It’s evident to me that a lot of Americans aren’t paying much attention to what is happening with our government. I can’t say that I blame anyone for this inattention because we are all busy just trying to live our lives. We work, we sleep, we groom, we pay bills, we take care of family, we clean and maintain our homes, we eat, we worship, and we play a bit. There is very little time left for paying close attention to politics. And yet, our lives and the lives of our children might be fundamentally changed if we don’t.
For too many Americans, their notion of the current turmoil comes from a few sound bites here and there. And Donald Trump has mastered the art of delivering sound bites that are riddled with lies and distractions. Unfortunately, he has a news channel and radio pundits who are happy to accommodate him. And sometimes they even feed him the next set of talking points to obscure our understanding. Trump has been able to convince a number of people that he is looking out for their best interest when in fact he is destroying and undermining their health, livelihood, and futures. It’s mind-blowing to think about how many times in a day this man lies to the American public. The lies themselves make him dangerous to public health, national security, safety, and our economy. His administration is actively dismantling the protections provided in Obamacare while he says he will protect pre-existing conditions. The truth is the exact opposite. He lies about climate change, covers up the science and then promotes deregulation that will further pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink while speeding up climate change itself. All the while he calls climate change a “Chinese hoax”. He breaks the law in plain sights and brags about it as if the law itself is actually wrong and not him.
Americans who voted for Trump knew that he sexually assaulted women, cheated on his three wives, filed bankruptcy six times, defrauded consumers, didn’t pay contractors for their work, hired undocumented workers, discriminated against blacks, falsely accused people, called his opponents names, and lied excessively about just about everything. His moral bankruptcy and corrupt tendencies were, and continue to be in plain view, and yet they supported him and 80% of Republicans continue to support him, even in the face of his obvious obstruction of justice and now his abuse of power with Ukraine.
The question is who are we as a nation and is our Constitution, the rule of law, and common decency worth preserving? Donald Trump deserved to be impeached long ago but he has been protected by lawmakers who are afraid of his cult-like base that revels in his unorthodox, break-all-the-rules, brash and unhinged behavior. They are entertained by his clearly ignorant proclamations and blatant lies about facts. They are amused when he openly bullies other politicians and nations who are considered our allies and friends. They give a nod to his relationships with despots like Putin. And they blindly cheer his not-so-simple trade war with China that negatively impacts them. They think he is strong when in reality he is the weakest and most dangerous kind of leader. He is the boastful emperor who has no clothes. He has surrounded himself with “yes” people who are afraid to tell him the truth. These foolish Americans enable and empower a fool and are unwitting participants in his folly. It is all the more imperative that the rest of us wake up and start paying closer attention.
In the coming weeks, we must find the time to get beyond the sound bites and watch the public impeachment inquiry hearings in the House. We must watch and encourage our friends and family members to watch. We must share what we see with those who are still too busy living life to watch for themselves. And whenever possible, we have to provide an alternative narrative to people living inside the Fox News bubble. It is only when public opinion about the reality of this president’s misdeeds are more widely rejected that those Republicans in the Senate will find the courage to do what their oath to the Constitution and their duty to Americans requires of them: remove Trump from office.