There’s an old joke about a man who every day buys a newspaper, reads the front page, then throws the newspaper in the trash. One day, the store owner asks the man what he’s looking for. “An obituary”, replies the man. “But obituaries aren’t on the front page”, says the store owner. “The one I’m looking for will be,” replies the man.
I just read an article [1] that describes Trump and his top allies’ actions as a multi-pronged, extended, pre-plotted campaign to overthrow the U.S. presidency. The article mentions these six points:
- Pressured DOJ to issue statements casting doubt on the election’s integrity
- Asked key election officials to change vote totals on Trump’s behalf
- Falsely claimed the election was invalid, i.e., stolen
- Used conspiratorial claims to gather a mob of enraged would-be “patriots” who were convinced that direct action was needed to “stop the steal”
- Directed the crowd to march to the Capitol
- Rebuffed efforts during the attack to call off the violent mob
Sedition plain and simple.
The article got me thinking.
Donald Trump is now 75 years old. He isn’t going to live forever—although it may seem forever. But one day, he’ll “shuffle off his mortal coil” and take his old job back as Satan’s second in command.
Will anyone sincerely mourn or miss him? I expect some of his “marks” will. That is, I expect some of the people he’s lied and cheated for so many years will miss him. (Why? Who knows? What lies beneath the red MAGA hat is a mystery deeper than what lies beneath the moons of Jupiter.)
Will any Republican politician miss him? Will the politician miss him who’s lived in mortal fear of a hostile Trump tweet? Will the man or woman miss him who years ago firmly planted their lips on the Royal Depends-Clad Behind? They may be glad to be finally rid of him.
In fact, some of them may eventually wish his final breath was “in the mail”. And that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy would make the post office efficient again.
The calculation a simple one. In the asset column there’s Trump’s fundraising and get-out-the-vote ability; in the other column, there’s the little matter of trying to destroy the duly-elected government of the United States, i.e., an attempted coup.
Trump’s lies about a stolen election still bring in money from his long-time rubes. But the six points the article mentions must surely alarm and offend Americans with functioning brain cells. In time, the money may ebb. Then, Trump may become a liability to the Republican Party. And if Trump did “shed the mortal frame”, his co-conspirators in court could place the blame on him—while still praising him in public, of course.
And Republicans would express horror—horror, I tell you; visceral disgust; righteous indignation; ubiquitous umbrage; anger; distress; hurt; pain—if anyone (we’re looking at you, Democrats) maliciously maligns the deceased Cheeto. (What, you say? Trump cruelly smeared John McCain in life and death? How dare you slander our dear, dear deceased leader! And who is this John McCain you speak of?)
Sadly, Trump’s minions will still infect the U.S. body politic, resisting efforts to provide everyone with a living wage and adequate health care like they resist the COVID vaccine.
Yet one good thing can be said of Donald Trump: he showed us there’s more work to be done before the U.S. ideal of “liberty and justice for ALL” becomes a reality.
[1] https://crooksandliars.com/2021/08/trump-violent-overthrow-government (“published with permission from Daily KOS” says a note on the page)