Politics and Religion

Why would he set himself up
Once-Is-Not-Enough 514 reads
posted
1 / 20

his SDNY position was apparently due to his refusal to sign a politically divisive letter, penned by a member of William Barr's staff.  According to the right leaning, Wall Street Journal;

"The day before Attorney General William Barr abruptly announced plans to replace Geoffrey Berman as the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, supervisors in Mr. Barr’s Justice Department asked Mr. Berman to sign a letter criticizing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for the city’s enforcement of social-distancing rules to block religious gatherings but not recent street protests, people familiar with the matter said."

 
"Mr. Berman refused to sign the letter Thursday, after engaging in a brief back-and-forth drafting process, the people said. Mr. Berman voiced strong objections to the letter, particularly its assertions that Mr. de Blasio imposed a double standard, and described the letter as a political stunt that would strain relations between his office and the city, two of the people said."

GaGambler 19 reads
posted
2 / 20

Berman's refusal to sign the letter aside, It sure looks like a double standard to me.

 
I am hardly religious and church going seems a bit silly to me, but I do know that church attendance is every bit as important to religious people as protesting a cop killing is to the protestors, not to mention I haven't seen anyone going to church on Sunday burning down the place on the way out.  

 
So how can anyone deny that this is not a double standard? and what could be more politically divisive that the rioting, burning and looting that NYC among other cities just went through?

 
I hate siding with the Bible Thumpers, but fair is fair, and I can't imagine anyone trying to defend DeBlasio as being fair.

inicky46 61 Reviews 16 reads
posted
3 / 20

You don't get the difference between an outdoor protest that's so vast you can't stop it anyway, and an INDOOR service, that has been shown in the past as a great way to spread the virus? Not to mention that DeBlasio, despite being an ineffectual putz, DID impose a curfew and tell demonstrators to go home.
Nice job at ignoring the facts again.

impposter 49 Reviews 29 reads
posted
4 / 20

Posted By: GaGambler
So how can anyone deny that this is not a double standard?
When that person serves in the Justice Department and does not want to use his office to comment on potentially divisive political matters. That's how he can "deny", actually, make no comment at all, about the situation.
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If he wants to write a letter to the editor or an op ed and add "The views expressed here are my own and not those of the SDNY or DoJ." he can do that ... if he chooses to.

Once-Is-Not-Enough 18 reads
posted
5 / 20

different light.  You seem focused on the intent of the letter.  My focus is on Berman's refusal to sign it.

 
My take is; by refusing to sign the letter, Berman appears to be trying to protect his office from the perception, they engage in partisan politics of any kind.   While we are all human and can never be totally separated from our political beliefs, taking steps to eliminate any perception of bias or unfairness, is always the right thing to do, IMHO.  Especially in light of the role, Berman and those who work for him, play.

GaGambler 18 reads
posted
6 / 20

I won't put my name on something I am being forced to sign either.

 
but the comments from Planet Stupid aside, it really was a double standard, and all DeBlasio proved is that he will cave into lawlessness , but he will punish law abiding citizens when they try to exercise their first amendments rights "without" violence. All that does is encourage more lawlessness. Oh well, he's your mayor not mine, I think you New Yorkers got exactly what you deserved for voting him into office in the first place.

coeur-de-lion 400 Reviews 25 reads
posted
7 / 20

the fact that Barr came out yesterday and stated that if Berman felt he was being pressured in any way by the White House, he has the AG's permission to go straight to IG Horowitz and file a report for investigation.  That sort of drops the bottom out of the assertion that he was pressured to do something for political reasons.

Steve_Trevor 24 reads
posted
8 / 20

If Horowitz does anything about it, Trump will fire Horowitz, as he has several other IGs.

Once-Is-Not-Enough 15 reads
posted
9 / 20

like that?  Could he be totally ignorant, or could he have been asleep in the midst of all the IG firings?  

coeur-de-lion 400 Reviews 22 reads
posted
10 / 20

Obama appointees to keep their jobs, giving them a fair opportunity to show they can still perform under his administration.  This was incredibly naïve.  When Obama came in, he completely cleaned house of all of the Bush appointees, including every single US Attorney in the Justice Department.  This is the principal reason that Trump has had such a rough 3+ years.  Obama KNEW not to keep Bush appointees.  Trump was naïve about how political DC is.  

inicky46 61 Reviews 17 reads
posted
11 / 20

who asked for the resignations of all US attorneys. EVERY President does it. But Trump not only ignored that policy, he ignored ALL the information left for him, including the pandemic play book. So he's not only naive. He's stupid.

Once-Is-Not-Enough 14 reads
posted
12 / 20

of Trump's ineptness, his paranoia was even more destructive to his own cause.  Clearly there are a ton of political appointees who rotate in and out of their positions depending upon which party wins the white house.  A known and accepted practice by both parties.

 
But in many cases, Trump's perceived "loyalty" test caused him to remove career civil servants, who often for decades, over administrations of both parties, have exhibited loyalty, only to their jobs (our country) and provide the technical expertise and experience we need to keep our country afloat.  Not many can shoot themselves in the foot, as consistently as Trump.

impposter 49 Reviews 33 reads
posted
13 / 20

Berman is, or was, a Trump Republican.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Berman
"After President Donald Trump fired Preet Bharara as U.S. Attorney, Trump interviewed Berman for the position. Berman had performed some part-time volunteer work for the Trump transition. On January 3, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Berman's appointment as U.S. Attorney, along with 16 other former prosecutors to various offices around the country on an interim basis until the Senate could confirm them.  The Trump administration never nominated Berman or most of the other interim appointments. On April 25, 2018, the Chief Judge of the Southern District of New York entered an order on behalf of a unanimous court appointing Berman U.S. Attorney pursuant to its authority under 28 U.S.C Section 546(d)."
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As pretty much everyone who knows Trump has said about him, Trump's non-reciprocal loyalty requirements are that "You can't just support Trump on 7 out of 10 issues. You must support him on 13 out of 10 issues."

Posted By: coeur-de-lion
Re: Trump's mistake was allowing . . . .
Obama appointees to keep their jobs, giving them a fair opportunity to show they can still perform under his administration.  This was incredibly naïve.  When Obama came in, he completely cleaned house of all of the Bush appointees, including every single US Attorney in the Justice Department.  This is the principal reason that Trump has had such a rough 3+ years.  Obama KNEW not to keep Bush appointees.  Trump was naïve about how political DC is.  

inicky46 61 Reviews 23 reads
posted
14 / 20

Gutless GaGA, Hack, Fester, et al.  hate facts like Dracula hates the cross.

coeur-de-lion 400 Reviews 14 reads
posted
16 / 20

Trump appointed him, but you forgot to mention that it was intended to be a temporary appointment from the very beginning, and Berman knew that.  

coeur-de-lion 400 Reviews 18 reads
posted
17 / 20

an excuse than a reason, but if that's the only way you can spin it, be my guest.  Are you saying there are people who are against Trump that are gutless?  I think we already knew that.

inicky46 61 Reviews 22 reads
posted
18 / 20

Or that he should have expected to be let go three years later but it was no coincidence he was pursuing cases against Rudy and Trump and declined to sign an ass-kissing letter?
Your post is a non-sequitur.

impposter 49 Reviews 24 reads
posted
19 / 20

I was replying to your post that said about Berman's ouster:
"Trump's mistake was allowing . . . .
Obama appointees to keep their jobs, giving them a fair opportunity to show they can still perform under his administration.  This was incredibly naïve. ..."  
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Trump originally had a private meeting with Bharara and asked him to remain as DA for SDNY. It was unprecedented and against protocol for a President to meet with a DA that way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/11/us/politics/preet-bharara-us-attorney.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-personally-bharara-stay-fire-article-1.2995281
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"... there are protocols governing a president’s direct contact with federal prosecutors. According to two people with knowledge of the events who were not authorized to discuss delicate conversations publicly, Mr. Bharara notified an adviser to the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, that the president had tried to contact him and that he would not respond because of those protocols. Mr. Bharara then called Mr. Trump’s assistant back to say he could not speak with the president, citing the protocols. [but the meeting eventually took place] ... In November, he met at Trump Tower with the president-elect and several of his advisers, including Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, according to two people briefed on that discussion who requested anonymity. ..."
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Then, after asking Bharara to stay on at SDNY, Trump fired him. I guess he skipped a dose of his Adderall.  
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So then came Joon Kim. Then Trump interviewed Berman and had Sessions appoint him to head SDNY but did not submit his name name to Congress for approval.  
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And then Trump claimed to have nothing to do with Barr's firing of Berman and then Trump had to fire him himself. (Kind of like Trump telling Rosenstein or McGahn to fire Mueller because he didn't want to do it himself and be able to use the, "I didn't fire Mueller." defense. But this time, he had to do it himself.)
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Sooooooo ... Berman was NOT an Obama appointee. He was a TRUMP appointee.  "Trump's mistake was allowing Obama appointees to keep their jobs" was so far off target that it was a boomerang shot that came back to hit you.

Posted By: coeur-de-lion
Re: You are right that . . . .
Trump appointed him, but you forgot to mention that it was intended to be a temporary appointment from the very beginning, and Berman knew that.  
It was intended that Trump would submit the names of numerous DAs to Congress for approval but he never did. Trump prefers to leave many of these appointees dangling as ACTING DA, ACTING Secretary of this or that, ACTING Trump Sycophant, and so on.  It is intended to undermine their authority and independence and make them more beholden to Trump.  
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In summary: BERMAN WAS A TRUMP APPOINTEE AND A TRUMP FIREE.

Once-Is-Not-Enough 19 reads
posted
20 / 20

to confuse him with the "facts," when we both know they never got in his way before.  Mr. Wing-it, just keeps throwing stuff up against the wall to see if any of it will stick.

 
Not this time!

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