“What Are You Prepared to Do?”

By Calvin Hill

The title quote was uttered by Sean Connery in his Academy Award winning role as Jimmy Malone in the 1987 film version of The Untouchables, as Eliot Ness went after Al Capone. The defense of American democracy will require that very question. Throughout Donald Trump’s term in the White House, tales of pardons offered for breaking the law were often leaked. Guardrails surrounding those officials kept them from succumbing to his bigwig, dictatorial requests. Unfortunately, Trump’s 2020 election defeat taught him all the wrong lessons. What have we learned?

In contemplating a 2^nd Trump term, the American public must answer whether or not they are prepared to accept the arrest and incarceration of Cassidy Hutchinson, Sarah Matthews and Alyssa Farah Griffin for telling the truth under oath. Don’t count on Senators Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio or Cuban Canadian American immigrant, Ted Cruz, to express any outrage when a Trump FBI sends agents to lock up Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, Adam Kinzinger, Judge Chutkin, Leticia James, Mark Milley, Bob Woodward and a whole host of former Republican strategists who have condemned him as a President and a man. Donald Trump is a selfish, vindictive man of such limited intellect that his clinical psychologist niece believes he suffers from an undiagnosed learning disability.* He often appears to cover his educational limitations by projecting vociferous bravado with the illusion that he is always right.

The very Constitution that Trump sought to terminate to oust Joe Biden and have Congress reinstate him as President, is the very document he now depends upon to effusively disparage and endanger the lives of those, and the families of those, tasked to hold him to account for various allegations of violations of the law.

After January 6^th, the MAGA Republicans have already said that the next time they will be better armed. In fact, Marjorie Taylor Greene stated emphatically, that if she and Steve Bannon were in charge of the insurrection, they would have been better armed and they would have won. It should be well known to anyone who listens to Trump’s repeated lie(s) about the 2020 election, that he will not accept any loss in 2024, even in the primaries, no matter how big the margins. However, it seems voting is the only way to stop him if the law does not.

Liz Cheney has stated that Donald Trump is a man in his 70s, not a petulant child, though sometimes it is not too difficult to tell the difference. And for those that are gullible enough to believe that the people he maliciously jails will have the options of safe, legal representation, just wait until he thumbs his nose at habeas corpus. Now, what are you prepared to do?    

* From – Too Much and Never Enough, By Mary L. Trump PH.D.