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When they sat down to write the Constitution, the founders of this nation were well aware of the anti-democratic tendencies of power-hungry leaders, and they set down a series of rules and procedures meant to thwart those who sought to rule as dictators. And although far from perfect, for well over 200 years that system managed to contain those who would lie and cheat and act for their own benefit. In my lifetime, the Richard Nixon’s of this world have gotten their comeuppance. For crimes both large and small, two-bit crooks such as Rod Blagojevich and Spiro Agnew have all eventually come face-to-face with the consequences of their unsavory actions.
And then there’s Donald Trump. Could Washington and Jefferson have anticipated the perfect storm of God-awful tendencies that could be encompassed in one individual?
Narcissistic. Arrogant. Egotistical. Mean. Crude. Angry. Amoral. A personality marked by the total absence of sensitivity, empathy, and compassion. A man whose world view is absolutely zero-sum: anyone of worth (such as he) is always to be labelled a winner, and all others (those pitiful losers) are to be mocked, bullied, and put down for their weakness.
Mark Singer, in an article for the New Yorker, put it brilliantly in stating that Donald Trump had managed to achieve ”an existence unmolested by the rumbling of a soul.”
Which brings us to the most recent appearance by the former President of the United States in the halls of justice, a context that is becoming all too familiar to this gem of a fellow. Forget all the financial and sexual misdeeds he has committed. Forget having the nerve to remove top secret documents to his home—for no reason in particular other than hubris–I’m Donald Trump, I can do anything I damn well please.
This time around Jack Smith has put together a case accusing the man of mocking democracy, of giving the finger to the founding fathers by refusing to accept the concept at the bedrock of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power. Like the dictator he would be, Donald Trump is accused of attempting to disregard the results of a presidential election, of attempting to remain in power come hell or high water.
I can win Georgia, he reasoned to Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State of Georgia and a Republican himself: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have …” Richard Daley, the esteemed five-time mayor of Chicago who was known to find a hidden vote here and there, never put it any more directly than that.
The defense for this poor victim, Donald John Trump, comes in all sorts of deceptive and sleazy shapes and forms. For those who worship at his feet, he offers the Christ defense: I only did it for you. For you I am suffering the slings and arrows of the unholy ones. Trust me. Believe in me. And by the way, help me bear my cross–send a check for $50 or more to the Holy Donald Defense Fund.
From the man who chanted over and over, “Lock her up! Lock her up!” comes the complaint that he is the innocent victim of a weaponized judicial system. My guess is that irony is a concept that has never registered with Donald J.
But, clinging to the very Constitution he constantly attacks, his legal complaint is that “my first amendment rights are being attacked. Free speech allows me to say anything and everything I want.” Coming from the man who has yelled ‘Fire’ in every crowded theatre he’s ever been in, I don’t see this one holding much water in a court of law.
And then I remind myself, appreciating irony has never been the man’s strong point.
This gets it all right. Hard for most of us “normal” people to comprehend how such a soul-less, empty-headed, stupid, and ignorant man can nonetheless be taken as some sort of savior for so many.
Nailed it, Ed!