Standards

So, our Senate republican friends have decided that, whatever it was Trump was accused of doing by those nasty Dems, it did not rise to the level of impeachment. But, on the other hand, Nancy tearing up Trump’s speech publically was definitely a crime and she might need to be jailed.  Ahhh, the standards, the standards.  Remember those good old days when standards were clear, as in “Lock her up, lock her up!”  And what was it Hillary was doing that warranted being locked up? Ummm, nothing as it turns out after an extensive investigation by republicans. But of course republicans impeached Bill Clinton, right? And that was for, umm, oh I remember, he was impeached for getting a blowjob while talking on the phone about some public policy issue. I think that’s called multitasking, right? Wouldn’t want our presidents multitasking.

So, standards are so important. We couldn’t run a safe and honest government without them.

And now I understand that Trump is planning to participate in the Trillion Tree global initiative. That’s on top of all the things he has been doing to destroy our environment, of course.  So, how can he be planning on planting a bunch of trees, while tearing up or selling all of our national Parks, or destroying Native American heritage sites to build his wall, or pulling us out of any serious global climate change initiatives? Well, I think it’s called “playing to his base”.  It’s like his plans to whack Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, to help pay for his tax cut for the wealthy, while doing something trivial on prescription drugs as a claim he is reducing the cost of drugs to the population. Again, playing to his base.

And he continues lying to us all while he is planning his re-election campaign.  And here lies my biggest worry. I worry that, now that he has been emboldened by Senate Republicans, he will do something to forestall, or delay the 2020 election. He has already muttered something of that nature, i.e., that he might want to “delay” the 2020 election to avoid the (non-existent) voter fraud.  Trump still insists he would have won the national 2016 election by a popular majority had it not been for the widespread voter fraud.  Now, all studies of this phenomenon tell us that there is no serious voter fraud in this country. But Trump insists to the contrary. 

Now Trump lies, all the time, so his word on this important issue cannot be believed. If it would benefit him, he will lie, every time. He cannot help himself. He lies, I think because he doesn’t even know he is lying. He just says whatever he thinks will sound good for him. If he can dream up some issue that will help him to win an election, or even to forestall an election, he will lie.  He has even (joked??) indicated that he might “stay on” beyond 2020. See, he doesn’t understand or believe in democracy. He simply wants what he wants, and cares not how he gets it.  I rather imagine, having been emboldened, that he really believes he could go out on Fifth Avenue, shoot someone, and simply walk away. That’s who he is.

Lately, his emboldened personality has been a revenge rampage. He has been firing good people who he thinks have wronged him, people like Lt. Colonel Vindman and his twin brother. He also ordered the firing of Gordon Sondland. Vindman and Sondland were fired because they agreed to testify against him in the hearing. Some think those firings may have broken the law, but nobody seems to care about such things, because we have seemingly thrown away all of our standards. In a recent tweet, several legal experts have used Twitter to speak out and call Trump’s firing of Vindman a violation of federal law prohibiting retaliatory acts against witnesses. University of Alabama law professor Joyce Alene tweeted, “Vindman’s brother was fired & walked out alongside him. Understand, Trump can now come for anyone who gets in his way, he can retaliate against family. The people who wouldn’t do the right thing for its own sake should know that day can come for them too.”

So, thanks to Senate Republicans, we are now in some Land of Oz, where none of our standards as a civilized society operate. We may in fact be approaching 1933 Germany, where German politicians and even ordinary citizens began looking the other way, as Hitler began distorting the German system of governance, leading to his complete takeover and the beginning of what he declared as the 1,000 year Reich. I know, it seems far fetched, and his supporters decry such comparisons. But he is already responsible for children dying at our southern border. He is threatening responsible citizens everywhere, should they have the nerve and decency to stand up to him. He is distorting and even destroying our system of Justice—see his invasion (Barring??) of the process of sentencing Roger Stone, leading to the resignations of the Justice trial attorneys. 

And Senate republicans seem fine with all that, because Senate Republicans no longer have any standards of decency, or even Justice.

That is where we now stand, as we head into our election year, a year in which Trump has been unleashed to do his damnedest to destroy everything we hold dear. Republicans, have you no shame at all?