Monthly Archives: April 2026

The Justice Chronicles, Volume 44: Kash Patel: I Am Not A Drunk!

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First off, apologies to President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) who, in the midst of the Watergate Scandal told the American people: “I am not a crook”. Less than a year he resigned.

Current FBI director Kash Patel was the subject of an article in The Atlantic magazine (unfortunately the article is behind a paywall but it’s easy enough to find the highlights for free). The article, based on numerous interviews with numerous sources, claims that Director Patel has shown a pattern of excessive drinking both in Washington D.C. and Las Vegas.

In response Patel is now suing the Atlantic for for $250 million for defamation. Of course the easiest way to defend yourself against a defamation charge is to show that the article was accurate. But for Patel to win he has to show that the magazine either knew the article was false or used “actual malice.” In other words, he has to show the magazine intended to attack Patel and was reckless.

This comes from a now famous Supreme Court case from 1964, New York Times Company v. Sullivan. The Times was sued for minor errors in an ad that ran in the paper. They were sued by someone (Sullivan) who claimed he was defamed but he court unanimously stated that minor, honest errors don’t constitute defamation.

President Trump and many of his supporters want to have this case overturned which would allow public officials to sue more easily if they don’t like the coverage they are receiving. I don’t think Patel really expects to win this case but he knows it will make points with his boss.

Of course, if he doesn’t want this kind of coverage he could also moderate his drinking. Just sayin’

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 175: Now We Know Who Pete Hegseth Worships: Trump

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Last month I wrote that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth worships a dangerous God after he prayed for “unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” A few days ago President Trump posted an AI generated picture of himself that portrays himself as Jesus healing a sick man. In fairness, Trump removed the post.

Trump claimed he wasn’t portraying himself as Jesus, but as a doctor. So here’s the problem: a doctor would be wearing a lab coat, not robes that we often see Jesus portrayed in. Also, doctors normally use medications or devices to heal and here he doesn’t even have a stethoscope. Instead we see light emanating from his left hand, something we mere humans can’t do.

Interestingly enough, Trump is getting blowback even from his supporters. You can read about it here.

Seriously Donald, get help.

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 174: Threaten, TACO, Repeat

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When President Trump returned to the White House last year he generated all sorts of chaos by promising dozens of tariffs on multiple countries and multiple products, only to walk them back after a day or two. Eventually someone came up with the acronym TACO meaning “Trump always chickens out.”

In late February he began a campaign against Iran and it appears he’s TACO’ing again. He’s been famously all over the map in what he hopes to achieve, but that’s grist for another day. Most of his bombing targets have been military facilities in Iran but earlier this week he promised a major escalation warning that a whole civilization will die tonight.

This was widely interpreted to mean that he would target civilians, a clear war crime. But the next day he walked it back announcing a two week cease fire.

He claimed this was the result of Iran agreeing to negotiate but Iran denies these negotiations are even happening. One of Trump’s conditions is the opening of the Strait of Hormuz; it’s a narrow sea passageway where 30% of the world’s oil passes. It’s still effectively closed.

So where do we go from here? Hard to say. Much like his actions around tariffs he may again threaten to escalate the war. This makes everything more difficult. Our allies are being told they need to step up and “retake” the strait. Trump also claims we don’t need the oil that passes through the strait.

All we really do know is that he’s unpredictable and therefore dangerous. By the way, while it’s true that we produce more oil than we consume, oil prices rise and fall globally. We’re paying more money for gasoline regardless of where the oil comes from.

Stay tuned.

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 173: Conduct Unbecoming

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President Trump famously texts and posts a great deal. I’m avoiding the word “writes” because most of what he pens is of little value and is meant only to build himself up. After he was banned from Twitter (now called X) he began his own social media platform and posts there. A few days ago on Easter he posted 14 times. In fairness six of them did mention Easter.

But one of them used an obscenity that I’ll let you click on. I’ve often noted that Trump lacks a basic respect for the office of Presidency and this is a good example. The words that a President speaks and writes matter. Not all Presidents have been brilliant or eloquent but they’ve all written words that should be read by future generations.

Now we have a President whose words cannot be reasonably shown to children and should offend people of all ages. When asked about it he defended his words by saying he was making a point.

People use profanity are, simply put, lazy. They use shock value instead of finding words that make their point. There’s an interesting article that shows Trump speaks on about a 4th Grade level.

We should expect more, America.

The Justice Chronicles, Volume 43: What’s Wrong With The Save Act? Glad You Asked

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A few days ago I published an article about voter fraud and recognized that as much as President Trump and the Republicans falsely claim that large numbers of non citizens vote, it’s just not true. Simply put, they are developing strategies to suppress voting and sow doubt about the accuracy of elections.

President Trump has gone all in in his call for a bill he calls the Save Act. It requires everyone to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, and he claims he won’t sign another bill until this passes. If you listen to him and his minions they tell you the reason is obvious. Why shouldn’t we demand proof of citizenship before we register someone to vote?

Again, glad you asked. Here’s a partial list of my concerns:

  • It proposes a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Voter fraud is virtually nonexistent and nearly all cases are simple mistakes. You can read an excellent article here. There’s also no evidence that fraud has changed the results of an election. If you’re not a citizen and attempt to vote (even if you’re here legally) you’re guilty of a felony and are subject to possible deportation. Who would risk that for one vote?
  • It’s not as simple as it sounds. Proponents argue that the bill isn’t retroactive (ie, if you’re already registered to vote you don’t need to do anything) and your Real ID driver’s license will suffice. It’s true that you don’t need to show proof of citizenship, unless you move or change your name (e.g. if you get married). Your Real ID license will only be accepted if you live in a state where your citizenship status is on your ID. Right now only Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington do that. My California Real ID states this: “This license is issued as a license to drive a motor vehicle. It does not establish eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits.” I wasn’t able to find recent data on what percentage of drivers have Real ID but if you don’t board an airplane you don’t need one. A license without Real ID won’t suffice anywhere.
  • If you don’t have a Real ID from those five states or a passport your best alternative is to get a certified copy of your birth certificate. I was born in Washington D.C. and I can apply online. It goes through http://www.vitalrecords.org. It’s a process but as far as I can tell there is a $125.00 online processing fee, a $38.95 DC State Government Fee, and an optional $12.00 Qualifying Review fee. They recommend you pay an additional $20.00 for UPS Air Shipping Delivery that will allow you to track your shipment. I checked a few other states and it appears the $!25.00 online processing fee uniform but the state government fee is different.
  • OK, still with me? Good. Now if you changed your name when you married you’ll also need a certified marriage certificate to show your new name. Fortunately I didn’t change my name when I got married but if I did I’d need to go through (you guessed it) http://www.vitalrecords.org. It’s another $125.00 online processing fee and in California a $22.00 State Government Fee.
  • During the Jim Crow era attempts were made to prevent poor people from voting using poll taxes. It was just what it looks like: you had to pay to vote. Opposition to these poll taxes culminated in 1964 with the passage of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution. But if the Save Act requires certified documents to prove citizenship and citizens need to pay to acquire these documents, aren’t these poll taxes?

This isn’t an exhaustive list of my concerns but it’s a good place to start. Obviously if Congress passes it and President Trump signs it into law there will be lawsuits. But I think we can save time and money by just walking away from this now and recognizing that this is a solution in search of a problem.