America's Situational Attorney General

El Tiempo Cantina faced social media backlash after
posting a photo of Jeff Sessions' visit last Friday

With the appointment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2017, Americans have witnessed the nation's top law enforcement official using his office as a platform to enforce principles that reflect a combination of his own brand of religious fundamentalism, and the rigid, right-wing "Fox News" ideology that has come to define the Republican Party.

His media footprint hasn't exactly been a positive one, either for himself, the Department of Justice, or the Trump administration.

This past weekend Sessions made headlines after a massive social media backlash forced El Tiempo Cantina, a Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston, Texas that he visited last Friday, to shut down their social media accounts because of a flood of criticism after someone posted a photo of the smiling AG standing next to what appears to be a chef (pictured above).

Now if Sessions was under the impression that visiting a Tex-Mex restaurant and taking a selfie with one of the guys who cooked his ethnic food would distract from the fact that he's now widely vilified for championing locking up non-white asylum seekers, banning Muslims from entering the country and separating the innocent children of undocumented immigrants from their parents, he was sadly mistaken.

Sessions was in Houston reportedly meeting with local law enforcement officials to discuss the enforcement of the Trump administration's controversial immigration policies.

Likely on that agenda are the approximately 360 children of asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants who are still locked away in facilities around the U.S. - innocent kids stuck in incarcerated limbo who've yet to be reunited with their parents as ordered by a federal judge weeks ago.

Despite the Tex-Mex restaurant flap, and Houston's notorious jungle-like humidity in August,
Sessions was probably relieved to be as far away from Washington, D.C. as possible.

Hillary-bashing Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy questions
FBI Agent Peter Strzok during July 12th hearings

Especially after the whiny tweet sent out on Saturday by a raving Donald Trump, who was holed up over the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club - fuming in the midst of one of his frequent tantrums about the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

The unhinged POTUS used his social media account to accuse Sessions of being "scared stiff" and "Missing in Action".


Now 45 tweeted that nonsensical, juvenile claptrap to his followers despite the fact that longtime senior FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok was recently fired by FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich as a result of a lengthy internal investigation conducted by Inspector General Michael Horowitz that revealed a number of private text messages that the married Strzok sent to his then-girlfriend (former FBI attorney Lisa Page) that were highly critical of Trump.

Even though Strzok insisted under oath during a contentious Congressional hearing back in July that his personal opinion of Trump did not interfere with his ability to conduct counterintelligence investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, some Republicans seized on the text messages as proof of the concocted "Deep State" conspiracy that alleges an internal government "plot" to topple the floundering Trump presidency.

As the New York Times reported on Monday, Strzok's attorney Aitan Goelman told reporters:

"The decision to fire Special Agent Strzok is not only a departure from typical bureau practice, but also contradicts FBI Director Christopher Wray's testimony to Congress and his assurances that the FBI intended to follow its regular process in this and all personnel matters."

FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich

As the Times reported, while the IG report was critical of Strzok's personal text messages given his senior role in both the investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server as well as the investigation into Russian interference, the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility recommended a 60-day suspension.

But Bowdich, the bureau's deputy director, dismissed the OPR recommendation and fired Strzok, a 20-year veteran of the FBI considered one of the most senior counterintelligence agents in the bureau.

Strzok's firing effectively nullified his ability to collect his government pension and health benefits, so the dismissal was clearly intended to please Trump's childish need for petty vindictiveness against anyone who disagrees with him or criticizes his policies or decisions.

Now I'm not an "FBI insider" or anything, but I don't think Strzok's firing was Bowdich's call; the high-profile firing of a respected career-FBI Special Agent, is not something that's going to be left up to a deputy director.

Especially a dismissal with clear political implications just three months before a mid-term election.

Bowdich was the man tapped to replace former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was famously fired by Jeff Sessions back on March 16th just 26 hours before he was scheduled to retire in a highly-politicized firing that denied McCabe (a 22-year veteran of the FBI) his pension and benefits.

But if you take a quick look at Bowdich's resume, the former Albuquerque Police Officer distinguished himself as an exceptional FBI agent (like McCabe he previously served on the FBI's SWAT team), it doesn't seem like he's one for the kind of partisan back-stabbing that Trump delights in using to try and protect himself from the Mueller investigation.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe 

There's little question that Jeff Sessions was behind the blatantly-politicized, vindictive pettiness that was behind Strzok's firing - but he ordered Bowdich to do it to avoid the kind of criticism and charges of cronyism he received after firing McCabe back in March.

So two different widely-respected and accomplished FBI senior officials, each with more than 20 years of service, fired based on trumped-up charges in order to appease Trump.

Yet Trump STILL took to Twitter to suggest Sessions was "scared stiff" and "Missing in Action"?

Why would Trump publicly make such unsubstantiated and inflammatory accusations about his own attorney general?

Apparently because Sessions hasn't publicly defended Trump's own rampant incompetence, myriad ethical lapses, lengthy trail of documented lies and lack of morality more vigorously.

Remarkably, Trump's criticism of Sessions (a man he appointed) seems to suggest that he's still laboring under the misconception that the attorney general of the United States, and head of the Justice Department, is supposed to also function as the president's personal defense lawyer.

Given the job that conservative wack-job Rudy Giuliani seems to be doing, one couldn't blame Trump for pining for capable counsel, but that's not the AG's job - and Sessions brought his own baggage to this meandering clown car of a presidency.

"Linda" the Jenkinson's Aquarium gift shop clerk
refused to serve 7 black girls in Point Pleasant, NJ

What's unfortunate is that we're temporarily stuck with an attorney general who's more loyal to his own extremist ideology and xenophobic beliefs than he is to enforcing the laws that protect all Americans.

He's been all but silent on the sharp rise in incidents of overt racism and bigotry that have made headlines across the country since Trump's inauguration in 2017.

Store clerks and restaurant managers refusing to serve or kicking out people of color, property managers preventing African-American residents from using pool facilities - crazy shit is happening.

You heard nothing from Sessions about the group of 7 young African-American girls from Camden, New Jersey's Princess to Queenz summer mentoring program who were refused service in the Jenkinson's Aquarium gift shop on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant, NJ last Friday by a woman only identified as "Linda" (pictured above) - whose comments caught on video went viral.

According to an NJ.com article posted Tuesday evening, the still-unnamed woman has been fired from her job and Jenkinson's media relations director issued an apology.

As New Jersey Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly told reporters, "these types of displays of racism are occurring entirely too frequently in our country."

White Supremacist James Fields and the car he used
to kill Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, VA in 2017

In my view, Americans being denied service in restaurants, stores, public parks or recreational facilities they have a right to use based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality is a serious issue that warrants at least some degree of leadership or direction from the person who's supposed to be the nation's top law enforcement officer.

Sessions' silence on these kinds of incidents is troubling, but hardly surprising.

Dogged by criticism of his own racial bigotry and xenophobia since he served as a federal prosecutor in Alabama in the 1980's, Sessions was predictably silent about the white supremacists who staged what turned out to be underwhelming public rallies in Charlottesville and in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. across the street from the White House last weekend on the anniversary of the violent Unite the Right protests in Virginia last year.

(Remember, he was in Houston meeting with local law enforcement and eating Tex-Mex food.)

Back in June, Sessions did release a fairly tepid public statement when federal hate crime charges were filed against James Fields, Jr., (pictured above) the-then 21-year-old man who intentionally plowed his car into a crowd protesting a white supremacist march in Charlottesville - killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring more than 12 others.

But those federal charges came months after the state of Virginia indicted Fields on charges of first-degree murder and nine other felony counts back in December, 2017.

Jeff Sessions: attorney general for some but not all?

Sessions' unwillingness to enforce the laws of the United States to protect all citizens is indirectly putting people's lives at risk - literally.

As Rob Arthur reported for Vice News back in February, an analysis of records from the Department of Justice reveals that "Total activity in the agency's civil rights division is at a 17-year low, falling well below levels seen in the last two [presidential] administrations. One DOJ section charged with enforcing laws on police misconduct has been completely inactive."

When it comes to mounting ICE raids on places of work to arrest undocumented immigrants trying to earn an honest living, arresting asylum seekers at the U.S. border, or separating children as young as three-years old from their parents, Jeff Sessions is the high-profile attorney general.

When Trump wants respected career FBI senior officials fired because they don't like him, or because they believe the Mueller investigation on Russian interference into the 2016 elections is legitimate and should be allowed to complete it's work without being undermined by partisan political meddling, Sessions is the guy.

Loyal and subservient to an erratic president who both reviles and repeatedly humiliates him.

Since his appointment in 2017, Mr. Law and Order's idea of law enforcement is situational at best - and that situation seems to depend on whether or not it conflicts with his own divisive ideology.

When it comes to enforcing those laws that protect innocent Americans from prejudice, bigotry and hatred based on race, ethnicity or nationality, Sessions is invisible, unseen and absent.

He is America's Situational Attorney General.

Trump's Legacy of Loss

Mr. Manners: Trump with his wife and son in January

When history looks back on the waking nightmare that is the so-called presidency of Donald Trump, it's quite possible that his term in office will be viewed in terms of loss.

In terms of the Oval Office, loss of civility, loss of ethical boundaries and an unprecedented loss of international prestige have all been markers of this chaotic White House ever since the inauguration on that fateful day back on January 20, 2017.

Loss of class? Check.

To say nothing of a profound loss of moral authority along with a gaping loss of direction for the country he's clearly incapable of leading.

Want to get a sense of the scope of the loss of respect for the law under this presidency?

Take a few minutes to listen to former Watergate prosecutor and legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks on the Brian Lehrer Show earlier this morning sharing her insight on how Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Jared Kushner and Trump may all be seriously compromised as a result of their corrupt business dealings with Russia.

In terms of the people the office of the president is meant to serve and protect, from a historical standpoint this presidency might arguably be viewed in terms of the loss of American lives.

Not just the more than 220,000 people who've been unfairly, and in some cases (like that of Mishawaka, Indiana restaurant owner Roberto Beristain), cruelly deported from the country they call home since Trump took office and turned his xenophobia and bigotry into federal policy.

Heather Heyer and the street renamed in her memory

But innocent Americans whose lives have been lost as a direct result of the kind of virulent ethnic, racial and religious hatred that Trump has actively cultivated and encouraged since announcing his candidacy.

People like 32-year-old Heather D. Heyer, a legal assistant who was killed back in August, 2017 during the Unite the Right rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Heyer lost her life when 20-year-old neo-Nazi James Fields intentionally plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters; killing Heyer and injuring scores of others before being arrested.

Would a large, organized march by members of the KKK, neo-Nazi groups and members of the alt-right have taken place in an American city in 2017 under any other president?

In Charlottesville TV and cell phone cameras rolled as Tiki-torch carrying marchers in white sport shorts chanted "Jews will not replace us!" while some carried flags emblazoned with swastikas - 52-year-old KKK member Richard Wilson Preston fired a handgun into a crowd of counter-protesters after yelling "Hey, nigger!".

Even though his own national security advisor H.R. McMaster called Heyer's death an act of domestic terrorism, in a subsequent press conference that embodied the loss of leadership from the executive branch of the federal government, Trump refused to condemn the march and deadly vehicle attack - and instead suggested that there were "some very fine people on both sides."

Loss of sanity and reason comes to mind.

Blaze Bernstein (center) with his parents Jeanne
and Gideon Bernstein at his HS graduation.

What is encouraging though is seeing how people from across the country are coming together in opposition of the kind of divisiveness and hatred that Trump has made the defining characteristic of his presidency.

Last Sunday at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, over 2,000 people gathered to pay tribute to 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein in the same venue where his high school graduation ceremony took place less than two years ago.

Bernstein, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in pre-med, was home in Lake Forest, California for winter break when his body was found in a shallow grave in a park in Orange County on January 9th - seven days after he'd disappeared.

He'd been brutally stabbed more than 20 times and a 20-year-old suspect named Samuel Lincoln Woodward was taken into custody.

Based on Bernstein's social media posts and text messages, police investigators at first suggested some kind of spurned lover's tryst between the two may have been at the root of the violent attack.

But last Friday ProPublica published a story by A.C. Thompson, Ali Winston and Jake Hanrahan detailing Woodward's involvement with a violent neo-Nazi group known as Atomwaffen.

It's pretty disturbing but it's worth a read.

ProPublica released disturbing excerpts from encrypted chat logs members of the group used to communicate online, including members celebrating Woodward having violently murdered Bernstein and expressing their admiration for people like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Dylann Roof - the white supremacist who shot and killed nine African-Americans at a bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015.

Benjamin Thomas Samuel McDowell

The murder of Blaze Bernstein is just one of the many violent killings of racial and ethnic minorities committed by American white supremacists since Trump was elected.

Did you hear about 30-year-old Benjamin Thomas Samuel McDowell of South Carolina?

As the Charleston Post and Courier reported, he plead guilty to federal weapons charges on Monday after he was arrested in 2017 by the FBI for telling an undercover agent that he wanted to use a gun to commit a killing of non-whites "in the spirit of Dylann Roof." 

In my opinion I don't think it's a reach to hold Trump partially accountable for these kinds of domestic terrorist incidents.

After all, he never condemns them as he does violent attacks by Islamic extremists in other countries.

In doing so, Trump basically offers his tacit approval of such attacks - and only encourages people to commit acts of extreme violence to act out the kind of hate and bigotry he continually stirs up.

It's almost as if Trump is intentionally silent about them, as if he views such attacks as a part of his grand vision for Making America Great Again.

Lest we forget, Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who shot and killed 17 students and adults at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida recently was a member of the Republic of Florida Militia, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a white nationalist group.

Cruz was seen in a video wearing one of Trump's signature red "Make America Great Again" hats as he fired shots with a gun.

That's not "fake news" or a liberal plot, it's a violent killer feeling empowered by a president who has made it painfully clear what he thinks about immigrants and non-whites.

In doing so he further erodes the office of the presidency, endangers the lives of innocent people - and further cements his own legacy of loss.