The American people are suffering at the hands of Donald Trump, who claims to be President of the United States. He consistently lies to them and distorts the truth. It’s time for the American people to take action, and I suggest they use the hashtag:
#TrumpNotPresident
every time they refer to him.
Obviously, Trump is legally President, so #TrumpNotPresident is an example of the big lie. This is an expression coined by Adolf Hitler for a lie so “colossal” no one would believe someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” For example, Donald Trump recently said:
“I hate the children being taken away, the Democrats have to change their law…”
Lie. There is no such thing as Democratic law or a Republican law. To be a law, it has to be passed by Congress and signed by the President.
Lie. You don’t hate children being taken away from their parents. You hate how it makes you look, and you should hate that it detracts from the legitimacy of the U.S. government.
Lie. There’s no law demanding people who come here seeking asylum have to be treated like criminals. The process of taking children away from their parents is just how the executive branch has decided to handle these people.
This is just one example of Trump telling us a Big Lie. I’m sure you have your own favorites.
Like all great lies, #TrumpNotPresident contains a large grain of truth: he isn’t a legitimate president. As the United States Declaration of Independence notes:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
That’s correct. Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. At no time have the people of the United States consented to the rule of Minority President Donald Trump. He was elected with a minority of the popular vote. He was not elected by a majority of American voters and he has never attained an approval rating over 50%. He literally does not have the consent of the governed.
He got a majority of the Electoral College, making him the legal president. But he’s never been a legitimate one.
So, it is entirely fair to use #TrumpNotPresident in any message referring to him.
And, he hasn’t lived up to the job. In any large, modern corporation an employee with Trump’s record would be put on a performance plan, preparatory to firing that employee. So, I’m circulating his performance plan here. He needs to take it seriously, because if he doesn’t start doing the job that alone is grounds for the American people to demand his removal from office. The ice is thin, here, Donald. Pay attention.
- The President will show up on all regular workdays at his office at the start of the work day and diligently perform his work until the end of the work day. For the purposes of POTUS, this means being in the Oval Office by 9:00 AM Eastern Time and conducting work until 5:00 PM, with the exception of a one-hour lunch break and two 15-minute breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
- As a salaried employee of the people of the United States, the President is expected to handle all events inside the scope of work within the shortest viable time, regardless of when those events occur, even during evenings, nights, and weekends. The scope of work is to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and to the best of the President’s ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
- The President will read and understand the Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) and be able to provide meaningful answers to questions about it when posed by the media or members of Congress.
- The President will not use the terms or phrases “clean up the swamp”, “drain the swamp”, “a clean slate”, and “an empty slate”. The President is allowed to say, “clean up corruption” or “serve the American people”, if the President does so truthfully.
- The President will be straight with the American people, and will not knowingly tell them a falsehood of any kind for political gain nor knowingly distort the truth when speaking to the American people. The media are the representatives of the American people for the purposes of the President communicating with them, so lying to the media is lying to the American people and distorting the facts to the media is lying to the American people.
- The President is emoled enough by being granted the power of the presidency. Any other emolument acquired by the President while in office in addition to the salary and payment of expenses as established by law belongs to the American people, not the individual holding the office. All such gains must be declared and transferred to the Treasury.
- The goals of the American people are to promote democracy and human rights. The President will use the power delegated by the people of the United States for the purposes of promoting those goals domestically and abroad.
Donald, you haven’t been living up to the job. Until you start, the American people are free to use #TrumpNotPresident to shame you. If you start living up to the job and get your approval ratings up over 50% for a significant period then you will become a legitimate President of the United States. Until then, you are nothing but the legal President.
Notes:
Obviously, if the President is traveling on business, he doesn’t have to be in the Oval Office. But if he’s not actually out there working for the American people, then he should be at his desk for the regular work day. Furthermore, golf doesn’t count as work, even if you drag the leader of another country along with you. Even Angela Merkel. And, I realize Winston Churchill lolled in bed until mid-afternoon while leading Britain through WWII, but Trump isn’t holed up in a bunker. (Or is he?) Showing up in the office and conducting the business of the presidency would show the American people his intention to work for them.
On the question of whether he’s actually serious about being President, it’s time he did the most important parts of the job. Reading the PDB is just the minimum for staying in office. Beyond that, he needs to learn what the American people need and want, and do everything within the power of the President to get that for them.
For example, the American people are clear that they need and want a single-payer healthcare system. This is the majority opinion. If he wants to stay in office, Trump needs to make that a policy priority, devise suitable legislation, present it to Congress, and shepherd it through both chambers. That would be an example of him being a legitimate President.
As for “clean up the swamp”, we all should understand what Republicans mean by “swamp”. They are not talking about cleaning up political corruption. That’s why you don’t see Trump scurrying around firing people. The swamp, in Republican-speak, means the people.
From their point of view, the people are an impediment. When titans of industry are striding through the swamp they are stepping on people’s heads. What they mean by “cleaning up the swamp” is to prevent people from having a say in things.
From their point of view, the EPA is swamp. “Cleaning up the swamp” to Republicans means shutting down the EPA, because the EPA represents and protects the American people. It’s an impediment to business leaders. ACORN was swamp, in their terms, and getting rid of it an example of “cleaning up the swamp”.
You, people, are the swamp, per Republicans.
A legitimate President would clean up political corruption. The President would be legitimate if he were to clean up corruption by, for example, firing Scott Pruitt and appointing to the EPA someone who honestly wants to protect the American people.
See? I wanted to give you a measure of how far away Trump is from being a legitimate President.
All Presidents should also be prohibited from using the phrase “a clean slate”. This is used when a disaster causes loss of property and life, and it means that they want to exploit that disaster to make the rich richer. If there’s a disaster, natural or man-made, it is the duty of the President to serve the American people. That means helping those affected where they can’t help themselves. More at Naomi Klein.
It’s also come to my attention that Donald Trump and certain members of his family are gaining wealth from his tenure in office. That’s not presidential. The POTUS is rewarded in a way that can never be equaled with mere monetary gains by being granted the power of the presidency. Trump is being “emoled” every day with the privilege of the office. He and his family need to turn over any monetary gains to the U.S. Treasury. We could use those extra billions to pay down the debt.
Additionally, the entire purpose of the United States as a nation is to promote democracy and human rights. This is what it means to establish justice and to secure the blessings of liberty. The President’s job in foreign policy is to find those nations and governments that also want to promote democracy and human rights, and then work with them to achieve those common goals. Not only does that help our nation fulfill its purpose, it helps to protect us by forming strong bonds with good people where we are all working together on the same side. Making common purpose with them makes us stronger.
And finally, not to put too fine a point on it, but as the President’s oath of office makes clear, the most important duty is to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” That Constitution specifically spells out protecting people (even people actually convicted of a crime) from cruel and unusual punishments. Let me spell that out, in case it would not be obvious to Mr. Trump and his administration. It would be cruel and unusual to take children away from parents seeking asylum.
Until Donald Trump steps up to being a legitimate President, as far as I’m concerned, #TrumpNotPresident.