THE PRESIDENT'S MERCENARY MILITIA

 $1,776,000,000.00 is the proposed taxpayer payout President Trump wants to give those he pardoned of the crimes they were convicted of as a result of participating in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capital.  Many were sentenced to serve time in prison as a result of the due process they were entitled to under the Constitution being carried out.   President Trump did what presidents are also entitled to do under the Constitution which is to exercise the power to pardon those convicted of federal crimes.  What no president has ever done was monetarily compensate those pardoned.  What is even more puzzling is that President Trump wants tax payers to do so, including the Capitol police officers who were attacked by those he pardoned, and anyone in the vicinity who was threatened directly or indirectly by the insurrectionists.  

President Trump does not strike one as being the compassionate type which is underscored by the fact that if he wanted to he could use his own billions to personally compensate them if he was truly moved by their plight of being convicted of their obvious crimes.  But that does not strike one as how President Trump rolls.  President Trump does not throw money, our or his (which this President obviously considers ours to be his), in order to use on things that advantage him personally if he can avoid doing so.  If this is not an act of compassion for those he considers wrongfully convicted and financially inconvenienced because they were doing his bidding at the end of his first presidential term, then what is it?  

The thought of not getting his way or losing something he badly wants seemingly results in him becoming dangerously petulant.  Weakness is not something he wants associated with him.  He cannot be weak and any sense that he is perceived as being so results in his verbally threatening to do political or physical harm; such as, we are seeing in his dealings with Iran.  Not wanting his buttons pushed so that he is compelled to push THE BUTTON or forced to give the command to annihilate an entire civilization, Trump plays the "I've won" game as though the realization of his having won the undeclared war with Iran so has not dawned on Iran or his opponents.  He acts patiently; as in, playing the long game by giving deadlines and then pushing the deadlines down the road to supposedly give whoever is causing him concern time to realize there is no hope but to acquiesce to his demands.  If it worked for him in his private business dealings (and it often did), why not with his dealings on the national and international stage?

President Trump is good at creating diverse issues that takes one's focus off of things that personally matter to him.  He tries to avoid having to deal with any personal or financial problems by what I have described as sleight of hand.  The question in this post is what is motiving him to offer almost $1.776 billion?  The natural question everyone should be asking this president is what is in it for him?  

One cannot help feeling surprised that political commentators and pundits haven't picked up what seems obvious. Losing the mid-term elections could likely end or put a damper on President Trump's aspiration to have congress offer him a third term or see the completion of the monuments to himself in Washington D.C..  To help ensure he won't lose, it is in the realm of possibilities that beyond creating a diversionary tactic to keep our minds preoccupied with the ridiculous notion of reimbursing those who attacked the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021,  there is the more pressing issue that could be motivating him to take such actions.  The first is that he needs a militant presence during midterms, especially in areas where there is need to intimidate voters from showing up at the polls. Who better qualified to do his bidding than those he not only pardoned but also paid for their loyalty back in 2021.  In essence,  President Trump may be ensuring that he has a mercenary militia to personally protect him and ensure that he doesn't lose seats in congress that have been loyal to him during the upcoming election.   

Even if his efforts to pay for a mercenary militia is defeated in congress, it is the thought that counts.  If the militia groups are denied payment, they will blame congress not the President and will do his bidding once again in the hope they will receive renumeration in the long run.  Is this speculation?  Of course it is. But it is speculation that needs consideration by congressional leaders and the general American public.  Do we want to risk having the Presiden'ts personal militia disrupting polling places this coming November of worse?  

I find it hard to believe that no one else is thinking along this line regarding his payout scheme.  I'm sure there are, but the reason it has not made it to the campaign trail or major news outlets or podcasts could be to see how far congress will go with regard to funding such a payout with taxpayer money.  What leads one to think there is devious side to the President's fund is the size of the payment, $1.776 billion is that it is a cute sum to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.   PRESIDENT TRUMP DOES NOT DO CUTE.  Instead, he does code like his comment on the Proud Boys during his debate with Hilary Clinton in 2020 saying, "Stand back and stand by" or his invitatiom to his followers to come to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021 saying, "It will be wild."  The payout could easily be understood as code for a pre-paid revolution.  

Undoubtedly this is pure speculation, but it is speculation worth considering while keeping an eye on how this payout scheme plays out. 

Norm 

WHEN A KING CAME TO OUR RESCUE

In the era of "NO KINGS" protests in America in which I participated, there is no small amount of irony that King Charles III of Great Britain came to the United States to gently but poignantly remind us while addressing a joint session of Congress of who we are and what both our nations have valued and traditionally stood for since being allies in two world wars.  King Charles offered a unique perspective of our own history as an heir to a royal family that has been part of America's history prior to the American Revolution and beyond.  As a constitutional monarch, he reminded us of the importance of our own constitution and its ties to Magna Carta which he pointed out has been referenced in our Supreme Courts decisions numerous times.  In short, it was perhaps the finest speech ever delivered to a joint session of Congress to date in the 21st century.  

Normally, such a speech as this would have been understood in the context of mutual understanding and gratitude for such shared values between our two nations which on the surface it was.   The context in which King Charles spoke, however,  was set against a backdrop that sharply contrasted with those values; the current autocratic regime that occupies the White House and is supported by its sycophants in Congress and the Supreme Court.   How ironic that a constitutional monarch has to remind us of the importance of checks and balances that is the very foundation upon which our constitutional republic rests.  

Naturally, there were those on both sides of the pond who were not happy with their majesties coming to America.  I am not sure any of us knew what to expect, but for myself and many others it was a momentous occasion that brought relief and hope in a friendship determined to see us through one of the most difficult moments in our nation's history.  King Charles' dignity, wit, and wisdom were clearly on display that spoke well of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth.  That too was set against our President's bumbling rudeness.

* * *

What came to mind during the King's speech was King George III's song from the musical Hamilton, "You'll Be Back."  I have to admit King Charles' speech gave me a sense of longing for rational leadership, intellectual wit, and calm wisdom.  There was also something about a constitutional monarch speaking in revolutionary terms about the need for limitations on personal power and the benefits of checks and balances in democratic nations that contrasted deeply with the current presidential regime's  dismissal of any constitutional restraint used to block the current President's personal ambitions.

What King Charles' visit offered us is the advantage of a head of state and a historical royal family who is constitutionally apolitical and whose only power is to speak officially to those in power, whose job it is to to uphold the people of his realm; to speak to the nation and Commonwealth in both good times and in times of trouble.  There was one comment in King Charles speech, however, that caught my attention and gave me pause to think:

“Standing here today, it is hard not to feel the weight of history on my shoulder — because the modern relationship between our two nations and our own peoples spans not merely 250 years, but over four centuries. It is extraordinary to think that I am the 19th in our line of sovereigns to study, with daily attention, the affairs of America."

I don't know that any president of the United States feels the weight of history on his shoulder the way King Charles does.  It is within being "the 19th in line of sovereigns to study with daily attention, the affairs of America" that lies the power of King Charles to speak to us; not from a constitutional duty to do so but rather from a historical one.  In sharing with us the weight he feels history has on his shoulder, we are reminded that the weight of history rests on our shoulders as well.  

A constitutional monarchy is a living testament to Great Britain's continuity in the living symbols of a family and a monarch that personifies the heritage of the nation they serve.  We in America removed such hereditary symbols after our revolution.  Continuity in America is in the heritage of the ideas we hold to be true and in the belief that they will continue to sustain us in the future, no matter how precarious the present seems.   This continuity is expressed in our constitutional democracy's ability to offer new perspectives and to breathe life into our's nation being.  King Charles reminded us that we as a nation not only bear the weight of our own history but the future history of the entire world.  A burden that cannot be undertaken by any singular nation.  

His Majesty conferred a sense of majesty in our shared histories and in the task of coming together to make the weight of history a shared burden when he said,

“Our common ideals were not only crucial for liberty and equality, they are also the foundation of our shared prosperity. The rule of law: the certainty of stable and accessible rules, an independent judiciary resolving disputes and delivering impartial justice. These features created the conditions for centuries of unmatched economic growth in our two countries. 

King Charles' speech was a much needed reminder of who we are at a time we seem to have lost our way.  It is with gratitude, therefore, that I can honestly say as an American, "God save the King and God save the United States of America."

Norm