The Trump-Barr Lafayette Square Coverup
The Lafayette Square Suppression is Trump’s Tien-An-Minh Square suppression of the Constitutional First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. But as the Press probes deeper, there are massive abuses of powers by Trump and Barr that underly that historical stain on the already deeply dictatorially dyed Trump-Barr regime.
The last minute plan to march to the historic St. John’s Church through Lafayette Square was to be done at 6:30 pm, less than an hour before sunset. Since it was a photo-op, the Square had to be rapidly cleared, so the “acting police” brutally cleared out the peaceful demonstrators with their full arsenal of horses, rubber bullets, tear gas, flash-bang grenades, and brutal shoving and knocking down innocent demonstrators and the press.
Their are now numerous potential violation of laws by the Trump-Barr Gestapo like forces involved, which will be probed by the Congress and Department Inspector Generals. So Trump and Barr are creating back stories to try to make the actions appear legal, and to shield Trump from any blame. There is also the cover up of Trump and family being safeguarded in the bunker.
While I am not a legal expert, I can cite the headlines, attaching “alleged” to all such reports, to safeguard my own blog. Starting with the latest ones, the “National Guard” troops were not lent by neighboring states, but are actual 82nd Airborne active military, and their deployment to the civil sphere may be unconstitutional. This angered the Secretary of Defense, and past military leaders. The 82nd Airborne was probably chosen because they could be flown in at a moment’s notice.
Update June 6: We now have details on the troup deployment. There are 1,600 active duty troops held in reserve, which beside the 82nd Airborne are an infantry battalion in the Army’s Immediate Response Force, the 16th Military Police Brigade from Fort Bragg, N.C., and the 91st Military Police Battalion from Fort Drum, N.Y. They require invocation of the Insurrection Act to be deployed domestically. There are 1,200 D.C. National Guardsmen actives, and 3,300 from 10 states.
The first cover up was Attorney General Barr revealing that he ordered the clearing of the park, now claiming also that he had no idea that it would be followed by a walk by the President to the Church, and the Bible waving photo shoot. Although not of legal relevance, we ask why the First Daughter had to carry the Bible in her purse, and the President could not carry it himself. I of course speculate that Trump is afraid of being struck by lightening every time he holds a bible or enters a church. Trump just called it “a Bible”, not whose. If it was Ivanka’s, was it only the Old Testament, which might not fully satisfy his Evangelical political supporters.
Another cover-up is by Trump, who is trying to dispel the appearance that he was hiding in the basement bunker of the White House. It may not just be a basement, but a deeply buried nuclear bunker. I don’t know. You don’t get to “inspect” it on the normal White House tour. Oh yes, Trump only “inspected” it for a second, and did not finally “shelter-in-place” somewhere.
Today, the coverup continued as Trump had a possibly pre-dated letter from one of his lawyers claiming that the peaceful American protesters were “terrorists”. If they actually were terrorists, why wouldn’t all of the “police” forces be instructed to arrest all of these terrorists who were finally fooled into revealing themselves in a police enclosed square, totally unarmed and without any terrorist devices? Has Trump-Barr suddenly gotten soft on terrorists?
Trump’s fear of being labeled in the bunker-basement comes from the Congress’s multiple investigations of Clinton’s server, supposedly “hidden” in her basement, and Trump’s calling out Joe Biden for “hiding” in his basement. I guess Biden should have gone golfing like Trump did, and flying around the country spreading germs without a face mask, as Trump also did. Trump and Republicans also put down the pre-impeachment House hearings as falsely taking place “secretly” in the House “basement” or bunker.
Perhaps the worst violation is the formation of the Barr “Gestapo” made up of sections of government agencies with policing operatives, like Homeland Security and the FBI. I forget the other ones, but not the Prison Police. These “police” are not trained in gently moving around peaceful and legal demonstrators. That is why the emptying of the Lafayette Square was so swift and brutal. Why wouldn’t the Washington Police have sufficed?
The Barr Gestapo deserves its own investigation, which is hard to do for a House still trying to bring about Blue state equity needed from the costs of fighting the more severe pandemic outbreaks. But does this group only report directly to Barr, and not to their statutory administrative departments? Who oversees them in terms of Inspector Generals, departments, and Congressional Committees? Why are they allowed out in public without identifying name plates, badge numbers, or unit designations, like the FBI shirts and jackets with FBI fully printed on them? Was the unit formed at the order of Trump, and is Trump its real commander?
How paranoid is the White House? The White House is now surrounded by an expanded dead-man’s zone with an eight foot wire fence, and traffic barriers, presumably for protection from a vehicle attack. It is all a bunker now. How soon will Trump build his signature Beautiful Forty Foot Wall around it? Will the wire fence be electrified? A scenic moat would be nice, with a drawbridge and towers, to make a grand entrance to the castle of our new King. With of course the Gold Sign “House of Trump” now placed on the roof.
The Trump administration has also been walking back Trump’s hawkish tweets and Governor’s talk of military dominance, and “when there is looting, it is followed by shooting” mischoice of words.
We presume that as the probes of Press and House committees continue, that more back stories and distribution of blame will be carried out. China never got over its Tien-An-Minh Square suppression operation, and the dictatorial impressions from it. Then again, with this Crises-a-Week Presidency, we might just move on next week to the next crises. Like the second wave of the Coronavirus.
