, never said it, but the author believes the person could have, or should have, said it. (Typically, the author of the piece made up the quote.)