By Calvin Hill
All the president’s men, and women, are successfully pleasing the Trumpniks with the caveat that Donald Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do when he became president and the public should be encouraged that a politician is keeping his campaign promises. Americans should not be so encouraged. And for all of the liberals, conservatives, moderates, and #NeverTrump coalitions who are throwing around the terms Hitlerian, fascism, authoritarian, dictatorial and Putinism as their descriptions for Trump, though perhaps adequate, the need to concoct images of the many “leaders” who may fit those descriptions are unnecessary. Looking closer to home will suffice.
As Americans, we should not be so encouraged that Donald Trump is doing what he campaigned on. George Wallace did what he campaigned on. Bull Connor and Orville Faubus did what they campaigned on. A whole host of less famous sheriffs, mayors, governors and police chiefs did exactly what they campaigned on. And unless you think that seeing German Shepherds viciously attack men, women and children, water hoses plowing people down the street, churches, homes and buses firebombed, and peace loving John Lewis having his skull cracked open at the hands of state police officers, politicians doing what they campaigned on does not always make us a better country for it.
At this time, the Democratic Party is chasing fool’s gold in their quest to win back the white working class voters who chose Trump after having voted for Obama. “The Democrats didn’t have an economic message!” cries the punditry. “Donald Trump spoke to their needs!” No – he didn’t. Donald Trump lied to them. John McCain has been telling them since the 2000 campaign that many of their lost jobs are not coming back. After two presidents and four terms later, not only have those jobs not come back, there are less of them. Yet a self-professed “great negotiator” who has a clearly visible record of negotiating multiple business failures, consumable goods that did not sell, a “university” alleged to be fraudulent, and an almost pathological penchant to keep the money he owes to other people, spews lies at a head spinning, stomach churning rate. When he is caught denying a statement, or statements, he has previously made, Trump blames the media and calls them dishonest. Giving cover to Dishonest Donald are a bevy of Fox “News” Channel hosts and syndicated radio talk show celebrities who decry the First Amendment opinions of celebrities of other mediums as unworthy simply because of how and where they earn their money. However, we should feel fortunate that Bernie Madoff is in jail or the Trumpniks might have endorsed him for Treasury Secretary.
Also giving cover to the incompetence, thoughtlessness and bigotry emanating from the 2017 White House are far too many Congressional Republicans who have eschewed their oaths and pledged their political lives, their electoral fortunes, and their unholy honor to a man they have termed racist, insensitive, chaotic, ill prepared, and unfit for the office of the presidency he now inhabits. And much of what he has done since high noon on January 20th has yet to dispel any of their pre-election characterizations of him.
For all of the unfounded fears Trump has stoked for the past 18 months, the Congressional GOP has been reluctant to challenge the imbecility and irrationality of the president. These Republicans talk tough in response to questions of our collective need to stand up to Putin and Russia, but they cower in fear of the possibility of a 140 character assault from a 70 year old juvenile delinquent should they offer any fair and just criticism of this president. Donald Trump has publicly stated the possibility of being in support of policies that are war crimes and his GOP colleagues’ retorts are, at best, tepid. Trump’s solution to gun violence in Chicago is not to stop the free and easy flow of illegal, interstate gun trafficking – it’s to quarter soldiers in the city. A thorough reading of the Declaration of Independence might show this president why that would be a bad idea, but reading is not fundamental to Donald Trump. When he does read, from a script or a Teleprompter, he shows all the skill of a failing 4th grader asked to read in front of the class for the first time. It is no wonder that there are Trump supporters who now fear that danger is on the horizon. Several Trump supporters in a pre-election focus group did not take some of Trump’s proposals seriously because they thought them unconstitutional. But things are only unconstitutional until they aren’t.
For the news media who misread much, and bungled a more deserving scrutiny of candidate Trump, their acknowledgement and mea culpas for their failure is insufficient. At some point significantly earlier than Election Day, the multitude of looming conflicts of interest should have been the red flag that signaled that Trump never intended to reveal his tax returns or produce a letter indicating they were under audit. Settling the Trump University lawsuit was a clear signal that Trump would be willing to wave the white flag. That should have put the media focus on the many lawsuits aimed at defendant Trump. Instead, we witnessed gross negligence bordering on journalistic malpractice. How could the news media review, cover and scrutinize tens of thousands of volunteered, as well as hacked Emails of one candidate, and not put in the effort to do the same with a couple of thousand lawsuits that are a matter of public record? If there really is the need to know the depth of Trump’s financial entanglements, the path is likely through a meticulous journey through these lawsuits.
The fear that Trump will continue to enact immeasurable harm to Americans, the nation and the world is very real. And instead of continually railing about possible violations of the Emoluments Clause in the US Constitution, a careful study of the lawsuits against Trump may be the avenue that could hasten his departure from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The time is now. It is not too late – until it is.
The Op-Ed Alternative 