IMPEACH AGAIN!

by Ruth A. Sheets

Last Wednesday’s presidentially incited raid on the United States Capitol is the culmination of more than five years of bad behavior on the part of Donald Trump, the man who currently occupies the White House.  Unfortunately, he cannot bear the blame on his own (OK, he doesn’t want to bear any of it).  A whole series of forces have combined to put us all in this crisis situation.  Donald Trump is the front man who has been the mouthpiece and ardent supporter of whatever he could get away with, and he got away with a lot.

When history writes the story of Donald Trump Time, it will be clear that he has been a disaster waiting to happen, from day 1 of his entrance onto the political scene. 

Trump has the social comprehension of a child.  That would not be so bad if he had permitted responsible adults to help guide him through.  Unfortunately, he has childishly decided that loyalty is the primary character requirement of those who surround him.  He is so scared that competent people will show him for what he is, a scared manipulatable child.  The loyal caretakers must believe in whatever Mr. President says and must be willing to lie with a straight face for him, to the bitter end.  Trump has not been disappointed by the sycophants who remain in his service.  Even after the attack by Trump supporters on our Capitol, putting Congress seriously at risk, they have continued to lie for him and defend his insane claims.

I can’t help but wonder what these sycophants are getting for this outrageous loyalty.  Perhaps, they just like basking in the power light.   Perhaps they actually believe in the destructive Trump policies. 

For years I have wondered if Trump’s team is maintaining a file on everyone in power in the Republican Party so he can hold it against them at just the right time.  Perhaps they know what he has on them and are scared enough of people finding out that they will do, say, or stand for whatever Trump’s team “hints” they should do.   

In any case, like bad parents protecting a spoiled incompetent child, Republican enablers have covered for him while putting words and actions in his mind that have worked to harm our democracy.  They are still doing it, lying, cheating, using voter suppression and gerrymandering, displaying xenophobia, racism and misogyny (overt and covert), and distorting our Constitution for their own aims.  Sadly, We the People never thought even this bigoted bully would be allowed to get away with so much. Trump’s crew has been carefully if ineptly crafting a set of conspiracy theories and straight-out lies to stir up a large group of suffering Americans to believe they are being put upon so much worse than anyone else.  No one has been treated so badly.  The “left” with its Socialism is coming to take their jobs and hurt them in so many other ways.  The truth is irrelevant because the desperate followers hear nothing but the Trump line (which, of course began before Trump was elected).  Those desperate followers have been fed the lies and calls for action against anyone who was not white for 5 straight years dished out by Fox News, the internet, and more broadly by the mass media who got sucked in by Trump’s showmanship and for years refused to call a lie a lie.

Now, it's sedition. Trump may have only a few days left in office, but there is a lot of damage he can still do.  He has already pardoned murderers and sycophants from earlier in his administration.  It has been reported that nearly all of his pardons have been for his loyal supporters, a prize for their loyalty.  He is seriously considering a pardon for himself and probably those who stormed the Capitol.  His destructive acts will continue after he is out of office, guaranteed because there are so many like-minded Americans tied to his success. 

One way to deal with this now is to impeach Trump, remove Trump from office, then make it impossible for him to run for any office in the future.  Then make it clear over and over on every medium that it is for the safety of this nation the actions are being taken. 

Trump has gathered into himself the worst qualities of every previous president with none of the positive qualities.  That should be a warning to all of us.  Don't support the populist candidate who has no experience and was only a "star" in a completely unrelated field.  Those people have not paid their dues in service and deep thinking about others, the people they will be serving.  It is ironic that Donald Trump claims to “love” those people who stormed the Capitol when, in reality, he cares nothing for them and their struggles, only for his ability to use them in his attempt to remain in power in a job he cannot do with any skill.  He likes his rallies and people cheering for him, but can’t seem to muster any real feeling for them.  He “loves” only how easily he can manipulate them with his words of hatred, distrust, and calls for destruction of our democracy to make him dictator. 

When impeachment is called for in the House of Representatives, we will see how deep the Trump loyalties go.  I suspect there are few Republicans who will have courage sufficient to stand up to do the right thing.  They are so out of practice these days they won’t be able to change course.  Or, maybe they will and will want to see a new day when they can care again about the people who elected them instead of the child man in the white house who treats them like his own private army of thugs who will do his bidding no matter what it costs them, if it costs them.

We the People, to, must stand up and demand more of our elected officials.  When one man, Mitch McConnell, one of Trump’s deep followers, can put his wants and needs before the needs of an entire nation, it’s time we demand that our representatives stop him.  We the People must expect our employees to do the work we elected them to do.  That is going to be hard, but as employers, that’s our job.  We have a new president in a few days and already have a new Congress.  It’s time We the People are renewed and take our job more seriously.  So, get a copy of the Constitution you can carry around with you, so you will know what We the People must do to keep this democracy alive and thriving for our children and grandchildren, into the future.