I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Jack Smith a Letter
(with apologies to Fred E. Ahlert and Joe Young)
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and write Jack Smith a Letter (a letter!)
Say take him to the Hague with you (with you!)
The laws there in the Hague,
Aren’t weak or mild or vague,
They got one in there that covers
Stealing children from their mothers
Gonna say Dear Jack I hope you’re doin’ better (better!)
Please try him on the Rome Statute (please do!)
I’m gonna sit right down and write Jack Smith a letter (a letter!)
Say take him to the Hague with you (Yes, with you!)
recitative with instrumental:
Could Jack Smith take that guy and sink him
in the Hague -lock ,dock, and clink him?
Why he’s let to scream an’ holler since
We could go for Zero Tolerance?
If they find his heart was hardened
He can’t get no commute or pardon
Gonna say Dear Jack I hope you’re doin’ better (better!)
Please try him on the Rome Statute (please do!)
I’m gonna sit right down and write Jack Smith a letter (a letter!)
I said take him to the Hague,
Don’t make me have to beg,
I said take him to the Hague with you!
Here’s Fats Waller tickling the ivories wonderfully, with the tune and real lyrics. If you don’t know this song already and you want to sing along and put in the parody words, yeah, that might be fun for you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZRAU3DeOo
Dear Daily Kos Friends,
Hi! Well, yesterday, Saturday, I spent most of my day composing a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith. Yes, yes, I did. It took me along time because there is a character limit of 2000 characters on the DOJ site, so I spent a lot of time paring it down, making decisions on what had to be included.
So I thought I’d post my letter and go over why I thought I’d include what‘s in there. You could use my letter for your own letter, because like I said, I’ve cut it back so that’s been done already.
Right this week the Supreme Court has taken the case to determine if Mr. Trump he can be held accountable for anything, so the political landscape has shifted, maybe. Nothing the Supreme Court does in our country determines what the International Criminal Court does, so that’s something to keep in mind while Thomas and Alito busily write loopholes for him.
The first thing to do here is to look up The Rome Statute https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/Publications/Rome-Statute.pdf
and go to Article 6 and 7 Those cover acts of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
It is against the Roman Statute to:
Article 6 (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
Article 7 (d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
These are directly applicable to the Zero Tolerance Border Policy,where children were stolen from their parents, put in detention centers, and then the parents were deported. The Southern Poverty Law Center kept track of this Zero Tolerance Policy. Here is a timeline of what happened up to 2023:
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2022/03/23/family-separation-timeline
I started my letter on the DOJ contact form with a notice of the subject. When you go to the contact page you are given a choice of topics. I didn’t think my topic fit any of the areas, and it was specifically written to Mr. Smith, because of his experience with the Hague, so I started with a notice on the subject, and a salutation to Mr. Smith.
I wrote a letter about this three weeks ago, but didn’t get a response, so I asked for a response.
In 2000, then-President Clinton accepted the Rome Statute, then President Bush did not, which may have been smart thinking to not agree to punishment for War Crimes when you’re about to start a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Biden would have to re-affirm the U.S. as a country that accepts the Rome Statute. Then, Secretary of State Blinken would have to extradite Mr. Trump.
There probably would be much made of that move, but, if our president can commit atrocities and not be punished, why would anyone in power in this country even pause before doing this again to people at our border? It already is counted as a “successful “ border policy,because the amount of people coming in declined. That makes perfect sense, if the policy is that you’re going to have your children taken and you then are deported, then the amount of people coming here declines. As Atlantic writer Adam Serwer said, though, the cruelty is the point.
I think that many many people who have been threatened by Mr. Trump would be relieved to see him tried before a court which does not have to worry about threats to themselves or to their family. Mr. Trump is right when he says the judges are “conflicted’ but I see the conflict being concern for their own and families’ safety versus doing their job.
I think Europeans see a second Trump presidency as the rupture of NATO, and Mr. Putin being given free reign to do whatever he wants with neighboring countries, maybe just for starters. I think the Hague might be glad to take the case. Here’s my letter:
Subject: Former President Trump and the Rome Statute
Dear Special Counsel Smith:
This is my second letter. Please reply.
Like many Americans, I have been following the cases of Former President Trump. I continue to see him insult and threaten judges, prosecutors, court employees, politicians, and their family members.
During his term as President, then President Trump instituted a Border Policy known as “Zero Tolerance.” Children coming to the border seeking asylum, or crossing the border illegally, were treated the same. The policy was to steal the child and then deport the parents. This forcibly orphaned perhaps 5,000 children. The Biden administration has tried to reunite these families, but often there was little attempt to keep records-the name of the child, where the child came from, or even how many children.
These children had no legal standing here. They were poor and helpless. But, the forcible orphaning of approximately 5,000 children is a violation of the Rome Statute.
To prosecute Mr. Trump under this statute, I understand that President Biden would have to renew President Clinton’s acceptance of the Rome Statute, the Hague Court would have to charge Mr. Trump, (Article 6 or 7 or both) and Secretary Blinken would have to extradite him.
President Trump is trying to get immunity. As of this writing, the Supreme Court has not decided. Regardless, he could be tried by the Hague. Can he be brought to justice?
Please reply to this. Thank you.
Leilafile
Well, that’s all she wrote, and I finally got it posted so, done! Oh, except this: this is a letter writing campaign. I’m asking you all to take a few moments, go to the DOJ site, and send a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith and ask him to go back to the Hague and take Donald Trump with him. Copy my letter- that would be easy, right?
https://www.justice.gov/contact-us
Please don’t write to me to tell me how futile it is to write to the DOJ, or to try to influence the International Criminal Court. I do know that if no one writes, it absolutely won’t happen. Now it’s just a small chance of punishing atrocities, to deter the perpetrators, but it’s not no chance. All I’m sayin’ is... Oh won’t you sit right down and write Jack Smith a letter?