"Since his first months in the White House, Trump has been the
most impeachable, most lawless, most self-enriching, most bungling President in
U.S. history. He relies entirely on lying and scapegoating to avoid taking
responsibility for his failures. Trump didn’t even win the popular vote – the
Electoral College selected him. President Trump has fomented chaos and
corruption in his administration without encountering insistent demands for his
resignation.
"The supine Republican Senate shields Trump from any political
accountability. Dominated by the evil 'Moscow Mitch' McConnell, the Senate
prevented Trump from being convicted under the impeachment clause of the
Constitution. But Trump makes the case against himself – 'I have an Article II,
where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.'
"Trump makes good on that statement every day, making decisions
with reckless abandon and doubling down, falsely accusing people of crimes,
turning our government over to big businesses, and firing inspectors general
investigating crime and corruption in Trump’s regime of corporatism,
favoritism, and nepotism.
"Trump exercises his pouting, unstable ego as the determinant of
misgoverning on a deadly scale, as with his delaying, downplaying, over-riding
science, and providing lethal advice regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. For which
he boastfully gives himself a perfect ten.
"Trump keeps flailing, failing, and using foul-mouthed rhetoric
because about 43 percent of voters stick with him, no matter what. Well – the
parents of many Trump supporters did not stay with Richard Nixon in
1974. Public demands for 'Tricky Dick' to leave office ultimately included much
of his 'base' including scores of Republicans in Congress, led by Mr. Conservative
Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ).
"Why? Nixon had defied a Congressional subpoena and committed an
obstruction of justice. Trump, on the other hand, has defied many Congressional
subpoenas and engaged in over a dozen obstructions of justice, many of which
are ongoing.
"Why no demands for resignation? Have too many Americans lost
their proper sense of honest public service and accountability?
"From 1974 to now, the American Bar Association (ABA) –
supposedly a first responder against the destruction of rule of law and
constitutional observance – has done nothing to challenge above-the-law
presidential abuses. (In
2005-2006 the ABA displayed some courage and charged the Bush/Cheney administration
with three sets of unconstitutional behavior.)
"Many Trump voters seem to expect more of virtually every public
figure who isn’t Trump! Ask Trump voters if they would support their local fire
chief if he or she lied daily about the fire department’s readiness to fight
fires? Would they support a fire chief who appoints firefighters with no
experience? Would they support a police chief who accepts no responsibility for
a street crime wave while disabling the force?
"Would they support a CEO of a major hospital who promotes,
against the advice of his/her medical scientists, chemicals and drugs that can
take the lives of patients? Would they support a super predator bank CEO who
gives sweet-heart deals to the rich at the direct expense of customers of modest
means? Would they support a CEO of a big construction company, spouting
anti-immigrant hate, while hiring hundreds of poorly paid undocumented foreign
laborers taking jobs away from American workers? The answer is pretty clear.
"These people in positions of power would have lost their jobs if
they engaged in such reckless and unjust behavior. Corrupt Donald, on the other
hand, has done all of these continually and remains an escapee from justice. In
addition to these previously acknowledged failings, Trump has wrecked the
federal health, safety, and economic protections including many life-saving
controls on deadly pollution, dangerous business practices, and business theft
of your earnings as consumers, workers, and savers.
"In addition, here is a top betrayal: Trump promised his voters a
big infrastructure repair and upgrade program in all communities – with
good-paying jobs. He betrayed them, giving instead about 2 trillion dollars in
tax cuts to the rich and big corporations, like the drug and banking industries
and even his own family!
"Trump voters need to ask themselves – what else does Trump have
to do to our livelihood, health, safety, and dignity before you say – “no
more!” If you want more details about Mr. Trump’s lying betrayals, read Fake
President by Mark Green and me and judge Trump by his
own contemptuous words and misdeeds.
"Most puzzling are the many columnists – both Democratic and
Republican – who week after week show how disastrously unworthy and unfit Trump
is, yet never conclude with a demand for his resignation or further
impeachment. Many in the opinion class may believe it would never happen.
My response is that judging the odds is not the primary responsibility of a
columnist. Making the demand is telling readers that your critique is serious
enough to warrant a necessary remedy.
"Devastating critics like Dana Milbank, Republican Michael
Gerson, Eugene Robinson, Margaret Sullivan, and conservative Max Boot of
the Washington Post, or Charles Blow, Paul Krugman, David Brooks, Maureen
Dowd and Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times have cogently taken
Trump apart on very serious matters since 2017, yet they leave their readers
without the obvious conclusion -Trump has to go. A clear daily peril to
innocent Americans 'I’m in total control,' why not try bleach, etc.
"The country cannot wait until January 2021 – assuming
dictatorial Donald and his determined GOP don’t criminally suppress enough
votes to postpone Trump’s departure until January 2025" (Common Dreams).
Ralph Nader is
a consumer advocate, lawyer, and author. His latest books include: To
the Ramparts: How Bush and Obama Paved the Way for the Trump Presidency, and
Why It Isn’t Too Late to Reverse Course, How the Rats
Re-Formed the Congress, Breaking Through Power: It's easier than we think,
and Animal Envy: A Fable
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