Democrats tried not pursuing investigations into illegal actions by Presidents (and cabinet members) in the past, and in at least some cases, lived to regret the decisions.
I believe that issuing illegal orders, and knowingly following illegal orders, should be investigated and prosecuted.
That said, this should not be done at the expense of fixing the weak points in our system of checks and balances, and other vital governmental reforms to prevent recurrences of would-be autocrats from seizing control of the entire federal government.
Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, reform SCOTUS, rein in all expansions of executive authority, which have been pushed by the advocates of unitary executive authority.
I'm not really sure if Democrats actually regret impeaching Trump, they definitely don't have reason to do so.
The problem I see with those impeachments is that Democrats did them only half-heartedly. I remember Schiff's speech vividly, and the evidence presented from the insurrection was important and very explicit, but apart from that there's little evidence Democrats really meant it, and especially they didn't follow through. Trump has committed so many impeachable offenses that they could be impeaching him for the next twenty years, if he lives to see that. But they gave up immediately, and it wasn't for work Congress was doing then because Republicans blocked most of it anyway. I wonder if Republicans really would have dared to bail Trump out a third time, or a fourth, fifth,… twentieth.
Again, Trump had committed enough impeachable offenses in the first term already, in this term he has often committed more than one in a day.
I began running Accountability Support Groups 35 years ago. Please disambiguate. You mean deterrence? Our EGOs prevent us from seeing our faults so we don't think we did anything wrong. One percent of Americans try to die annually. Google
".... one of the most common causes of Suicide--the therapist..."
We must have Tribunals to hold every member of the Trump Regime accountable for their crimes
We cannot move forward & heal our nation unless we address how they violated Due Process & the Rule of Law among many other violations of the US Constitution
Nov. 20 marked the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials
No matter how long it takes, we demand justice & reparations
My folks were Holocaust survivors who were in a Slave Labor Camp for 5 years
Yes, it took far too long but in 1961 & 1962 my dad went to Germany to testify against
SS Officers -they were convicted
My folks also received reparations from Germany the last 25 years of their lives
We must do the same for all the victims of the Trump Administration
In order to get to the bottom of this hot mess, we have to start at the top;
1. remove and prosecute the the six conservative members of Roberts court including Roberts for treason. This can be done by forming and empoweringa coalition of federal judges to do this work.
2. Strike down the illegal presidential immunity ‘law‘.
3. Remove, indict and prosecute every member of Trump‘s cabinet; put them in prison where they belong, all for treason.
If treason isn’t a strong enough term, how about calling the whole thing depraved indifference and grand theft?
I think treason is the word. I don't think Democratic office holders are brave enough to call it that. They ignore what is plainly before all of our eyes.
You are correct, Laura. ‘Treason’ does encapsulate all others. If enough voices shout it loud enough, I hope becomes a war cry for the sake and survival of our democracy.
Treason is a difficult crime to prove. Treason in the Constitution is the crime of levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies, giving them "aid and comfort". I don’t know that we want to set a precedent that criminalizes judicial opinions. That’s more like something Donnie wants do.
In normal times I would agree with you regarding your suggestions to save our democracy. However as you know these are not normal times by any measure. Of all of the subtle political language being tossed about,’treason’ resonates the loudest and will stick in people’s minds if shouted by the media. People react to headlines more than they do the meat of a story, given the current sad state of public attention span.
Although most people believe in accountability it remains to be seen what that means to them. There is such a thing as going too far. It also doesn’t put food on the table.
Corruption resonates. Trump and some of his actions may qualify as treason. It doesn’t mean charges or an impeachment conviction would go anywhere. It would not apply to SCOTUS for unwelcome decisions. There have only been 40 cases brought & less than 12 convictions for treason since 1789.
I don’t believe exaggerations and false accusations to grab headlines & attention will save our democracy. It could do the opposite.
There is nothing “subtle” about tossing around the word “treason.” What you’re proposing amounts to an attempt to scam voters by using false accusations. It’s doomed to failure right out of the gate. The news media is not too dumb to know it is either a ploy or a trump-like tactic. (They have legal analysts.) That’s the story that would be picked up by podcasters & commentators all over social media in a heartbeat.
What you say is true, Ann Sharon, yet we have seen MSM plaster so much of the Trumpworld nonsense as ‘news’ that too many people have simply become numb to it. Of course a charge of treason is just as difficult to prove as any other but to my mind the process involved in obtaining impeachment is so time-consuming and diluted by its previous failures that it has become as effective as a slap on the wrist for this current crop of criminals since they are so successful at blowing right past it. Nixon was the last president to suffer its relevance and have the grace to step down nearly 50 years ago.
If you’re looking for a stunt to get media attention I’m certain there is something better out there. Treason is not “just as difficult.” It is much more difficult to prove especially without willing prosecutors or actual treasonous acts.
Nixon didn’t have much grace. He knew there was a grand jury investigating him & that the Senate would convict. Gerald Ford knew also. That’s why he pardoned him. Pardons don’t remove impeachments or the Senate’s conviction.
None of what you say makes much sense to me. I’ll just say, doing more of what got us here is not my idea of something to ‘save democracy.’
This is PREMATURE! We will never get the chance to do these things if we encourage Trump supporters to vote next year. They don't come out when Trump is not on the ballot, but this will essentially "put him on the ballot." Emphasize affordability and the other things he is doing that are awful for our citizens overall. Forget about retribution. Accountability can only occur if we are in the position to enact it, and we won't be if that is the argument next year. In fact, if we do not take the House next year, we will likely never be in that position. The people who do not participate in places like Substack are not motivated to vote because of retribution, they vote because of pocketbook issues and because they love this country and our democracy. A focus on accountability/retribution will ensure we never get it.
I've thought more about what I originally wrote. I actually am not that interested about accountability for all these people. It is last on my list. Much more important to me is that
1. We return this country to what it used to be
2. We create safeguards so that this cannot happen again.
3. Historians and others write about how and why this happened so everyone can learn from it.
However there is Money which allows you to move through our Political System especially the Courts without a care in the world ; DDT Demented Donald is Proof of That Assertion . Bill Gates Al Dershowitz., Larry Summers Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara.
Money Makes the Law/Accountability go away.
Captain Shin Splints Goes to a Military High School plays Football for four years and avoids the Draft and all military Service. His Grandfather, His Father His Brothers Avoid, Now this Clown 🤡 is President of the USA. European scum that avoid all accountability and has the audacity to criticize a war hero Admiral John Mc Cain .
I have one disagreement: I do not want to return this country to what it used to be.
Therd is much room for improvement over what it used to be, and is now, too (I don't mean Then and Now are the same).
For instance, we'd have to go back 50? years to erase the wealth gap. Civil rights for 'minorities' were not much by today's standards (amusingly, including women who have been at parity or plurality since the advent of modern medicine).
How about we don't try to Restore a status quo that hasn't been working for a lot of Americans for at least 10 years, and instead focus on Reform? This regime has pretty well burned government to the ground. I think we are already in a situation where we need to rebuild-- not just repair the 250-year old palace.
I agree that it will be used as an issue to encourage GOP voters to vote. On the flip side trump has worried about it for quite some time. It was one of the big motivations behind his demand for mid-census redistricting. MTG pointed out in her retirement announcement that the GOP will likely lose in the mid-terms and DJT will be impeached. The toothpaste is not going back in the tube. How big it gets is not necessarily something anyone can control.
AGREED, Sue! I am particularly alarmed at the trump military-ICE. This is the most egregious violation of the constitution and the most consequential for everyone.
Agree we must not give in. We must hope. We must write, protest, donate, support trustworthy journalists here on Substack.
It’s all interwoven: Trustworthy journalists that provide us insights, using those insights to ensure accountability and thereby save and nurture our Democracy!
The US Demands Ukrainian Capitulation As Europe Sold Out The Sudetenland, When Europe Forced The 1938 Munich Agreement on Czechoslovakia Without Its Consent*
The 28-point peace plan that the United States and Russia want to impose on Ukraine and Europe is misnamed. It is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else. Why is the Trump White House pushing Ukraine to accept a Russian plan that paves the way for another war? The document offers some hints, declaring that the U.S. would also somehow take charge of the $100 billion in frozen Russian assets, for example, supposedly to invest this money in Ukraine and receive “50% of the profits from this venture.” [The] United States and Russia would “enter into a long-term economic cooperation agreement for mutual development in the areas of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centers, rare earth metal extraction projects in the Arctic, and other mutually beneficial corporate opportunities,” according to the plan.
The analogy with Munich is appropriate, but I would note that Chamberlain didn’t officially join Hitler in profiting from the capitulation. Trump is a part to the proposed rape.
Maybe my wording was not as clear as I expected. Neville Chamberlain (Britain), Édouard Daladier (France), and Benito Mussolini (Italy) entered into the accord purportedly for appeasement purposes (at a deeper level, likely as perceived personal, political and national insurance). It was the forced sacrifice of Czechoslovakia without its participation or consent. Here, the US (meaning 1 + friends) are selling out the Ukraine for self-interested reasons, essentially greed and the expansions of personal wealth and power. The situations are alike in that a territory is sacrificed by others for their reasons without regard or concern for the victim.
It's everything. Without it, rule of law gone. There's no justice, and democracy's forsaken.
2) Yes, I want Democrats to clearly state their commitment to holding Trump and his regime accountable. As far as expecting Democrats to state so clearly - my doubts are earned.
3) Worried that doing so could distract from a central affordability message?
Both accountability and affordability are two essential issues which must be addressed simultaneously. Neither sacrificed or denuded one for the other.
4) Calling for investigations and impeachment could galvanize Republicans and increase their turnout?
To NOT call for investigation and/or impeachment is a betrayal of democracy. Democrats and true patriots should proceed clearly and purposefully. It will increase patriotic turnout.
5) Does political calculus matter? Cowering before "political calculus" is utter bullshit. It is an entrapment we can and must rise above.
"Accountability is accepting responsibility for one's actions, decisions, and commitments and being answerable for the results." Years ago, a colleague asked me why I am so brutally honest. I smiled and said, "Did you ever meet my father?" My ancestry is Scot/Scots Irish and Welsh. Trust, honesty and truth are major uncompromisable components of that culture. At least, in my family they are. Integrity is sacred.
Trump fails on all counts. That he is trying to broker a deal to end the Ukraine/Russia war is all but laughable. Trump is under Putin's thumb. Say "Hello" to the Trump/Putin Brokerage Firm. The best "deal" for Ukraine is to step away from anything Trump. Trump is a dishonest broker who has full disregard for the rights and privileges of a sovereign nation.
It seems as though he’s desperate to qualify for the next Nobel prize running around trying to engineer peace in Gaza and Ukraine at any cost to Ukraine while inciting violence and threatening military conflicts elsewhere??
Accountability is why Justice Robert Jackson fought so hard for the US to hold the Nuremberg trials in 1946. Accountability is what gave most of NATO countries relative peace for 70 years.
Accountability means valuing the Rule of Law more than a demented piggy's whims.
Accountability DEMANDS we impeach the corrupt justices on SCOTUS who have accepted bribes, gifts, trips, and patronage from billionaires, as well as the three who LIED to Congress during their confirmation hearings.
Accountability means writing to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to demand charges of crimes against humanity be brought against this regime for the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Africans by cutting USAID, and bombing Venezuelan fishing boats without evidence.
Go see Russell Crowe's "Nuremberg." You'll see the parallels to what we are experiencing and it will reinforce the notion of accountability for actions taken.
Thanks for invoking Justice Robert Jackson. I recently listened to the entire 3 hours of his opening remarks at Nuremberg. Truly inspiring. Not an ounce of vengeance. Only justice according to the rule of law.
Jackson's famous Youngstown concurrence sets the standard for a clear statement of the limits of presidential power. And his dissent in Kuromatsu is a repudiation of the ethnically motivated Japanese internment camps during WWII.
Accountability is very important. The lack of accountability is a good bit of what is poisoning Americans' trust in anything; it is the idea that the wealthy and powerful are never held to account. That's the seething rage about the Epstein/Maxwell sex trafficking. If we believe that laws are for little guys, what are we supposed to do with aphorisms like "we are a nation of laws, not men"? We wind up believing that the central beliefs about the U.S. are just nice-sounding lies, and that justice is a lie, and soon there's nothing to hold us together.
Accountability is what defines culture - what we allow / celebrate and what we condone / chastise. Healthy accountability focuses on actions and statements and their impact - with multiple levels of consequences (and rewards). It is everything and it exists at various spheres of influence - individually, family, business, community.
I very much agree with Nancy Leveson that we need to address people's personal problems first, but I think we need to keep a close eye on all the elections that lead up to the midterms for clues as to what works and what doesn't. As far as accountability is concerned, I personally very much believe in it. Without it, transgressors will continue to flout the law.
Any Democrat running for election or reelection must clearly state their position on overturning unconstitutional executive orders, impeaching Trump, prosecuting his administration appointees and those in the judiciary specifically Thomas and Alito and the other 4 fascists! More so much more! Vote out corporatist Democrats in the House & Senate!
Thanks Steven: Hypothetically if I was a voter , with a family of three children , starving for lack of the SNAP program, and having to cancel my health insurance , can't find a job because AI has taken it and all my earnings are disappearing I would hope the prosecutions of all the wrong doings would be put on the back burner. I could care less if the democrats want to prosecute the misfits, I want to be able to survive. prosecutions are a must but must come second to healthy solutions to affordability . Accountability for crimes is dealt with by the courts. Accountability for political promises unkept will be dealt with at the ballot box.
I believe in accountability, and hope that anything criminal will be acknowledged and pursued in the courts. However, I fear that retribution and revenge, Trump’s style, will ultimately hurt this nation from moving forward. If each Party in the majority continues to prosecute the other, this could go on and on. I hope Democrats, when in power, will focus on restoring and upholding the Constitution. Let’s focus on undoing the great harms of the Trump administration. Retaliation has a huge cost—in money, time, energy, focus.
I’m a strong believer in justice. Justice, not revenge.
Professional accountability is important to me because without it anything goes. The strong do what they will and the weak do what they must. But you hit the major difficulty at the beginning of your letter today. The Supreme Court has given the office of President a blank check to do what he will. And his unfettered power of pardon means that his associates will be similarly free of Federal charges based on their carrying out the President's wishes. So the single most important issue before us is the pressing need for Supreme Court reform. Accountability, desirable though it be, cannot be sought under the present Supreme Court.
Accountability for not only their actions but the results (higher inflation, growing income inequality, loss of health insurance and other services) can then be woven into the “affordability” argument. Are you better off than last year (2 years ago in the midterms) needs to be the question. Folks will answer that question at the polls.
Americans theoretically care about integrity and accountability in government. But they actually feel the affordability issues. We can never lose that focus.
Democrats tried not pursuing investigations into illegal actions by Presidents (and cabinet members) in the past, and in at least some cases, lived to regret the decisions.
I believe that issuing illegal orders, and knowingly following illegal orders, should be investigated and prosecuted.
That said, this should not be done at the expense of fixing the weak points in our system of checks and balances, and other vital governmental reforms to prevent recurrences of would-be autocrats from seizing control of the entire federal government.
Pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, reform SCOTUS, rein in all expansions of executive authority, which have been pushed by the advocates of unitary executive authority.
The walls are closing in! Trump is in the Epstein files and his signature will release them. Now let's continue to protest in the streets. Here is a No Kings Anthem we can sing together: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/no-kings-anthem-no-crown-no-throne
I'm not really sure if Democrats actually regret impeaching Trump, they definitely don't have reason to do so.
The problem I see with those impeachments is that Democrats did them only half-heartedly. I remember Schiff's speech vividly, and the evidence presented from the insurrection was important and very explicit, but apart from that there's little evidence Democrats really meant it, and especially they didn't follow through. Trump has committed so many impeachable offenses that they could be impeaching him for the next twenty years, if he lives to see that. But they gave up immediately, and it wasn't for work Congress was doing then because Republicans blocked most of it anyway. I wonder if Republicans really would have dared to bail Trump out a third time, or a fourth, fifth,… twentieth.
Again, Trump had committed enough impeachable offenses in the first term already, in this term he has often committed more than one in a day.
I began running Accountability Support Groups 35 years ago. Please disambiguate. You mean deterrence? Our EGOs prevent us from seeing our faults so we don't think we did anything wrong. One percent of Americans try to die annually. Google
".... one of the most common causes of Suicide--the therapist..."
Dr Burns is the top CBT Scientist
First Do no harm STOP THE LYING
THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN ANGER IS FUBAR
Don't subscribe unless you're going to join our Focus Group
We must have Tribunals to hold every member of the Trump Regime accountable for their crimes
We cannot move forward & heal our nation unless we address how they violated Due Process & the Rule of Law among many other violations of the US Constitution
Nov. 20 marked the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials
No matter how long it takes, we demand justice & reparations
My folks were Holocaust survivors who were in a Slave Labor Camp for 5 years
Yes, it took far too long but in 1961 & 1962 my dad went to Germany to testify against
SS Officers -they were convicted
My folks also received reparations from Germany the last 25 years of their lives
We must do the same for all the victims of the Trump Administration
Well said, Sue. Thank you.
In order to get to the bottom of this hot mess, we have to start at the top;
1. remove and prosecute the the six conservative members of Roberts court including Roberts for treason. This can be done by forming and empoweringa coalition of federal judges to do this work.
2. Strike down the illegal presidential immunity ‘law‘.
3. Remove, indict and prosecute every member of Trump‘s cabinet; put them in prison where they belong, all for treason.
If treason isn’t a strong enough term, how about calling the whole thing depraved indifference and grand theft?
I think treason is the word. I don't think Democratic office holders are brave enough to call it that. They ignore what is plainly before all of our eyes.
You are correct, Laura. ‘Treason’ does encapsulate all others. If enough voices shout it loud enough, I hope becomes a war cry for the sake and survival of our democracy.
Treason is a difficult crime to prove. Treason in the Constitution is the crime of levying war against the United States or adhering to its enemies, giving them "aid and comfort". I don’t know that we want to set a precedent that criminalizes judicial opinions. That’s more like something Donnie wants do.
I believe there are grounds to impeach several for corruption or ethical issues such as conflicts of interest. I’m thinking of the secret “gifts”, not recusing from cases involving parties they have ties. A complaint was fired regarding the job Robert’s’ wife and her work posing an ethical violation for Roberts. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/28/chief-justice-john-roberts-wife-made-over-10-million-as-legal-consultant-report-says/
Ann Sharon,
In normal times I would agree with you regarding your suggestions to save our democracy. However as you know these are not normal times by any measure. Of all of the subtle political language being tossed about,’treason’ resonates the loudest and will stick in people’s minds if shouted by the media. People react to headlines more than they do the meat of a story, given the current sad state of public attention span.
Although most people believe in accountability it remains to be seen what that means to them. There is such a thing as going too far. It also doesn’t put food on the table.
Corruption resonates. Trump and some of his actions may qualify as treason. It doesn’t mean charges or an impeachment conviction would go anywhere. It would not apply to SCOTUS for unwelcome decisions. There have only been 40 cases brought & less than 12 convictions for treason since 1789.
I don’t believe exaggerations and false accusations to grab headlines & attention will save our democracy. It could do the opposite.
There is nothing “subtle” about tossing around the word “treason.” What you’re proposing amounts to an attempt to scam voters by using false accusations. It’s doomed to failure right out of the gate. The news media is not too dumb to know it is either a ploy or a trump-like tactic. (They have legal analysts.) That’s the story that would be picked up by podcasters & commentators all over social media in a heartbeat.
What you say is true, Ann Sharon, yet we have seen MSM plaster so much of the Trumpworld nonsense as ‘news’ that too many people have simply become numb to it. Of course a charge of treason is just as difficult to prove as any other but to my mind the process involved in obtaining impeachment is so time-consuming and diluted by its previous failures that it has become as effective as a slap on the wrist for this current crop of criminals since they are so successful at blowing right past it. Nixon was the last president to suffer its relevance and have the grace to step down nearly 50 years ago.
If you’re looking for a stunt to get media attention I’m certain there is something better out there. Treason is not “just as difficult.” It is much more difficult to prove especially without willing prosecutors or actual treasonous acts.
Nixon didn’t have much grace. He knew there was a grand jury investigating him & that the Senate would convict. Gerald Ford knew also. That’s why he pardoned him. Pardons don’t remove impeachments or the Senate’s conviction.
None of what you say makes much sense to me. I’ll just say, doing more of what got us here is not my idea of something to ‘save democracy.’
This is PREMATURE! We will never get the chance to do these things if we encourage Trump supporters to vote next year. They don't come out when Trump is not on the ballot, but this will essentially "put him on the ballot." Emphasize affordability and the other things he is doing that are awful for our citizens overall. Forget about retribution. Accountability can only occur if we are in the position to enact it, and we won't be if that is the argument next year. In fact, if we do not take the House next year, we will likely never be in that position. The people who do not participate in places like Substack are not motivated to vote because of retribution, they vote because of pocketbook issues and because they love this country and our democracy. A focus on accountability/retribution will ensure we never get it.
I've thought more about what I originally wrote. I actually am not that interested about accountability for all these people. It is last on my list. Much more important to me is that
1. We return this country to what it used to be
2. We create safeguards so that this cannot happen again.
3. Historians and others write about how and why this happened so everyone can learn from it.
That's what we should put our energy into.
There is NO accountability.
However there is Money which allows you to move through our Political System especially the Courts without a care in the world ; DDT Demented Donald is Proof of That Assertion . Bill Gates Al Dershowitz., Larry Summers Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara.
Money Makes the Law/Accountability go away.
Captain Shin Splints Goes to a Military High School plays Football for four years and avoids the Draft and all military Service. His Grandfather, His Father His Brothers Avoid, Now this Clown 🤡 is President of the USA. European scum that avoid all accountability and has the audacity to criticize a war hero Admiral John Mc Cain .
There is no accountability period.
Very interesting thoughts, Nancy.
I have one disagreement: I do not want to return this country to what it used to be.
Therd is much room for improvement over what it used to be, and is now, too (I don't mean Then and Now are the same).
For instance, we'd have to go back 50? years to erase the wealth gap. Civil rights for 'minorities' were not much by today's standards (amusingly, including women who have been at parity or plurality since the advent of modern medicine).
How about we don't try to Restore a status quo that hasn't been working for a lot of Americans for at least 10 years, and instead focus on Reform? This regime has pretty well burned government to the ground. I think we are already in a situation where we need to rebuild-- not just repair the 250-year old palace.
Good point Kristine.
I agree that it will be used as an issue to encourage GOP voters to vote. On the flip side trump has worried about it for quite some time. It was one of the big motivations behind his demand for mid-census redistricting. MTG pointed out in her retirement announcement that the GOP will likely lose in the mid-terms and DJT will be impeached. The toothpaste is not going back in the tube. How big it gets is not necessarily something anyone can control.
AGREED, Sue! I am particularly alarmed at the trump military-ICE. This is the most egregious violation of the constitution and the most consequential for everyone.
❤️
Thx for your reply.
I just posted this about the SC after disgusting Alito put a hold on TX Gerrymander decision:
All I want for Christmas is for the Supreme Court to reverse it's decision to grant Trump immunity
Yes, they can do it
Will they?
Highly doubtful but a girl can dream
All the #EpsteinFiles will come out
We must hold everyone accountable starting with #PedophileTrump
https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/supreme-court-trump-immunity-ruling-ask-jordan-rcna200839
Agree we must not give in. We must hope. We must write, protest, donate, support trustworthy journalists here on Substack.
It’s all interwoven: Trustworthy journalists that provide us insights, using those insights to ensure accountability and thereby save and nurture our Democracy!
💙🇺🇸💙
The US Demands Ukrainian Capitulation As Europe Sold Out The Sudetenland, When Europe Forced The 1938 Munich Agreement on Czechoslovakia Without Its Consent*
The 28-point peace plan that the United States and Russia want to impose on Ukraine and Europe is misnamed. It is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else. Why is the Trump White House pushing Ukraine to accept a Russian plan that paves the way for another war? The document offers some hints, declaring that the U.S. would also somehow take charge of the $100 billion in frozen Russian assets, for example, supposedly to invest this money in Ukraine and receive “50% of the profits from this venture.” [The] United States and Russia would “enter into a long-term economic cooperation agreement for mutual development in the areas of energy, natural resources, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centers, rare earth metal extraction projects in the Arctic, and other mutually beneficial corporate opportunities,” according to the plan.
The Atlantic, 22-Nov-25 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/trumps-war-peace/685024/?gift=8h-ND1FuiIZ4VZp5QuIbsHkdgZ1qJUylR71Azs7o54E&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
*Unlike the Munich Agreement (https://www.britannica.com/event/Munich-Agreement) advanced in 1938 by France, Britain, and Italy as appeasement, this is nothing but rapacity.
The analogy with Munich is appropriate, but I would note that Chamberlain didn’t officially join Hitler in profiting from the capitulation. Trump is a part to the proposed rape.
Maybe my wording was not as clear as I expected. Neville Chamberlain (Britain), Édouard Daladier (France), and Benito Mussolini (Italy) entered into the accord purportedly for appeasement purposes (at a deeper level, likely as perceived personal, political and national insurance). It was the forced sacrifice of Czechoslovakia without its participation or consent. Here, the US (meaning 1 + friends) are selling out the Ukraine for self-interested reasons, essentially greed and the expansions of personal wealth and power. The situations are alike in that a territory is sacrificed by others for their reasons without regard or concern for the victim.
THANK YOU FOR THIS WRITING! AGREE, NOT A PEACE PLAN BUT DECIMATING UKRAINE LAND BY TREATY VS INCURSION. THIS CANNOT BE AGREED TO IN ANY WAY.
RUSSIA MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!!!
🙏
1) How important is accountability?
It's everything. Without it, rule of law gone. There's no justice, and democracy's forsaken.
2) Yes, I want Democrats to clearly state their commitment to holding Trump and his regime accountable. As far as expecting Democrats to state so clearly - my doubts are earned.
3) Worried that doing so could distract from a central affordability message?
Both accountability and affordability are two essential issues which must be addressed simultaneously. Neither sacrificed or denuded one for the other.
4) Calling for investigations and impeachment could galvanize Republicans and increase their turnout?
To NOT call for investigation and/or impeachment is a betrayal of democracy. Democrats and true patriots should proceed clearly and purposefully. It will increase patriotic turnout.
5) Does political calculus matter? Cowering before "political calculus" is utter bullshit. It is an entrapment we can and must rise above.
"To NOT call for investigation and/or impeachment is a betrayal of democracy." AND a betrayal to the rule of law, IMO.
Are we or are we not "A government of laws, and not of men.” John Adams
"Accountability is accepting responsibility for one's actions, decisions, and commitments and being answerable for the results." Years ago, a colleague asked me why I am so brutally honest. I smiled and said, "Did you ever meet my father?" My ancestry is Scot/Scots Irish and Welsh. Trust, honesty and truth are major uncompromisable components of that culture. At least, in my family they are. Integrity is sacred.
Trump fails on all counts. That he is trying to broker a deal to end the Ukraine/Russia war is all but laughable. Trump is under Putin's thumb. Say "Hello" to the Trump/Putin Brokerage Firm. The best "deal" for Ukraine is to step away from anything Trump. Trump is a dishonest broker who has full disregard for the rights and privileges of a sovereign nation.
It seems as though he’s desperate to qualify for the next Nobel prize running around trying to engineer peace in Gaza and Ukraine at any cost to Ukraine while inciting violence and threatening military conflicts elsewhere??
The man is deeply conflicted and extremely dangerous.
Agree
And some way we must legally sand non violently claw him out of our Democracy!
I see your flags. Are you from beautiful Scotland? ☺️
Naye. I am of Scot Scots/Irish ancestry on my dad's side and Welsh English on my mother's.
Accountability is why Justice Robert Jackson fought so hard for the US to hold the Nuremberg trials in 1946. Accountability is what gave most of NATO countries relative peace for 70 years.
Accountability means valuing the Rule of Law more than a demented piggy's whims.
Accountability DEMANDS we impeach the corrupt justices on SCOTUS who have accepted bribes, gifts, trips, and patronage from billionaires, as well as the three who LIED to Congress during their confirmation hearings.
Accountability means writing to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to demand charges of crimes against humanity be brought against this regime for the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Africans by cutting USAID, and bombing Venezuelan fishing boats without evidence.
Go see Russell Crowe's "Nuremberg." You'll see the parallels to what we are experiencing and it will reinforce the notion of accountability for actions taken.
Thanks for invoking Justice Robert Jackson. I recently listened to the entire 3 hours of his opening remarks at Nuremberg. Truly inspiring. Not an ounce of vengeance. Only justice according to the rule of law.
Jackson's famous Youngstown concurrence sets the standard for a clear statement of the limits of presidential power. And his dissent in Kuromatsu is a repudiation of the ethnically motivated Japanese internment camps during WWII.
Accountability is very important. The lack of accountability is a good bit of what is poisoning Americans' trust in anything; it is the idea that the wealthy and powerful are never held to account. That's the seething rage about the Epstein/Maxwell sex trafficking. If we believe that laws are for little guys, what are we supposed to do with aphorisms like "we are a nation of laws, not men"? We wind up believing that the central beliefs about the U.S. are just nice-sounding lies, and that justice is a lie, and soon there's nothing to hold us together.
If us civilians have be accountable for what we do, so should all politicians! As they are to be the leaders..
Literally everything trump and his corrupt, unethical, immoral administration does should be charged.
Accountability is what defines culture - what we allow / celebrate and what we condone / chastise. Healthy accountability focuses on actions and statements and their impact - with multiple levels of consequences (and rewards). It is everything and it exists at various spheres of influence - individually, family, business, community.
I very much agree with Nancy Leveson that we need to address people's personal problems first, but I think we need to keep a close eye on all the elections that lead up to the midterms for clues as to what works and what doesn't. As far as accountability is concerned, I personally very much believe in it. Without it, transgressors will continue to flout the law.
Any Democrat running for election or reelection must clearly state their position on overturning unconstitutional executive orders, impeaching Trump, prosecuting his administration appointees and those in the judiciary specifically Thomas and Alito and the other 4 fascists! More so much more! Vote out corporatist Democrats in the House & Senate!
Thanks Steven: Hypothetically if I was a voter , with a family of three children , starving for lack of the SNAP program, and having to cancel my health insurance , can't find a job because AI has taken it and all my earnings are disappearing I would hope the prosecutions of all the wrong doings would be put on the back burner. I could care less if the democrats want to prosecute the misfits, I want to be able to survive. prosecutions are a must but must come second to healthy solutions to affordability . Accountability for crimes is dealt with by the courts. Accountability for political promises unkept will be dealt with at the ballot box.
I believe in accountability, and hope that anything criminal will be acknowledged and pursued in the courts. However, I fear that retribution and revenge, Trump’s style, will ultimately hurt this nation from moving forward. If each Party in the majority continues to prosecute the other, this could go on and on. I hope Democrats, when in power, will focus on restoring and upholding the Constitution. Let’s focus on undoing the great harms of the Trump administration. Retaliation has a huge cost—in money, time, energy, focus.
I’m a strong believer in justice. Justice, not revenge.
Professional accountability is important to me because without it anything goes. The strong do what they will and the weak do what they must. But you hit the major difficulty at the beginning of your letter today. The Supreme Court has given the office of President a blank check to do what he will. And his unfettered power of pardon means that his associates will be similarly free of Federal charges based on their carrying out the President's wishes. So the single most important issue before us is the pressing need for Supreme Court reform. Accountability, desirable though it be, cannot be sought under the present Supreme Court.
Accountability for not only their actions but the results (higher inflation, growing income inequality, loss of health insurance and other services) can then be woven into the “affordability” argument. Are you better off than last year (2 years ago in the midterms) needs to be the question. Folks will answer that question at the polls.
Americans theoretically care about integrity and accountability in government. But they actually feel the affordability issues. We can never lose that focus.