​Trump must not be above the law The Jan. 6 committee has provided the Justice Department with a “roadmap to justice.”

The Jan. 6 committee has provided the Justice Department with a “roadmap to justice.”

The Jan. 6 House committee has concluded its 18-month investigation, appropriately, by unanimously recommending that the Justice Department charge former President Donald Trump for inciting insurrection; conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government; obstructing an official act of Congress, and conspiracy to make a false statement.

The move is without precedent in U.S. history. But it was made necessary by a president who, from the moment he was elected, was convinced that the law and rules did not apply to him and stubbornly clung to power even after his defeat. Trump's legacy is now in tatters, tarnished beyond redemption by his actions. It is now imperative that he and his co-conspirators be brought to justice.

Mike Pence, who served as Trump's vice president, said earlier this week that the Justice Department should think twice before indicting the boss who took no action for hours as a raging mob invaded the Capitol and called for Pence to be hanged. "I think it would be terribly divisive in the country at a time when the American people want to see us heal," Pence said.

Pence could not be more wrong. What is stopping this country from healing — nearly two full years after the insurrection intended to prevent the peaceful transfer of power — is the Big Lie, birthed and fomented by Trump, that the election was somehow "stolen" from him. He has never provided a scintilla of evidence that would stand up in court, and his lie has been proven false multiple times. Yet for two years, he has obsessively built upon it until it became a Republican chimera.

The only remedy is the process we are witnessing now, as painfully slow as it may be. The meticulous accumulation of documents, evidence and testimony — including interviews with more than 1,000 witnesses — is what allowed the committee to confidently state that Trump should face prosecution for his actions. "There is no doubt about this," concluded Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who said the referrals and accompanying evidence would provide a "roadmap to justice."

There has been much debate about whether the committee should even make referrals. It has been noted, accurately, that the referrals carry no extra legal weight, nor do they place any additional responsibility on the Justice Department to act. They are a symbolic gesture, but a powerful and necessary one.

Even if the department decides to pursue charges, the road ahead will be long. The government will have to prove its case in prosecuting the former president, and Trump must have the opportunity to defend himself.

Whether he is convicted or found not guilty will be for the courts to determine.

That is our system.

But imagine the alternative. If the Justice Department declines to take action, Trump again is allowed to skate past any consequences for his actions, as he has for much of his adult life. In his mind, he receives the ultimate validation that he is indeed above the law and could ride the resulting wave of re-energized Trumpers to the Republican presidential nomination and beyond. What power could stop him after that? Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., whose work as vice chair on the committee has been nothing short of courageous, noted that the best way to prevent a recurrence of what can only be described as an attempted coup is by making sure we "hold those who were responsible for January 6th accountable." Cheney, whose defiance of Trump and pursuit of the truth cost her the seat she now holds in Congress, said the former president was responsible for an "utter moral failure and a clear dereliction of duty" and is "unfit for any office."

One service the committee performed, perhaps its most valuable, was to uncover irrefutable proof that the Jan. 6 insurrection was not a singleday event, as horrific as that one day was. Instead, as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., noted, it was "a dangerous assault on constitutional democracy" consisting of "hundreds of individual offenses" engineered by Trump and others.

"Ours is not a system of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the ringleaders and masterminds get a pass," Raskin said.
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It now falls to the Justice Department to decide whether it will follow the Jan. 6 committee's road map and issue indictments. We believe it should. In fact, it must.

Jan. 6 panel plans vote on referring Trump for insurrection, other criminal charges The addition of an accusation of insurrection was a new development.  By Luke Broadwater New York Times   DECEMBER 16, 2022 — 8:30PM Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Legacy Sports Park in Mesa, Ariz., Oct. 9, 2022. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans on Monday, Dec. 19, to vote on issuing criminal referrals against former President Trump for insurrection and at least two other charges, ac

WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol plans Monday to vote on issuing criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump for insurrection and at least two other charges, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it.

It had been widely expected the panel would recommend charges against Trump for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The panel's members had already argued in federal court that they believed it was likely that he committed those two felonies. But the addition of an accusation of insurrection was a new development.

The House impeached Trump last year for incitement of insurrection, and the members of the panel have long argued Trump was the central figure who fomented an insurrection against the United States as he sought to cling to power. Politico earlier reported that a charge of insurrection would be considered.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Jan. 6 committee tasked with studying possible criminal referrals, was the lead impeachment manager against Trump on the count of incitement of insurrection.

Referrals against Trump, which the committee is slated to approve as part of its report, would not carry any legal weight or compel the Justice Department to take any action, but they would send a powerful signal that a congressional committee believes the former president committed certain crimes.

In a statement, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, dismissed the panel as a "kangaroo court" that held "show trials by Never Trump partisans who are a stain on this country's history."

The committee also was set to consider whether to issue criminal and civil referrals for some of Trump's top allies during a meeting scheduled for Monday as it prepares to release a voluminous report laying out its findings about the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Members also were expected to discuss the forthcoming report and recommendations for legislative changes.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chair of the committee, has said the panel was considering referrals to "five or six" different entities, including the Justice Department, the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission and bar associations.

In the case of Trump, an official finding that a former president should be prosecuted for violating the law would be a rare step for the legislative branch to take.

In addition to the former president, the panel is likely to consider referring charges against John Eastman, a conservative lawyer who was an architect of Trump's efforts to invalidate his electoral defeat. The committee has argued in court that Eastman most likely violated two federal laws for his role in the scheme, including obstructing an official act of Congress and defrauding the American public.

The charge of obstructing Congress stems from the bid by Trump, conceived of by Eastman and others, to disrupt Congress' official count of electoral votes to certify the results of the presidential election. The count was brought to an abrupt halt when supporters of Trump violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, sending lawmakers and the vice president fleeing for their lives.

The fraud charge pertains to the former president's spreading of the lie that he was the true winner of the 2020 election, even after he was told repeatedly that he had lost and, by some accounts, acknowledged privately that he knew it.

The panel also plans to release a portion of its eight-chapter final report into the effort to block the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden. The committee's full report is scheduled for release Wednesday. Additional attachments and transcripts are expected to be released before the end of the year, according to a committee aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans in advance.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Automakers move closer to fulfilling 2023 braking pledge ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT COURTHOUSE PUB -THIS PICTURE OF KERRY AND JACQUIE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TODAY'S ARTICLE. IT'S JUST ME REFLECTING ON THE FUN WE'VE HAD AT PAST RALLYS IN MANITOWOC.

​Fifteen automakers have made lifesaving automatic emergency braking standard on nearly all of their new passenger vehicles in the U.S. this year, fulfilling a voluntary commitment made six years ago.

That leaves five companies — General Motors, Porsche, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia and Maserati — still needing to meet the pledge by Aug. 31, 2023, the end of the current model year.

Audi, BMW, Ford/Lincoln, Honda/Acura, Hyundai/Genesis, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan/Infiniti, Stellantis, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota/Lexus, Volkswagen and Volvo all hit the target, according to data collected by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
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Automatic emergency braking (AEB) can detect objects in the way and stop or slow a vehicle, preventing a crash or making it less severe. IIHS said that the systems have to earn the institute's advanced rating, slowing a vehicle by at least 10 mph in either the 12 mph or 25 mph test, or by 5 mph in both tests.

The automakers' commitment will prevent 42,000 crashes and 20,000 injuries by 2025, according to IIHS estimates. Institute research has found that vehicles with both forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking cut the number of rear crashes in half.

General Motors, the nation's top automaker by sales, reported that 73% of its models had the technology at the end of the 2022 model year. But a spokesman said GM would hit 98% by the end of the current model year, barring supply-chain issues.

Kia reached 94% for the 2022 model year and said it will hit the agreed goal of 95% in model year 2023. Jaguar/Land Rover and Porsche made substantial progress as well, with about three-quarters of their new vehicles equipped with the system. Maserati dropped 1 percentage point to 71%, the IIHS said.

Maserati said its entire lineup now has AEB standard for the 2023 model year. The data analyzed by IIHS is based on production from the model year that ended last August, the automaker said.

Messages were left seeking comment from Kia, Jaguar/ Land Rover and Porsche.
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The 20 automakers pledged in 2016 to make the braking systems standard on most of their new models in an agreement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and IIHS. Automakers also have agreed to make AEB standard on larger vehicles, mainly heavy-duty trucks weighing 8,501 to 10,000 pounds, by the 2025 model year.

Harvey Mackay  Words can hurt others — and also you Choose words wisely. They can hurt more than relationships. Every day, you must pick words carefully. Social media has exacerbated people's emotional responses, but you should avoid responding until you are more measured.  By  Harvey Mackay Special to the Star Tribune

One summer night at an all-girls summer camp, the campers were gathered around in a circle for nighttime conversation. The counselor asked if any of the girls wanted to share something that had affected her that day. One camper raised her hand and said a girl from another cabin had said something that hurt her feelings, and she was really upset about it.

The camp counselor went to the bathroom to grab a tube of toothpaste, then took the tube and squeezed out just a bit. She then tried to put the toothpaste back in the tube, but it just created a mess. Then she squeezed the tube even more, but none of it would go back into the tube, making even more of a mess.

The counselor told the campers: "This toothpaste represents the words you speak. Once you say something that you want to take back, it's nearly impossible to do so, and only creates a mess. So think before you speak, and make sure your words are going to good use before you let them out."

Words hold tremendous power. They can shatter or make a career, kill or nurture a relationship, break or heal a heart.

There are all kinds of words: words of wisdom, words of encouragement, fighting words, words to live by, foreign words, simple words, big words, naughty words, strong words, last words. They all serve a purpose. Choose the right words for your situation.

Research has found that the people who talk trash about someone else unwittingly paint themselves with the same brush.

The same is true when the talk is positive.

In my case, my mother, who was a teacher, set me straight around the tender age of 12. At that time, my idea of a vocabulary upgrade consisted of adding to the string of cuss words I could say without repeating myself. A colorful skill, but of limited value in mixed company and one that put me at personal risk within the Mackay household.

I choose words every day. When speaking, writing, requesting and deciding, I use some words, and not others. You do, too. The words we choose create meaning and mission in our lives.

Every word and phrase you choose conveys mood, tone and meaning. Remember, customers and colleagues come in every possible stage of enthusiasm, anxiety, understanding and confusion. Pay attention. When you are offering, asking, responding, explaining, invoicing, installing or advising, choose the words you use with care.

"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them," said entertainer Andy Rooney.

Here are three simple tips to consider:
  1. If you don't have anything positive to say, it's better to say nothing at all. Take your emotions out. Too often, we want to get our opinion out and slam the other person or try to get even. Social media has really exacerbated this problem.
  2. Be aware of your influence. This is especially true for authority figures like role models, parents and teachers. Your words mean a great deal. To most people, you might be just another person, but to certain people, you might be the world.
  3. Respond rather than react. Too many people just say things off the cuff and then realize they can't take them back. It's like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. If you want your words to work for you, work for your words. The result will pay off big time.

Mackay's Moral: Your words say a lot about you — choose them wisely.

         Harvey Mackay is a Minneapolis businessman. Contact him at 612-378-6202 or email [email protected].
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