Near the end of New York Times piece by Katie Glueck, Annie Karni and Alexander Burns on the state of the presidential race, we learn that President Trump got a real kick out of violating ethics laws during the Republican National Convention.
Mr. Trump’s aides said he enjoyed the frustration and anger he caused by holding a political event on the South Lawn of the White House, shattering conventional norms and raising questions about ethics law violations. He relished the fact that no one could do anything to stop him, said the aides, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal conversations.
What’s odd about this is that the election is almost upon us, and that’s when someone can actually do something to stop him. In fact, since the Department of Justice clearly won’t do anything and the Senate Republicans inexplicably acquitted him at his impeachment trial, the people are the entity that can hold him to account.
Some people may have seen Trump’s decision to use federal property and federal employees for political reasons as an appealing show of strength, and most people will make their decision based on other grounds. But there actually are some conservative-minded people who don’t think it’s okay for a president to put himself above the law.
More important that his behavior at his convention is his motive. He broke the law in order to feel his own power. That’s an important part of his character, and if you think he’s bordering on megalomania now, imagine what a second term would look like.
And imagine how hard he’ll fight to remain in power. I’d feel a bit better about the election if I knew that leaders of the (small and large ‘d’) democratic opposition (e.g., the Democratic party leadership, the AFL-CIO, the major environmental, civil rights, women’s, LGBTQ organizations, religious leaders, etc.) had read and discussed Gene Sharp’s “From Dictatorship to Democracy”, and especially the brief section on “Blocking Coups” (p. 74). https://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf
I’d feel even better if they had an agreed strategy for how to respond after Nov. 3 should Trump and his allies attempt to steal the election/seize power.
That is why I hope Biden administration will prosecute all these criminals to the bitter end, and the courts will impose exemplary punishment. No mercy for old age, position, or health!
This is Joe Biden we’re talking about. Not Warren or Sanders. Not gonna happen.
My concern is that many (most?) professed ‘conservatives’ care not a whit about the ‘law’ part of law and order. They like the ‘order’ part, not so much the ‘law’ part. How many Trump supporters secretly LIKE the fact that he flouts law and convention with impunity? How many just wish that they could get away with cheating on their taxes, beat a traffic ticket because of their position, underpay a contractor with a ‘so sue me’ sneer? Are enough swing voters truly ‘good people’ and ‘responsible adults’? Or are more of them entertained by the con and secretly admire the criminal in the White House? The election will tell…
Check out the latest PBS Firing Line interview of the editor of National Review Magazine. He flat out plans to vote for Trump, period, despite other caveats he mentions.Sorry i can’t remember the name of the host doing the interview.
We’ve seen this, though this time not as comedy but horror.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukr3Y3unFhg
Trump has been committing crimes his whole life. He was a criminal in high school for chrissake. He got into college by committing a crime and got out of the draft by committing a crime. He likes it! It works for him! He’s not newly “power mad’ – he’s just doing what he’s always done. The idea that a man who became president by committing crimes would stop committing crimes after he won the presidency by committing crimes – I don’t know, maybe it’s a new definition of insanity.
Can’t imagine such lawbreaking plays well in suburbia. His encouragement of white nationalist militias who are now lining up to wreak havoc and kill BLM protestors might play well to his base, but he’ll lose support big time if the Dems get the messaging right, i.e. Trump doesn’t care about law or order, only Trump, and he’d gladly instigate more deaths in service of his megalomania.