Donald Trump has gotten away with everything that he has done thus far. All of the crimes, all of the lies, the blatant corruption, everything.
In an article in The Atlantic by David Frum which just came out today, we can all understand, in plain language, what we all know Trump's lessons from all of this are. Some are acting horrified by these newest revelations regarding the Ukrainian scandal, but Frum rightly states, you should not be:
So don’t say you weren’t warned. Trump got away with it the first time. The lesson he learned was to try again.
Yup. That pretty much sums up what this particular president has taken away from all of his wrongdoing in these last three years in office (not even). He keeps getting away with it, so he keeps pushing the envelope, each time just a bit further, to see if he continues to get away with it. So far, he very clearly has.
When Trump conducted himself in a very unprofessional, and unbelievably unpresidential manner early in his term, then House Speaker Paul Ryan tried to urge everyone to have patience, to give Trump time. Eventually, he will come around, he claimed. Frum, however, reveals what that kind of green pass led to.
Give him time, Ryan seemed to suggest, and Trump might stop acting like a criminal in office.
Trump drew a very different conclusion from the one to which Ryan had hoped to nudge him. He concluded: Nobody is going to stop me.
Indeed, Trump just continues on and on with his bad behavior, betraying that oversized and disgusting sense of entitlement that he has revealed from day one, at least to anyone who actually paid attention, and did not buy into this snake oil salesman's BS. Frum perhaps meant this following statement regarding the current Ukrainian in particular, but I think it applies to the entire Trump presidency:
There’s no mystery; there’s never been a mystery. There’s been only impunity, and there continues to be impunity.
Indeed, that is what Trump has gotten thus far. He wanted it, just like he wanted the prestige of the most powerful office in the land, but he is not willing to bend his corrupt ways and rise to the esteem of the office that he holds even a little bit.
Trump takes advantage of a human tendency to think, If he’s not ashamed, maybe he did nothing wrong. Normal people are taken aback by pathological people, and Trump is the most pathological president in American history.
But we’re at the breaking point. The Ukraine story confirms that Trump will do anything. Anything. Everything.
He relies on everybody around him being too dazed, too psychologically weak to resist him and uphold even the most basic legality and decency. So far, he’s gambled right. It’s time—way past time—to prove him wrong.
Please take a look at the article by Frum. The link is below. It is an important read, and one that anyone who claims to be a patriotic American, and who also has an ounce of intelligence and objectivity left, needs to read and understand.
We’ve Reached the Breaking Point The Ukraine scandal confirms that Trump knows he can act with impunity—and no one will stop him. 9:07 AM ET David Frum Staff writer at The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/trumps-ukraine-scandal-shows-he-will-do-anything/598681/?utm_source=atl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share&fbclid=IwAR20Pf1H2wrdfKKkCrJ-aoW9yYeFxkQvTjWpLownKHSeK4Tbw5s2ecl86xU
Except that could be applied in equal measure to any number of things he's said and done since being sworn in back in January of 2017. Which is why I'm not expecting this latest scandal to be any different. Frankly, the fact that he's even in the White House in the first place - let alone that he has a very real chance of getting another four years, and has occasionally "joked" about the possibility of being there even longer - is a damning indictment of what this country has become, and where it's headed. This is something which transcends Trump, as much as I obviously detest everything about him. A sizeable portion of the population worships this asshole and goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid subjecting anything he says or does to scrutiny of any kind. An informed public that genuinely tries to think critically and ask questions is a prerequisite to any democracy worthy of that name. Otherwise the whole thing devolves into a grotesque farce. Don't get me wrong - I'm certainly not advocating that we officially abolish democracy and implement an unabashedly totalitarian regime in its place. What I am [I wish it were possible to use italics and/or bold type for emphasis here] saying is that a democracy worthy of its name depends on an enlightened public, or at least one that doesn't openly embrace willful ignorance and glibly deflect any and all criticism with an insipid catchphrase like "fake news". That ship has officially sailed. I'm all for a thorough investigation of this issue, and by virtue of the 25th amendment alone I would very much favor Trump's removal from office. But some people (and I don't mean you) seem to think everything would be hunky dory were that to happen - that we'd essentially be in "Whew, thank God that's over" mode. In reality that would be tantamount to attempting to extinguish a wildfire with a bucket.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. But as far as Trump goes, let him fall. He has made a point of testing how far he can go and get away with things. Allowing him to do so sends him the wrong message, clearly. And it also gives a green light to future abusers. There's a lot wrong with the country right now, and Trump represents the most extreme and blatant, out in the open face and voice of it. Let him fall hard and let it resonate, so his loyal fans cannot ignore it, either. Let him be disgraced at least as much as Nixon, and hopefully much more.
ReplyDeleteWell, you do raise a good point - there are reasons for holding Trump accountable that transcend punishing him personally. And I certainly wouldn't mind seeing him disgraced and humiliated, both of which he so richly deserves. Hopefully by the time Congress is done considering how such an outcome would affect their own approval ratings, they'll do the right thing, even if it's for the wrong reasons.
ReplyDelete