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Rule of Law

4/15/2026

The rule of law is a foundational principle where all people, institutions, and government entities are accountable to publicly known, equally enforced, and independently adjudicated laws. It ensures that no one is above the law, upholding democracy, human rights, and procedural fairness through stable and just legal systems. In other words, there is a due process, which includes being charged of a lawful violation and being judged by a group of your peers.

Key elements of the rule of law often cited by the World Justice Project include:

Accountability: Both government officials and private actors are held accountable under the same laws.
Just Laws: Laws are clear, publicized, stable, and applied evenly to protect fundamental rights, including human rights and property rights.
Open Government: The processes for enacting, administering, and enforcing laws are accessible, fair, and efficient.
Impartial Dispute Resolution: Justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical, and independent judges and representatives.
Equality Under the Law: All persons are treated equally by the legal system, with legal rights protected
Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances: Power is divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with an independent judiciary overseeing the others.

I have included this article from USA Today for your reading pleasure.  It is pertinent to my thoughts.

DOJ seeks to throw out convictions against Oath Keepers and Proud Boys

Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY
April 14, 2026Updated April 15, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET

The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court April 14 to throw out seditious conspiracy convictions given to leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for their involvement in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Although President Donald Trump already commented the prison sentences of some leasers of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in January 2025, the new filing would go a step further.

Prosecutors, in a filing signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions to allow the government to permanently dismiss the indictments against the leaders.

“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Courtto vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice − motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors said in court records obtained by USA TODAY.

According to the filing, prosecutors asked to erase the convictions of Oath Keepers members Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins, as well as Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Nordean’s attorney, Nicholas Smith, praised the move from the Justice Department.

“We don’t want a precedent that says that any physical confrontation between protesters and law enforcement means a crime akin to treason, such as seditious conspiracy,” Smith said.

Smith did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

The filing from the Justice Department follows the Trump administration's moves to pardon people involved in the Capitol riot. In one of the first moves of his second term , Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people involved in the riot.

"These are the hostages, approximately 1,500, for a pardon. Full pardon," Trump said in the Oval Office at the time , "This is a big one. We hope they come out tonight.”

Trump's proclamation provided a "full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol" on Jan. 6.

Just so everyone is aware, the Department of Justice is part of the Executive Branch of the government.  The Executive Branch is led by the President, Donald J. Trump.  It was the President who decided to pardon those involved in the siege of the Capitol Building on January 6th, 2021.  As it was told by Trump Years later, he described the day as a "day of love" and argued that the protesters were peaceful, often stating, "These were peaceful people, these were great people".

Anyone watching news coverage of the attack on the Capitol may have a different opinion.

And, over 1500 people were convicted of sedition and seditious conspiracy.  As an afterthought, I am curious as to why treason wasn’t included in the charges of many.  I thought anytime one attacked or attempted to overthrow the government, that would be treason.

Please re-read the six elements of “rule of law”.  Pay close attention to the sixth element…

Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances: Power is divided among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with an independent judiciary overseeing the others.

I may be a bit naïve, but when a loyalist like Pirro, presumably acting on Trump’s wishes, files a motion that contradicts the “rule of law”, something is amiss. As a former President once said, “You can’t question a man’s judgement, but you can question his motivation”.

The statement from the attorney of Ethan Nordean of the Proud Boys, encapsulates the fact, the Executive Branch has no respect for the rule of law. Nordean and other people were subject to due process and found guilty by a jury of their peers. It would appear the judicial motion to vacate these convictions as an attempt to consolidate power in one specific branch of the government. In other words, the Executive Branch knows best, and to hell with due process and the rule of law.

I have my opinion, maybe you have one as well.

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Are There Three?

4/12/2026

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On the afternoon of August 7, 1974, Senator Barry Goldwater, a Republican from Arizona, accompanied by Republican Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott from Pennsylvania, and Republican House Minority Leader John Jacob Rhodes, from Arizona, delivered the message that Nixon faced certain impeachment in the House and likely conviction in the Senate.   It was Goldwater who actually delivered the message and when Nixon asked about his prospects, Goldwater famously told him that there were only about 15 senators still willing to vote for his acquittal.

Nixon told his associates and family of his dire situation, and resigned the following day.

This was all about Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate Scandal…which took place in June of 1972.

The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's attempts to cover up its involvement in the failed break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C. Watergate Office Building.  Nixon wanted to know the strategy of the DNC in regards to the election of 1972.

Five burglars, known as “the Plumbers” were caught and arrested for the break-in. Investigative reporters and members of the Justice Department connected the cash found on them at the time to Nixon's re-election campaign committee.

Senate Watergate hearings were broadcast nationwide and roused further public interest. Witnesses testified that President Nixon approved plans to cover up involvement in the break-in and had a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office.

Throughout the investigation, the administration resisted attempts to further the investigation, which led to a constitutional crisis.  The Supreme Court ordered Nixon to release Oval Office tape recordings to government investigators. The tapes revealed that Nixon had conspired to cover up activities that took place after the break-in and had attempted to use federal officials to deflect the investigation.  However, approximately 18 minutes of the tape was erased before they were presented to the Congress.

Several major revelations and egregious presidential action against the investigation later in 1973 prompted the House to commence an impeachment process against Nixon.

This was one of, if not the biggest political scandal to hit the Office of the President of the United States.

Until…

On April 6th of this year, Democratic Representative John Larson introduced Articles of Impeachment against President Donald J. Trump.  Those Articles of Impeachment listed 13 different articles of which the President may be guilty.

Those articles range from alleging the President is guilty of initiating war against alleged drug runners from South American countries without providing concrete evidence, to include murder on the high seas and piracy.  This “war” as the President described it, was conducted without Congressional approval.  Many of the actions conducted in this “national security” war, was done in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).  While the UCMJ provides the mechanism for prosecution, 18 U.S. Code § 2441 explicitly defines war crimes for American law, including:

Breaches of the Hague Convention IV.
Grave breaches of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.
Willful killing or causing serious injury to civilians

The Articles also give an explanation regarding the piracy of Venezuelan oil on the open seas, then the selling of approximately 500 million dollars of Venezuelan oil and depositing the money in a Qatar bank.  Additionally, the President sold another 500 million in Venezuelan oil, took the money from the Qatar bank and place approximately 1 billion in the Treasury of the United States.

The Trump administration sold seized Venezuelan oil primarily to Vitol, a Geneva-based commodity trading firm, and the Trafigura Group.  The first shipment was handled by Vitol, which is notable because a senior trader involved in the deal is a significant donor to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.

The Articles of Impeachment include Article XI: Flouting Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.  President Trump is signed an Executive Order declaring “birthright citizenship” to be null and void.  What the President really wants is to overturn the Supreme Court ruling of 1898, the United States v. Wong Kim Ark.  This would strip a certain class of people born within the jurisdiction of the United States to undocumented citizens of their citizenship.

However, I believe over turning the Wong Kim Ark case would give precedent for the President to re-write or delete, or erase any and all parts of the Constitution by Executive Order instead of using one of the prescribed methods outlined in the Constitution.  In other words, this ruling isn’t about “birthright citizenship”.  It is about consolidating the power of the government in one branch of government, the Executive Branch, thereby doing away with the 3 equal branches of our government system, along with the checks and balances of each branch of government we, as a nation, have enjoyed for 250 years.

Surprisingly, even though there is much speculation about invoking the 25th Amendment, or the impeachment of the President, I do not agree with the method the Congressman has introduced.  I would simply cite the President is guilty of “Abuse of Power”, list all of the alleged abuses and proceed from there.

If one were to read the entire document of Congressman Larson,

https://www.congressgov/119/bills/bres1155/BILLS-119hres1155ih.pdf,

one may very well agree with my premise.

In my mind, it would be far easier to convict on a single charge of Abuse of Power, than 13 different charges.

What I really wonder is…are there Republicans in the government much like Goldwater, Scott, and Rhodes who would make the trip to the White House and deliver the message as these three Republicans did?

I have my opinion, I hope you have one too!

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One Man's Opinion

Rule of Law

Are There Three?

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