What Really Makes Trump Scary

Stocks Suffer Worst Year Since 2008 Banking Crisis.

Just hours ago Americans across the country welcomed in the new year with thoughts and wishes of peace, good health and happiness for the year ahead for themselves and others.  Yet at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the principal occupant cares nothing about the nation or its population.  Instead, it is all about him - protecting his corrupt business empire, milking his position to enrich himself, and stamping out investigations that could well expose him as a traitor. Trump is a metastasizing cancer on the USA and the future of millions of Americans is fraught with danger from the impulsive and dangerous actions of a malignant narcissist who cares nothing for anyone but himself.  If pushed, I suspected he'd throw his own children under the bus.  The question circles back to when and under what circumstances Congressional Republicans, particularly those in the U.S. Senate will belatedly decide that Trump is a danger that must be eliminated by whatever means necessary.  A piece at CNN looks at just a portion of the damage being wrought against Americans.  Here are excerpts:

And so it continues. With no end in sight to the government shutdown, President Donald Trump, who rightly said a government shutdown should be blamed on the White House, now seems unwilling to accept responsibility.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of innocent government workers -- Democrats, Republicans and Independents -- are being forced to go without the paychecks they need to feed, house and clothe their families. (These are government workers who, by the way, Trump decided will not receive any pay raise in 2019.) And millions of citizens nationwide are being forced to go without some of the government services on which they may depend. It increasingly appears he is acting in his own, putting America and Americans second.  Let's take a look at a few recent examples of this "Trump first" approach at play: Withdrawal of US troops from SyriaNo one likes the idea of putting US troops in harm's way, especially in the midst of what seems like an unwinnable war thousands of miles away. That said, our armed forces are in Syria for a good reason: to eradicate an avowed enemy that seeks to destroy us -- ISIS.  Trump made a unilateral choice, which shocked our political and military establishment, as well as our allies abroad -- but delighted our chief international adversary, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Given that the threat of ISIS still remains, it appears Trump's decision is more motivated by a desire to fulfill a campaign promise than to ensure the safety of the American people at large. Also, if the United States leaves, ISIS could well be able to reactivate with few, if any, interruptions from enemy forces, and that certainly will not be in America's national security interests. Intentionally undermining pillars of democracy
Trump's incessant criticisms of the press and our system of justice are so frequent that some may be getting numb to their poisonous effects. But a democracy cannot exist without these two pillars.  Trump does not seem to care. A muzzled press and a corrupt justice system are hallmarks of authoritarian regimes. That Trump seeks to intimidate and corrode public confidence in these pillars of democracy is -- to use one of his favorite words -- a disgrace.
 But Donald Trump knows both institutions are devoted to pursuing the truth about him, his businesses and his presidential campaign. That seems to scare him, so his attacks are unlikely to let up any time soon. His personal interests are best served by a lack of public confidence in the press and in the justice system. The heck with what is best for the country.
 Endangering the smooth working of free marketsAdd Wall Street to the list of institutions Trump appears to no longer respect. In his sights is the very essence of our economic system: the stock market. He is making it virtually impossible for anyone to know in what to reliably invest.
 [H]e has taken the highly unusual step of publicly criticizing his hand-picked chairman of the independent Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, whom he appointed just last year -- saying he was "not even a little bit happy" with him. In fact, according to CNN sources, Trump has even asked about the legality of firing Powell, which only adds to instability and uncertainty in the marketplace. No one should be surprised at Trump putting himself first. After all, he campaigned on being a disruptor, and clearly much of the country welcomed that approach. He and his supporters seem to relish his eschewing of "presidential norms." But this pattern of Trump putting his interests before the country's could not be more at odds with what a president is supposed to do.  Indeed, the one norm to which every president must adhere is putting the American people first.
 That means supporting -- not seeking to destroy -- what makes our country great, even if doing so is at his own expense. Recent actions by Trump provide legitimate reason to question if, whenever the government comes back to full strength, that will be his priority. On that there can be no compromise. Ever. Our survival depends on it.

Juror B29: George Zimmerman Got Away With Murder

After 36 years in the legal profession, my opinion of the American judicial system and its criminal justice system frankly sinks lower with almost every passing day.  Be it incompetent and/or shockingly biased police officers and judges, juries that seem comprised of the dumbest of the dumb,  selective prosecution that disproportionately targets minorities, and/or laws that aid the murderer, things are rotten and not trending for the better.  Now, after allowing George Zimmerman to get away with murder, another member of the jury apparently has a guilty conscience.  The Virginian Pilot looks at this case of too little remorse too late.  Here are excerpts:

The second juror to speak publicly told ABC News in an interview made available Thursday that she feels George Zimmerman got away with murder for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, but that there wasn't enough evidence at trial to convict him under Florida law.

Juror B29 told Robin Roberts that she favored convicting Zimmerman of second-degree murder when deliberations began by the six-member, all-women jury.  "I was the juror that was going to give them a hung jury," she said. "I fought to the end."

"George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God," she said. "And at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with."

Juror B29 is the second panelist to go public with what went on during deliberations earlier this month. She allowed her face to be shown and used her first name, Maddy, unlike Juror B37, who was interviewed on CNN last week with her face obscured.

As noted in previous posts, "stand your ground" laws literally allow murderers to get away with killing people because of the way in which the burden of proof is shifted against the victim and the prosecution.