Like most Americans, I’m past being shocked by the unhinged rhetoric coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth. He lies, he fabricates, he bullies, he blames Biden, he brags, he hurls insults, he extorts, and he encourages violence. There was never a more despicable American president in our history. The sad part is that there are enough mentally deranged hateful and insecure folks with guns who are willing to follow through on his veiled calls for violence against his political enemies.
Recently, Trump began calling Marjorie Taylor Greene a “traitor” and suddenly she became a target for elimination by his most rabid followers. This past Friday, she resigned her position in Congress under the weight of these death threats. What’s even worse is that he called for the actual death of six sitting lawmakers who are military and intelligence veterans because they made a video reminding servicemembers that they don’t have to follow “illegal” orders and that their oath is to the Constitution. He labeled their video “seditious behavior, punishable by death”. And even worse, Speaker Mike Johnson defended him, conveniently leaving off the “illegal” order part when talking to the press. His press secretary said any order by the president isn’t unlawful. But we know that isn’t true as he continues to bomb fishing boats in international waters assuming drug smuggling intentions (a criminal offense at best and without due process) and he lacks authorization for military action from Congress. These six democrat leaders were right to speak up to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. And sadly, I’m not surprised by the swiftness of the death threats against them coming from this president. He needs a compliant military to do his bidding.
Like many, I watch in dismay as Speaker Mike Johnson and national leaders in every sector of society buckle under the enormous pressure to either support the president’s fascist agenda or remain silent. Speaking up puts a target on their back personally or on the back of the University, law firm, agency, company or corporation they run. This president has sieged control through intimidation and so long as these leaders continue to yield to his demands or remain silent, our country will fall farther and farther into economic, educational, and moral decline. Our international reputation has been severely tarnished and the environmental and social safety nets we rely on are in danger of being eliminated.
We know and most leaders know that the Trump Administration is not only corrupt, but incompetent. They are making decisions every day that defy the Constitution, break laws, destroys education, lines their own pockets, hinders economic progress, feeds Trump’s ego, perpetuates violence, and disseminates misinformation. Trump isn’t solving problems; he is making existing problems worse while also creating new ones. Everyone with a brain sees and knows our national decline is happening in real time. Polls show that his support is under water on every issue from the economy to immigration.
But he doesn’t care. Trump has surrounded himself with men and women too immoral or too frightened of him to do what is right. It’s clear that he is the emperor who has no clothes. The people around him are too afraid to speak truth to power. Or worse, they don’t have the truth to tell because they are inexperienced, uneducated, or incompetent. Trump probably doesn’t know the bad news because he shoots the messengers with expert knowledge. Remember how he fired the person in charge of labor statistics because he didn’t like the numbers? There is a long list of competent people whom he fired for doing their jobs with integrity. So, those few who remain have good reason to be afraid and to only tell him what he wants to hear.
With the lack of expertise surrounding him, the bad policy decisions keep on coming. At this point, only courageous district and federal judges are standing in the gap, blocking many of his destructive decisions. However, that can’t last long. It is time that patriotic citizens step up to stop the decline and save what is left of our country. And after we do, we will need to rebuild a stronger and more resilient country to prevent a future Trump-like character from ever taking power again.
Right now, we must push political leaders and industry leaders to stand up and fight for what is good for the country. Boycotts work. Social media outrage works. Yesterday’s protest in Washington D.C., calling to impeach, convict and remove this president was another example of the kind of collective action that is needed. We have strong resistance coming from governors and a few congressional leaders from blue states or districts. But it’s clear that most leaders remain too intimidated to speak for now.
However, I predict that as Americans grow increasingly weary of the high prices, corruption, and absolute nonsense assaulting us on a daily basis, the political winds will shift, and leaders will feel more empowered to draw on the outrage, courage, and support from the people they lead. Only when we push and give them cover will our current leaders stand up to him. It’s obvious that this entire predicament has exposed the fact that we have elevated too many people to positions of power who lack good judgement, integrity, moral convictions, and the courage to do what is right. We’ll have to do better moving forward.
Ultimately, it is up to “we the people” to save our nation from the degenerate con man we elected to office under the false pretense that he can solve problems or the lingering racism and misogyny of too many Americans. Accountability can’t come soon enough and our sustained resistance on every front will make that happen.