Trump: What Happened Here?
When Trump first became a thing in 2015, I remember speaking with my mother (who was here when Calvin Coolidge was president) and asking, “Didn’t there used to be an unwritten rule that a candidate for president of the United States had to be at least perceived to be a good person?” I felt like I had come out of a coma, only to learn the world is now a fundamentally different place.
When you try to take the long view of the so-called “Trump phenomenon,” this is one of the tragedies you see that can never be erased: character no longer counts.
Another is the permanent damage done to our system of government, which depends, as do all democracies, on the principle that no one is above the law. Once we have an instance of a president capable of surrounding himself with spineless lackeys who refuse to hold him accountable for what could easily be a broad array of crimes (based on the status of the 16 different criminal investigations into Trump and his organizations), we have lost any claim to a republic.
Of course, it’s possible that complete investigations into the 2016 Russian election attack, the Trump Tower Moscow project, Russia-Trump Campaign contacts, obstruction of justice, campaign finance violations, Trump Organization finances, inauguration funding, SuperPAC funding, foreign lobbying violations, Turkish influence, Trump Organization tax fraud, Trump Foundation fraud, violations of the emoluments clause, and all the rest…..will all reach their respective conclusions, completely unimpeded, and will complete exonerate Trump. To say that this is impossible is incorrect, but to say that it’s all likely is totally asinine.
Craig,
No, your comments are asinine! not only asinine, but dishonestly hypocritical.
While it’s true that all citizens are not above the law, the law recognizes differences in the way the law applies to certain office holders.
Just as Members of Congress can’t be sued for libel for speeches given on the house floor, or other officials are provided with degrees of immunity (such as police cars are allowed to break speed laws) etc.
Nor is the US President running for sainthood !
But there are far more important, and far more fundamental principles of law being trashed by “Never Trumpers”. Two of these principles are fundamental to the US Constitution.
Both of these principles you seem to have forgotten, or eager to discard in your determination to bring down the President!
The first principle is “Due Process”, that refers to the fair, equal and unbiased application of prosecution.
The process used against the President has been totally tainted by politically motivated officials and government agents who have waged a corrupt campaign to remove or embarrass a candidate they didn’t like and later a siting President.
The next principle is the ” Presumption of Innocence” , It’s this fundamental principle that separates the English speaking legal system from all others.
The President has been denied the benefit of either of these principles. In an absolutely bizarre, improper and unnecessary speech, Robert Mueller acknowledged these principles and stated quite clearly it would be improper to disregard these principles.
Astonishingly, he then continued reading from his prepared speech, Mueller then deliberately broke both principles. Clearly he felt justified in doing so as he felt such animosity toward the President personally, and the need to defend his former colleague James Comey, himself the target of a number of serious Investigations for corruption and wrongdoing in office!
Even your pathetic little rant accusing the President of not even owning a dog, is a sad refection on your lack of truthfulness.
When asked why he didn’t own a dog, The President explained,
“I wouldn’t mind having one, honestly, but I don’t have any time to look after a dog” he continued ” In New York,we live in an apartment, it’s a large apartment, but I don’t think having no backyard is much fun for a dog”
In addition he stated his advisors had asked him to copy president Obama and adopt a dog because it would be good for his image, he replied:
“that’s not the relationship I have with my people.I don’t know, I don’t feel good about that sort of thing, it feels a little phony to me.”
A very honest and candid explanation, typical of the President.
The next day, CNN and the NYT reported “Donald Trump confessed he hates dogs and thought only ‘low-class’ people owned pets”. !
Obviously, the NYT reporter is a person after your own heart !
“Cometh the hour, cometh the man”. It’s difficult to understand your logic.
You complain, “Didn’t there used to be an unwritten rule that a candidate for president of the United States had to be at least perceived to be a good person?”
Since all President’s have been a mixture of hidden flaws and elements of greatness, are you really saying your measure of a President is how successful a hypocrite he can be, while candidly open Presidents, like Trump, should be abhorred ?