“Well, it finally
isn’t funny anymore – the grandiosity, the ignorance, the cruelty, the
bullying, the racism, the petty insults and incessant stupidity. But especially
the non-stop lying. The greatest asset that a president can bring to a crisis
is credibility.
“On Day One of his
presidency, Donald Trump chose to pick a fight with the media about the size of
his inaugural crowd. On the morning of January 21, 2017, after fewer than 24
hours in office, Trump sent out Sean Spicer to tell the press corps a laughable
and easily disprovable lie – that Trump’s crowd was the largest in history ever
to attend a presidential inaugural. The very next day, Kellyanne Conway let
Americans know of the existence of something called ‘alternative facts.’ Oh.
So, that’s how it’s going to be, huh?
“Since then, the lies
have come so fast and furious that keeping track has been impossible. How do
you remember the last one when three or four equally ridiculous lies are almost
certain to follow that day? ‘Don’t take him literally,’ his supporters
insisted. ‘Take him seriously.’ Really? Well, no. What they really were saying
was how happy they were that he would be appointing pro-life, pro-corporate
Federalist Society judges, cutting taxes to benefit the wealthy, undoing
regulations to help corporations exploit their employees and destroy our
environment, and pulling us out of the Paris Agreement and the Iran Nuclear
Deal.
“That the President
of the United States is a malignant narcissist who could allow no fact to stand
that contradicted his insatiable need for self-aggrandizement has been of
little concern to establishment Republicans. The stock market was climbing.
They were getting richer. And they had cover from the right-wing media to fool
enough of his base into believing his limitless dishonesty.
“At this year’s State
of the Union, the First Lady bestowed upon Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal
of Freedom, an honor he now shares with Mother Teresa, Cesar Chavez, and the
crew of Apollo 13. In 1995, I wrote a book entitled Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat
Idiot and Other Observations for a reason – the same reason that I wrote Lies
and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right a few
years later. Without Rush, without O’Reilly, without Hannity, without Newsmax, Breitbart,
and InfoWars there would be no Trump.
“Until this crisis,
Trump has paid no real price for his constant, pathological mendacity. Before
politics, the man had spent his entire career in a business where, evidently,
there was no accountability for inveterate lying. But for this crisis there is
accountability. And instead of leading, Donald Trump’s focus has been where it
always has been – on Donald Trump. ‘I give myself a ten out of ten.’ ‘We are
very close to a vaccine.’ ‘I don’t take responsibility at all.’ ‘Anybody who
needs a test can get a test. And the tests are perfect. Like the letter was
perfect. The transcript was perfect.’
“Of course, no leader
could have prevented the devastation that this virus has and will continue to
exact. But because Trump’s focus has been on himself, his reelection, and his
fragile self-image, our federal government squandered our most valuable
commodity. And the amount of suffering which that lost time will cost our
nation is as tragic as it is unknowable.
“Trump
will not step away. He will continue to take the stage and our focus – but he
will not be able to claim the credibility he never earned. We are left to
proceed despite our president and find the leadership we need elsewhere. From
governors and mayors and other civil servants. From health care professionals
and scientists and economists. From community leaders and each other. It is
time for each of us to step up and fill the vacuum at the top – first by
staying home. And for those fortunate enough to weather this storm financially
– to help those who cannot.
“Lest we forget Trump’s Houdini-like ability to escape the traps he’s set for
himself, it is also time for us to commit to his defeat in November. For now,
find a way to do that from home. But when it’s time to come out into the light,
it must be our collective mission to make this godawful human being pay the
price for every lie he has ever uttered.”
-Al
Franken
Global Cases: 1,529,961
ReplyDeleteDeaths: 89,418
USA Cases: 435,160 (Highest in World)
Deaths: 14,802 (3rd Highest in World)
Amen.
ReplyDeleteWell-said, Al Franken.*
ReplyDeleteExcept..."he" is **not** a human being.
&--if this is "a war," then it is a war criminal, & should be tried for war crimes.
USA Cases: 478,366 (Highest in World)
ReplyDeleteDeaths: 17,927 (2nd Highest in World by less than 100)
Global Cases: 1,652,655
Deaths: 100,371