Trump Watched On TV As People Died While Trying To Kill Democracy.

Trump Watched On TV As People Died While Trying To Kill Democracy.

– By Ed Kociela –

A generation from now, Donald Trump will be relegated to maybe a handful of paragraphs in the history books.

The bitterness, the anger will have pretty much subsided by then and Jan. 6, 2021, will be little more than a date some high school sophomore will have to memorize for a U.S. History quiz.

So let the poets and artists now have a go at it, please. Those are the ones who know how to touch our souls, expand our consciousness, tell the stories that purge the soul.

Historians tend to gloss it over, buffing up the burrs and splinters of our ragged times so they dovetail nicely into this happy, shiny account of a nation, our warts and blemishes hidden below a whitewashed surface. It took, as a matter of fact, less than a generation for Richard Nixon to be remembered for more than Watergate and his certain impeachment. Bill Clinton moved on from his impeachment without hardly missing a beat while still in office.

But, of course, their sins are marginal when compared with inciting an insurrection that provoked insurgents to go searching for the vice president and Speaker of the House to commit unspeakable acts upon them.

Despite his numbers in the last election, Trump leaves the White House tomorrow in disgrace, a broken man, an example of how populist ideology might sound like a good idea but, in application, is doomed to failure. When you are president, you’ve got to deliver the goods and Donald Trump was never capable of doing so. Yes, he was the outsider, something many claimed would be the balm for what ailed the nation. But, it was abundantly clear from Day One that the swamp he promised to clean was swallowing him up. He had no clue regarding the processes of government, the intricate steps of the slow dance required to keep the music going as he continually stepped on America’s toes.

While, admittedly, it takes a huge ego to even consider running for office, a certain discipline must be in place to rein in the belligerence, the arrogance, the narcissism from which it sprouts.

Trump could do none of those things.

And, it showed.

The first mark of leadership is to surround yourself with solid, intelligent people who will stimulate the conversation with perspective, context, wisdom. Name me one member of his cabinet with those attributes.

The second mark of leadership is to welcome opposing views that just might help solve the problem on the table. Instead, we saw the president surround himself with cronies, yes men, sycophants propping up his uninformed posturing.

Finally, leadership requires a search for truth, something, we know, with which the president has no relationship.

Viewed, a little removed from the heat of the moment, I am not surprised that the vice president refused to invoke the 25^th Amendment despite the many calls for him to do so. Yes, it would have been a neat and tidy solution if enough cabinet members came aboard, but would have, ultimately, been incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to prove and make it stick because criminality does not equate to the kind of mental instability required to remove him from office. You can participate in high crimes and misdemeanors without being mentally incompetent, otherwise, our prisons would be empty and our asylums filled. If that, indeed, was the case, there would be no such thing as criminal activity, just mental illness that would result in those perpetrators being locked down in a hospital and sentenced to years of clozapine therapy.

The sad thing is that Donald J. Trump kept chasing something he already had – power. As president, he was generally considered the most powerful person on the planet, something he didn’t ever grasp as he clawed and scratched for more and more, before reducing the presidency to that of a tinhorn strongman. While he would often reference Abraham Lincoln, it was Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, President Xi Jinping of China, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who he looked up to because of their autocratic powers to reign without democratic checks and balances. He would often claim that the Constitution allowed him to “do whatever I want,” which the uninformed lapped up, and that his “authority is total” to order states to follow his command.

We will be good to be rid of him, but he is sure to linger. Remember, there is the Senate impeachment trial coming up, plus pending criminal and civil actions in various state jurisdictions, as well as possible federal and local charges for his part in the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. No, Donald Trump will not disappear from our radar after he boards Air Force One for one last ride. He will remain in the headlines and, ultimately, that is all he cares about, regardless of the reasons. In the realm of celebrity there is a belief that there is no such thing as bad publicity because it keeps your name out there. In real life, that translates into “love me or hate me, but please don’t ignore me.” Ignoring President Trump as he transitions to Citizen Trump would be the cruelest punishment of all as he settles in wherever the crazy train drops him off.

His leaving office also does not mean the end of Trump Republicanism as he leaves behind plenty heirs to insanity from Ted Cruz to Jim Jordan to Josh Hawley and the fringe groups like the Proud Boys, QAnon, and the others who comprise the far-right wannabe militias, or “revolutionaries.” Those are, perhaps, the keys to any conviction of Trump in a Senate trial as attorneys for the insurgents are already defending them by claiming that they were simply following his orders to storm the Capitol and take back the country. “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he told the crowd moments before he sent it off to the Capitol to do his dirty work.

He promised he would walk to the Capitol with them, that he would be part of the tumult to overturn the election results, that he would lead his charges into an imaginary battle that, suddenly, became all too real.

But, instead, he jumped into a waiting limousine, sped home, and from the safety of the White House watched as people died while trying to kill democracy.

Now, he stands alone because, as Bob Dylan told us, “even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked.”

Will he finally get it?

Maybe.

If he does, I hope the McDonald’s in Palm Beach near Mar-a-Lago dishes up a generous serving of humble pie next time he orders his Big Mac.

He will need it to wash down his guilt.

Viewpoints and perspectives expressed throughout The Independent are those of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect those held by the staff of The Independent or our advertising sponsors. Your comments, rebuttals, and contributions are welcome in accordance with our Terms of Service. Please be respectful and abide by our Community Rules. If you have privacy concerns you can view our Privacy Policy here. Thank you! 

Click here to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or a Letter to the Editor