TheNextReport

Donald Trump's investiture as President of the United States will be barely noticed in the annals of American history, as will his presidency. The institution of the inaugural address has traditionally been a message of hope for the country -- not so with Mr. Trump.  Filled with canned platitudes and implicit threats, his inaugural speech will be remembered for its absence of substance or a meaningful vision for the country. Instead of the inspiring words of John F. Kennedy, the soaring rhetoric of Woodrow Wilson, Trump painted a bleak, dark portrait of a country where we have: “Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted-out factories, scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.” Mr. Trump ha

Ethics and the GOP. If the American people suspected that the two terms were mutually exclusive they needn’t wonder any longer.   Yesterday, the leadership of the House of Representatives decided at a rare night-time  meeting  to demonstrate its adherence to conservative principles by voting to strip the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics. What would motivate these people to meet unannounced, during a weekend, under cover of darkness, in order to clamp down on a suppos e dly impartial ombudsman acting in the public interest? The OCE is an independent, non-partisan entity charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct against m embers, officers, and staff of the United States House of Representatives. It was created in 2008 to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison.   No one expected the mind-bending negative reaction that would greet legislators when the doors of the 115 th Congre