Sunday Issues-January 12, 2025
Trump sentenced--and it really doesn't matter.
Convicted criminal Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as president in eight days. Flags will be appropriately placed at half-mast, at least until Trump is sworn in. (I would not be surprised if Trump orders the flags returned to full mast immediately after completing the oath of office.)
Trump will enter office with his administration already mired in controversy. He has continued to sling mud at real or perceived enemies since his election. Instead of expressing empathy for the victims of the California fires, he has attacked the State’s governor. If he has made a commitment to help Southern California rebuild, I haven’t seen or heard it. And then there are his threats of violence against Denmark and Panama. Nobody told Trump the age of imperialism is over.
Will Trump blow up NATO by using force to “take” Greenland? Will Trump orchestrate the destruction of the Panama Canal by launching a military operation to “reclaim” it when Panamanian guerilla fighters start sabotaging the canal?
And what about the start of deportations of “migrant criminals” and 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods?
I’m worried.
Congress will soon start voting on Trump’s nominees for his cabinet and other top government posts. Will Tulsi Gabbard be Director of National Intelligence two weeks from now? What will that mean to national security?
And if Pete Hegseth is confirmed as Secretary of Defense, will he show up to work drunk? I hope not, but alcohol-abusing people often have trouble giving up drinking.
Greenland.
Trump’s proposal to “take” Greenland by force appears to be losing steam. Denmark has reiterated its opposition to Trump, and some suggest that Trump is more interested in Greenland’s mineral wealth than national security. My guess is that the issue will start to fade away shortly after Inauguration Day. At most, I expect an expanded military cooperation agreement that could increase the U.S.'s access to Greenland for military purposes. That would be a good outcome.
Trump discharged in “hush-money” case sentencing.
Donald Trump was sentenced this week for falsification of business records. The sentence for 34 felony convictions was “unconditional discharge,” meaning no jail or fine.
The outcome is the only logical one given Trump’s election.
Of course, Trump was unrepentant at the sentencing, which he attended virtually. He promised to appeal the conviction. Legal pundits suggest he may succeed due to the Supreme Court’s decision in last year's presidential immunity case. We’ll see.
On January 20, Trump will become the first, and hopefully, the last president inaugurated with a felony conviction.
Jack Smith resigns, but we haven’t heard the last of him.
Attorney General Garland has indicated he will release Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and fomenting the January 6 assault on the Capitol. I look forward to reading the report. Can Garland get it out before he leaves the office? I expect that he will surprise us and beat the deadline.
The Smith report, which will not include Smith’s findings in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, will not make much difference as the second Trump administration gets underway. Trump will condemn the report and repeat his condemnation of Smith. Those who remain troubled by January 6 will read the report, and the country will move on.
Trump attempted to overturn the government and got away with it. Sad.
Fire, fire.
The California fires continue. As of this morning, 16 people have died. This is an historic fire.
An early challenge for Donald Trump will be how to respond to the fire. Will he support a significant federal role in rebuilding the destroyed areas, or will he consider the fire a distraction from his agenda?
Hopefully, Trump will stop blaming “Gavin Newscum” and others for the fire and begin taking constructive steps to deal with the tragedy. My fingers are crossed.
Thank you.
That is it for now. It will be an interesting week as the Senate moves forward on Trump’s cabinet nominations and we wait for the start of another four years of chaos.
We should all be worried, John. My biggest concern is Elon Musk, who's willing to do anything to gain Trump's favor. He doesn't care about MAGA. Like most politicians, he wants power and the mantle of being a trillionaire. Trump wants Musk's money, so he'll give Musk a lot of leeway.