Could it be that all events, even the most terrible and distressing, have silver linings?
What we witnessed in Washington on Jan 6 was not, as Tucker Carlson of Fox News said, a political demonstration that got a little out of hand. As shameful as looting a Target store might be, there’s a world of difference between that and storming and entering the Capitol Building when every Senator and Congressman is inside. Yes, we had property damage. But sadly four lives were lost, one a policeman trying to defend his post. What might have happened if the mob had found and breached the hiding places of the nation’s top elected officials?
So what could possibly be the silver lining of an event such as this? For the four long years of Donald Trump, as he reached new depths of dangerous and destructive behavior, the term Teflon Don fit perfectly. It seemed as if no wrong, no offense, no action was able to pierce his armor.
Mueller Report? It was a hoax, I did no wrong. Impeachment? Not guilty, and I’m still here. COVID-19? It’ll go away when the weather gets warmer. Election loss? Massive fraud is the only way to explain it. In the face of a seven million vote deficit, he had the gall not only to claim that he had won, but by a large margin—and the unwashed, the unthinking, believed every word.
Then he incited a riot. My guess is that he anticipated a gargantuan demonstration filled with shouting and flag waving and minor skirmishes where his supporters broke a few bones and blackened a few eyes among outnumbered anti-Trump protestors. “We had the largest political protest this nation has ever seen,” he was ready to proclaim. “The ratings for the protest were far higher than the coverage of the dull proceedings inside. More proof that I am a winner. More proof that I won.”
And finally, finally, Teflon Don had gone one step too far. The Great Leader had stoked his minions to a fever pitch, and watched on TV as they tore through the building looking for… whatever kind of trouble they could find. My guess is that for the most part Trump took great pleasure in watching the crowd lash out on his behalf, brimming with psychopathic pride in seeing his power over them. I’m sure he felt that this must prove he was right all along. He even refused, until pressured by whatever voices of reason he might listen to, to call out the National Guard, as he didn’t want to stop the beautiful carnage created by these loving patriots.
But, poor fool Donald, you liked walking along the ledge and pushing limits. You liked disregarding decency and tradition, and you got away with it, unbelievably, for four long years. But you finally went one step too far. Every Superman has his Kryptonite, and the stain of Jan 6 now marks your downfall. This is the end. Even the rats, enablers like Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, have finally deserted the sinking ship.
Do I get pleasure watching the Teflon fail, in seeing you slither out of office in disgrace, in seeing you finally not be able to defend the indefensible? I guess I do.
Donald Trump, this is your legacy. Good riddance.
again, well said, Ed.