To see what Trump didn’t do, see the last paragraph of this article.
Dateline: Athens, Ga, April 22, 2022, 4:30 PM
The MSNBC news show Dateline White House, like many other media outlets today, featured discussions about the revelation that at some point Kevin McCarthy, Speaker Elect of the Fantasy House of His Remagination, told fellow Republicans that “Trump told him he bears ”some responsibility“ for January 6.”
First, it’s always a mistake to assume that anything that Trump or Kevin McCarthy say in public or private is true.
For Republicans, the scandal here is not that Trump staged a deadly insurrection to retain power illegally and has lied about practically everything since, but that McCarthy told the truth about Trump’s treasonous behavior even in a private and confidential conversation, and that McCarthy briefly wanted to hold Trump accountable, at least to some extent. Maybe.
Typically, Rep. “Wannabe” McCarthy and the various hosts and guests on the TV machine have completely misunderstood Trump’s state of mind concerning the Capital riot of Jan. 6.
My Webster’s Dictionary defines “responsibility” as “the quality or state of being responsible: as moral, legal, or mental accountability. Something for which one is responsible.”
The word “responsible” is defined as “liable to be called upon to answer as the primary cause, motive or agent. Liable to legal review or in case of fault to penalties; politically answerable...”
The dictionary lists some related synonyms such as:
Answerable; which “suggests a relation between one having a moral or legal obligation and a court or other authority charged with oversight of its observance.”
Accountable; “suggests imminence of retribution for unfulfilled trust or violated obligation, and...”
Amendable and Liable; “stress the fact of subjection to review, censure, or control by a designated authority under certain circumstances”.
Again, McCarthy is quoted as saying that “Trump told him he bears ”some responsibility“ for January 6.”
Based on the above definitions and the evidence of Trump’s behavior before, throughout and after his presidency, the idea that Trump would ever take “responsibility” for his actions is laughable. And sad.
What is evident from everything that Trump has done and said since January 6 is that Trump is “proud” of all of his actions in the months leading up to that fateful day.
Trump’s only regret is that his attempt to stage the first ever successful coup in the United States failed.
We should not forget that Jan. 6 was not a last minute, spur of the moment, oops, what was I thinking lapse in judgment, but a willful, reckless, irresponsible, otherwise unimaginable, insane, and desperate attempt to seize power using violent means no matter what the costs.
We know that Trump willfully and gleefully embraced the path of violence, rage and brutality as the final solution to his mad conspiracy to overthrow the legitimate election. After Trump and his delusional and unpatriotic co-conspirators had failed with their numerous and various plots, spurious legal claims, hair brained schemes and absurd conspiracies, the violence of January 6 was inevitable and predictable.
Trump’s mad obsession with preserving his power as President no matter the cost to humanity writ large and the Constitution can not be diminished or denied, and should not go unpunished.
Some TV hand wringers suggest that prosecuting Trump for his crimes could create an unseemly precedent whereby newly elected future presidents might conspire to prosecute their predecessors, rivals and political enemies, as happens frequently in third world autocracies. But the alternative is a greater danger.
President Ford certainly considered that third world scenario when he pardoned Richard Nixon. Still, had Nixon not resigned, he would have been impeached and convicted by his Republican peers as well as the Democrats all of whom put the interests of the country over their party. Since Nixon’s political career was permanently done, indictment was considered unnecessary.
Today, that Republican party is extinct.
Still, European nations have routinely prosecuted leaders, including presidents and prime ministers, and upon conviction at public trial, sent them to prison.
The United States can safely do the same.
While prosecuting a former president might create a problematic historical precedent, not prosecuting a lawless and criminal president like Donald Trump surely creates a more dangerous and terrible precedent. Future criminal or mentally ill leaders would be emboldened to indulge in criminal and unconstitutional behavior without fear of accountability.
The Justice Department should not and must not shrink from their duty and obligation. Will bad things happen going forward if Trump is prosecuted? Almost certainly.
Trump has threatened that the largest protest demonstrations in American history will happen in New York and Atlanta if any of the investigations into his criminal activity indict him.
(Translation: demonstrations = January 6 type riots, supersized.)
We need to believe him and take appropriate precautions.
Only bad things were going to result when Trump was nominated to be the Republican candidate for President. Whether he won or lost, the fabric of America’s democracy was going to be tested in a way never before imagined.
And it’s not over.
Does Trump really “take responsibility” for January 6.
No.
Trump won’t take and will never take “responsibility” for January 6. That notion implies accepting moral, legal or mental accountability. Trump will never take responsibility for any of his actions or words, much less January 6.
In Trump’s twisted mind, he deserves the “credit ” for inspiring January 6. Not the “responsibility.”
As long as Trump plots and conspires to seize power, the American dream is under threat. Until he is held accountable for his high crimes and misdemeanors, his treasonous conspiracies and his sociopathic behavior, American democracy will be under attack.
News Break: Athens, Ga, April 22, 2022. 8:40 pm.
After an interview today, Trump released the following statement concerning the McCarthy quote.
Trump: “No, that’s false. I never claimed responsibility.”