Trump says he is in favor of a wall because, without strong and secure borders, we have no country. True.  He plays lip service to the dreamers, but, has refused to put together an effort to make their lives stable.  His political base refuses to grant what they would consider being amnesty.

The Dreamers did not break the law, their parents did. Yet, by Trump’s actions, he continues to punish these kids who have only known the United States as their home.  He and his backers insist that giving them a path forward would be breaking the law and above all, if we don’t have the rule of law, we have no country, right?  

But, look at what’s going on in the land of the Russia probe, and most lately, in the federal courts involving his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

During the Manafort trial, Trump defended him before, during and after the jury deliberated.  He blasted the judicial system and prosecutors who are simply doing their jobs--putting criminals in jail. Trump assaulted the centuries-old practice of flipping criminals to get the bigger fish, in this case, him.  Every major crime (mobs, white collar, dangerous criminals, etc.) has turned upon the use of “flipping” lesser-criminals. Yet Trump, because it impacts him, wants to get rid of it, or so he has indicated.

People who want to take away the legitimate, lawful powers of the prosecutors are not strong on crime. Those who side with the criminals are not strong on crime. Those who deride law enforcers, judges and the nation's intelligence are not strong on crime.

Anything but.

In the case over which Judge Ellis presided, Manafort was found guilty of financial fraud which included five convictions of tax fraud in which he hid foreign bank accounts and defrauded two banks. The prosecutors were one juror away from convicting him on ten other counts. Was that one juror in any way influenced by President Trump's complaining on national TV that  Manafort was set up? I don't know. I do know, however, a President of the United States who loves law and order remains mute so a case is not contaminated with prejudice. Trump did not.  

Manafort gave campaign secrets to Russians and apparently met with Russians without disclosure. He broke his plea agreement and tried to cover it up. He has been on a crime spree for a decade and appears to have been willing to sell his position in the Trump campaign to Russian Oligarchs who had him in a financial knot.

This man is a criminal. He is a liar. He is a thug. 

But, instead of Trump calling him out, the president has refused to take pardon off the table, refuses to condemn him, but is in full acceleration mode to debase our nation's criminal justice system, the bedrock that keeps our families safe.

But Michael Cohen? The president’s former attorney turned on him and Trump calls him a liar and a “rat”.

No rat for Manafort because Manafort did not turn.

So, please don’t tell me that our President Donald Trump is strong on crime.

I will concede that he is when it comes to punishing kids whose parents broke the law unlawfully seeking a better life. But, he's not when his own golf courses hires illegals year in and year out.

And, he's not strong on crime when he or his family’s fate is in the crucible. Then, he falls flat and can't get up.

President Donald Trump is a 90-pound weakling when it comes to ensuring that our laws are protected if they in some way might implicate him.

So, Mr. Trump, please don’t ever talk to us about rats.