Ever since the political rise of Donald Trump, it feels like the United States has been caught up in a whirlwind of very busy news cycles. There are usually a number of very big news events going on all at the same time, often times (but not always) closely related. Brexit came while Trump had basically all but officially clinched the Republican nomination for the presidency. Then, there was shock with each big step closer Trump actually got to the presidency, from the de facto clinching of the Republican nomination to the official nomination, then to the general race which was much closer than many believed it should be and then, finally, to his win. It was still shocking that he had won, when he began to prepare to take office. Once in office, the news cycle never seemed to slow down, and often was so fast, that you barely had time to register one thing, when another thing replaced it. From Nazis marching in American streets to Trump making obnoxious comments (praising the healthcare of a non-existent African nation before assembled leaders of Africa, or referring to dozens of Central American and African countries as "shithole nations"). Then, there was the Covid pandemic, and the resulting near collapse of the economy. Then there was the presidential race, and eventually, Trump's loss. Then, there was the Trump team's refusal to accept defeat, with what amounted to a storm of publicity lacking substance, including court dates where the Trump team made very clear they were not arguing massive voter fraud. Somehow, the pro-Trump crowd seemed to gloss over that one, if they noticed it at all. Then, of course, came January 6th.
Biden took over, but things have not really slowed down since, nevertheless. The pandemic continued, although slowly but surely, the world seemed to open back up. Traveling was back in, as were public events. Then, Russia invaded Ukraine, and there were fears of World War III. Through it all, we kept hearing from and about Donald Trump, who clearly had not gone gently into the night of a post-presidency, like most presidents do.
Of course, anyone who has paid attention to Trump throughout his career knew that this was going to be the case. Trump was never going to simply fade into the background. At least not by choice.
But who would have guessed that he would have shown not just a willingness, but an eagerness to effectively orchestrate an actual coup attempt?
Well, admittedly, that was kind of predictable, as well. Again, anyone who knows a bit about Trump and his career, and his obvious and excessive ego, just knew that he would indeed try to remain in power by any means necessary. Anyone who knows how little value Trump places in the truth just knew that he was going to lie, especially when it came to the humiliation of losing an election.
The fact that Trump would be capable of such things is, in fact, not all that shocking. The fact that he continues to get the unconditional support of about one-third of the Americans people, however, is a bit of a surprise. And the fact that he still, for all intents and purpose, both gets unconditional support from, and exerts control over, the Republican party, also is a depressing revelation.
Why are they seemingly so willing to follow this man, even seemingly to the edge of an abyss? I still, for the life of me, cannot understand what it is about the man that people generally find so appealing, when he is, in fact, quite repulsive in so many respects.
Still, facts are facts. The extent to which Trump orchestrated the attempted coup on January 6th are emerging, in considerable details, with the recent Congressional panel. Yes, he was very much involved with this outright attempt to forcefully overturn the results of a legitimate election, and to remain in power. I have already written about this, and there have been plenty of news stories about it as well, so I will not go into further details at the moment.
But one thing that seems clear is that Americans now have a choice, and that includes one of the two major political parties that dominate politics here. And Wyoming Representative (and a one-time leader of the House Republicans) put this reality into focus recently, when she explained how the extent to which former President Donald Trump’s involvement in a plot to overturn the 2020 election was “even more chilling and more threatening than we could have imagined.”
She went on during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California::
"The reality that we face today as Republicans -- as we think about the choice in front of us -- we have to choose. Because Republicans cannot both be loyal to Donald Trump and loyal to the Constitution."
Cheney concluded:
"We stand at the edge of an abyss and we must pull back. We must pull back.”
Below are the links to the two articles from which I obtained the quotes by Liz Cheney used in the above blog entry:
Liz Cheney perfectly captured the choice Republicans now have to make on Donald Trump Chris Cillizza Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large, June 30, 2022:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/30/politics/liz-cheney-donald-trump-2024/index.html
Cheney: Trump's Jan. 6 actions 'more threatening than we could have imagined' Jon Ward Jon Ward·Chief National Correspondent Wed, June 29, 2022:
https://news.yahoo.com/cheney-trump-jan-6-committee-014840676.html
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