Donald J. Farinacci's Blog: History's Difference-Makers

Yesterday, May 9, 2018, marked the one year anniversary of the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Donald J. Trump.
It will be a significant date in history--the day when an American president took the first symbolic shot at the United States Constitution in his war against the American democratic state.
The body politic of America is a democratic republic composed of two essential functions——“process” and “policy.” A mutual dependency exists between these two functions for neither can exist without the other. They inform a government
possessing a duality which is both vertical and horizontal. Vertically, process is the base upon which policy rests and, in fact, process is the foundation for policy.
Horizontally. the American government branches out into a tripartite body consisting of three distinct but also interdependent parts: legislative, executive and judicial. The design is simple. The legislative branch makes the nation’s laws, the executive branch
enforces them and the judicial branch interprets them. In doing so each branch of government
imposes checks and balances on the other two.
In some forms of government——totalitarian, monarchical, plutocratic, oligarchic and theocratic——policy usually trumps process. In a democratic republic, however, process trumps policy because it is inherent in the philosophical norms by which the nation has chosen to govern itself.
Policy is flexible and changes frequently. Process, in its fundamental principles, is immutable because it defines who and what we are.
Attacks on a country’s policy are usually not fatal but attacks upon fundamental process threaten liberty and may be fatal.
At this point in our history, democracy-- embodying all the fundamental freedoms-- is under attack. Like most wars. this one stems from a virulent corruption within the human soul which is so toxic that only the majesty of the rule of law can check it. But, of
course, that is why the rule of law is one of the main targets of the attacks.
DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW:
These bedrock protections are guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments of the Constitution, respectively. To Donald J. Trump due process is the private preserve of the power elite. Racial, religious and ethnic minorities, immigrants, environmentalists, gun control advocates, women and his political enemies need not apply. And to him equal protection under the law is merely a quaint notion. He thinks being president makes him the final arbiter of who is entitled to its protections and who is not. In Charlottesville, to his way of thinking, the demonstrators were entitled to no greater legal protection than the Nazis who marched to the words of an anti-Semitic mantra and who killed a demonstrator. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT:
The president suggested today that those news outlets which publish what he considers "fake news" may have to have their credentials revoked. He has unsuccessfully (so far) tried to have CNN's license revoked by the F.C.C. He has denied the right to members of the White House Press Corps employed by out-of-favor news organizations, to ask questions at White House press briefings and conferences. Individual reporters and commentators are subject to being defamed at will by Donald Trump, potentially damaging their professional standing. He has harshly criticized AMAZON for what appears to be retaliation for its chief executive, Jeff Bezos' ownership of the hated Washington Post. The president has little respect for the constitutional protection of a free press, a pillar of democracy. THE FIRST AMENDMENT GUARANTEE OF FREE SPEECH:
President Donald Trump favors restrictions on what people other than himself can say. While reckless in what he opines about others, he has paradoxically gone so far as to proclaim that demonstrators at a rally peacefully protesting his policies, were "treasonous." His exaggerations and flat-out misrepresentations of what others have said, have had a chilling effect on the constitutional right to freedom of speech. An example is Sally Yates, the acting attorney-general who tried to warn him that Michael Flynn had been compromised by the Russians. He took her warning as an attempt to undermine his administration. A week after she gave her confidential warning he fired her.
LAW WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR; AND THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT:
“Lady Justice”, a statue which stands in front of thousands of court houses across America, is blindfolded and carries a scale in her arms. The scale symbolizes that the administration of justice must be fair and balanced. The blindfold is a metaphor for the idea that justice is blind and no man is above the law.
When Mr. Trump fired James Comey a year ago because Comey refused to accede to the president’s demands concerning the Russia investigation, he placed himself above the law. He repeated this impermissible conduct at least three other times during the past year: when he attempted to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller for similar reasons, when he threatened to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and when he vigorously interfered with the performance by Attorney General Jeff Sessions of his duty to recuse himself in the Russia Investigation. Yet without any shame, he himself asserted his wish that James Comey, Hillary Clinton and impliedly Barack Obama be prosecuted for crimes without presenting a single iota of proof that there was probable cause to believe any of them had broken the law. Fortunately, the institutional safeguards built into the process of the law were invoked by the Justice Department and White House Counsel to block these travesties.
THE JUDICIARY:
Madison and Hamilton conceived America's system of courts as an institution to be respected. Hence the symbolic black robe, the gavel and the address to the judge as "Your Honor." Donald J. Trump would appear to have respect only for courts and judges who rule in his favor. Those who have ruled against him have been frequently vilified. The federal judge who ruled against his travel ban as unconstitutional was labeled "a so-called judge." The judge who ruled against Donald Trump in the "Trump University" case was according to President Trump prejudiced against him because the judge was a Mexican. (Actually he was from Indiana.) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has been excoriated by Donald Trump as biased and incompetent.
A independent judiciary is indispensable to the rule of law which in turn is the first principle of the United States Constitution. For two hundred and thirty years the Constitution, the law upon which it is based and the individual laws which are its progeny have been our only shield against lawlessness and despotism. President Trump has not yet shredded our democracy. Most noteworthy, a few brave men and women in the Judiciary, Congress, the Justice Department and the FBI have fought hard to prevent the President from turning our law enforcement system and intelligence apparatus into his own private constabulary. Would that those few brave men and women grow into an army.

As I work on my non-fiction book, "Washington's War," I am disturbed by what I see in America today. Since 1789 the U.S. has survived as a democratic republic because of the embodiment of "The Rule of Law" in the United States Constitution. The Constitution is our charter--a living, breathing thing which by its spirit has spawned America's matrix of individual laws.
But during the last couple of years the rule of law has
been under attack. The Trump Campaign and now the Trump Administration has shown little respect for it.
The timeline of events which follows illustrates only a part of a spreading pandemic of lawlessness but is representative of an insidious pattern, nonetheless:
7/27/16 - Candidate Trump at a press conference in Miami proclaims earnestly: "Russia, if you're listening I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails ( of Hillary Clinton ) that are missing. I think you will be mightily rewarded by our press."
POSSIBLE OFFENSE: Criminal Solicitation of a foreign adversary to conduct cyberespionage against an American citizen; and possible violation of the Logan Act barring private citizens from engaging in affairs of state.
10/7/16 - an Access Hollywood video tape is played on nation-wide television in which Donald J. Trump clearly states, "And when you're a star they let you do anything....Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
POSSIBLE OFFENSE: an admission of Sexual Assault, a felony.
12/29/16 - The Obama Administration imposes sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. High officials of the Trump Transition Team communicate with each other about reaching out to the Russian Ambassador to provide him with assurances that the incoming president will view those sanctions differently. Within days after the Inauguration on January 20, 2017 the new administration seeks through the State Department to have the sanctions lifted, but the State Department does not carry out the direction. On August 2, 2017 Congress imposes heavy sanctions on Russia for the election interference and the President reluctantly signs the bill into law. For the next six months President Trump takes no action to implement the law and then in January of 2018 the White House issues a statement that the sanctions will not be imposed because there are already sufficient sanctions on Russia.
LAW IMPLICATED - Article II. of the U.S. Constitution. Violation of President's duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
3/4/17 - President Trump without citing any proof accuses Former President Obama of having illegally wiretapped Trump Tower.
POSSIBLE OFFENSE: False Accusation of a Crime is a crime itself.
5/8/17 - President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey. In a private January 2016 meeting President Trump asks Director Comey if he could let National Security Advisor Michael Flynn off the hook in the Russia investigation. Comey does not agree to do that. The day after he fires Comey, the president tells two high-ranking Russian diplomats in the Oval Office that getting rid of Comey should remove the pressure of the Russia investigation from his shoulders. A few days later, Trump tells NBC commentator Lester Holt during a nationally broadcast interview that when he fired Comey the Russia investigation was on his mind.
POSSIBLE CRIME: Obstruction of Justice.
5/9/17 - In the same Oval Office meeting with the two Russian diplomats President Trump on his own and without anyone's permission turns over to them a top secret classified document received by the U.S. from Israeli Intelligence.
POSSIBLE OFFENSE: Violation of 32 Code of Federal Regulations section 2001.55 for the improper handling of classified national security information.
1/20/17 to the present time - The president has continually received financial benefits for his wholly-owned businesses, including restaurants, golf courses, resorts and hotels from foreign citizens and foreign powers.
POSSIBLE VIOLATION OF THE LAW: Article 1 Section 9, Paragraph 8 of The United States Constitution, known as the EMOLUMENTS CLAUSE which prohibits any federal office holder from receiving any gift, payment or thing of value from a foreign power without approval of Congress.

Dated: April 21, 2018

When within the same thirty day period that my new historical/spy novel, THE DOUBLE-SIDED MAN went live on amazon.com (Navigator-Books, 2016), the unholy alliance of Russia and Syria cruelly escalated its attacks on civilian regions of Aleppo, Russia stepped up its cyber skullduggery against the U.S., the number of U.S. Troops pitted against ISIS in Iraq rose to 5000, NATO sent 1000 troops to Poland and the U.S. felt compelled to reaffirm its NATO treaty obligations to the Baltic states, all doubt I might have had that The New Cold War had arrived was dispelled.
I immediately sat down and reread "The Double-Sided Man" to satisfy myself that I had captured the dynamics of the new spy wars among the world's super-powers-----both nations and meta-nations (e.g. ISIS, Boca Haram, the Al Nusra Front and Al Qaeda).
I felt the times we live in could use a modern spy story for the thinking individual. By way of short synopsis: True to principles of classic espionage trade-craft, a small CIA team of men and women stand toe to toe with America's enemies---both foreign and domestic---in defense of the homeland. With the travails of the modern world as a backdrop, and rooted in the intrigue of World War II and the Cold War, this intrepid band of brave, bright and resourceful patriots declare both physical and intellectual war against a powerful cabal of malevolent and sociopathic haters of Western civilization.
Interwoven with a tale of danger and suspense are poignant subplots of personal drama among siblings,
parents, children, husbands and wives enmeshed within the forces of history and fate, over which they have little control, yet against which they rage with mind, body and soul.
As a Cold War veteran, I felt a strong emotional connection to this story and it didn't let me down.
#DoubleSidedMan
http://amzn.to/2frrCLo
D. Farinacci, November 5, 2016

When within the same thirty day period that my new historical/spy novel, THE DOUBLE-SIDED MAN went live on amazon.com (Navigator-Books, 2016), the unholy alliance of Russia and Syria cruelly escalated its attacks on civilian regions of Aleppo, Russia stepped up its cyber skullduggery against the U.S., the number of U.S. Troops pitted against ISIS in Iraq rose to 5000, NATO sent 1000 troops to Poland and the. U.S. felt compelled to reaffirm its NATO treaty obligations to the Baltic states, all doubt I might have had that The New Cold War had arrived were dispelled.
I immediately sat down and reread "The Double-Sided Man" to satisfy myself that I had captured the dynamics of the new spy wars among the world's super-powers-----both nations and meta-nations (e.g. ISIS, Boca Haram and Al Qaeda).
I felt the times we live in could use a modern spy story for the thinking individual. By way of short synopsis: True to principles of classic espionage trade-craft, a small CIA team of men and women stand toe to toe with America's enemies---both foreign and domestic---in defense of the homeland. With the travails of the modern world as a backdrop, and rooted in the intrigue of World War II and the Cold War, this intrepid band of brave, bright and resourceful patriots declare both physical and intellectual war against a powerful cabal of malevolent and sociopathic haters of Western civilization.
Interwoven with a tale of danger and suspense are poignant subplots of personal drama among siblings,
parents, children, husbands and wives enmeshed within the forces of history and fate, over which they have little control, yet against which they rage with mind, body and soul.

D. Farinacci, November 5, 2016

My novel, "The Double-Sided Man" completes The Spy Wars Trilogy. Rooted in the modern war against Islamic Jihad, it nevertheless has its genesis in WWII and the Cold War. And while it has its many moments of thrilling adventure, I like to think that this is not at the cost of compromising the book's essence as a realistic spy novel for the thinking man.
#DoubleSidedMan -- Available on amazon.com and www.donaldjfarinacci.com
#DoubleSidedMan

On this 11th day of the 11th month I am inspired to recall some classic battles in which our servicemen displayed an extraordinary spirit of sacrifice and valor. I'm sure, readers, that you will have your own selections but here are my top six choices:
1. GETTYSBURG - There both Blue and Gray gave their last true measure of devotion.
2. IWO JIMA - 37 days of terror and death in the Pacific for the Marines.
3. OMAHA BEACH - A relentless charge into the Jaws of Death.
4. BASTOGNE - The 101st Airborne cut-off, surrounded, besieged, outnumbered and frozen. Yet they prevailed.
5. CHOSEN RESERVOIR - A 30 mile march to the sea--while fighting a pitched battle---from a frozen reservoir of North Korea; a herculean effort by the frost bitten 1st Marines, under attack by hordes of Chinese troops the whole way.
6. IA DRANG VALLEY - A regiment of 7th Air Cavalry surrounded by a force of North Vietnamese regulars many times its size; there was an ever-collapsing perimeter but the day was saved by a brilliant counter-charge.
So there they are. There may have been equally brutal confrontations but none more so.
D.J. Farinacci

No, I'm not engaging in alarmist hyperbole by describing the present as a time of peril. It's as if a pack of demon dentists were going around aiming too high with their novocaine shots. Were we any less mind-numb before Pearl Harbor? before 9/11? before the great market crash of 28? Nah,about the same. I'm not even talking about chronic problems such as stagnation in the job market, global warming and the crumbling infrastructure. We're aware of those issues but can't agree on what to do about them. I'm talking about real and present dangers---ones which seem to be blocked from consciousness by a Satan-crafted firewall.
How many of us are concerned about Egypt's version of ISIS which pledged allegiance to the mothership in Syria? What of the caravan of Russian tanks pouring into the Ukraine even as we speak, their very existence denied by the Kremlin truth squads? And what of a Secret Service which can't get out of its way? Those of us old enough to remember the true horror and trauma of November 22, 1963 shudder....as we do over the epidemic of shooting violence in our schools and elsewhere. Well, maybe these perils are just media-exaggerated tempests in a teapot. Right, and Fort Sumpter was just Confederate target practice and Lexington-Concord an empire-colony cross-cultural retreat. Com'mon people lose the decaf and smell the real coffee.

Personal attack politics in America is nothing new. Aaron Burr repeatedy slandered Alexander Hamilton before finally killing him in a duel. Gen. George McClellan referred to Pres. Abraham Lincoln as a "baboon." Pres. Grover Cleveland's political enemies accused him of having a secret illegitimate child. FDR's foes in Congress accused him of sending a battleship to pick up his dog, Falla, left behind on a vacation trip. To their critics, Pres. Eisenhower was lazy and detached, Pres. Ford was slow-witted and George W. Bush was completely inarticulate.
In our 24/7 cable news cycle personal attacks on Pres. Barack Obama have trumped all others. He has been called variously "a liar", a foreign alien, a Communist, a "Muslim extremist", an appeaser, a dictator, a perpetrator of treason and a reverse rascist.
Personal political attacks usually depend on half-truths, exaggeration, innuendo, distortion and fabrication, for their effectiveness. They do more harm to the public than to their targets because they taint and pollute the streams of information flowing to the people, making an informed electorate difficult to attain.
These anti-democratic practices which cry out for reform were the inspiration for my latest non-fiction work of history, "A House Divided, The Story of Ike and McCarthy" (amazon.com). www.donaldjfarinacci.com.

Today I have a few words to say about my latest book, the title of which appears above. A HOUSE DIVIDED is the story of the political battle of 1952 through 1954 between President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy for the political leadership of the Republican Party and the moral leadership of the nation.
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the climactic struggle between "Ike" and "Joe" played itself out amidst the machinations of larger-than-life historical figures such as Stalin, Churchill, Truman, Nixon, Taft, Marshall, Joe Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy,Roy Cohn, Ed Murrow, Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.
The Ike-McCarthy political war was fought on a battlefield undergirded by Russia's emergence as a nuclear power, the Korean War, the "Red Scare," and the tumultuous Army-McCarthy Hearings of 1954.
My work is history but I like to think that it is not dry. Rather it relates a three-year story of high drama, human emotions on display at government's top levels, pride, prejudice, cowardice and courage.
The colorful characters alone could have provided the stuff for a good novel were it not for the fact that the actual facts were more intriguing than fiction. For more, visit amazon.com and createspace.com.