Saturday, June 30, 2018

Is Lacking A Conscience An Impeachable Offense?

It's doubtful that the framers of the Constitution would have ever imagined a President so wrapped up in his self-esteem that he could give no thought, and therefore no public voice, to the deaths of innocent citizens as a consequence of his own, personal denunciation of their activities--activities that are explicitly protected by the First Amendment.  Yet that is precisely the kind of president currently occupying the office that John Adams prayed would never be occupied by anything other than "honest and wise men."  (We'll overlook the sexism in that sentiment, and leave it up to Abigail's shade to straighten John's shade out.)

In a post last month, I suggested that Donald Trump might be on his way to becoming a dictator.  Well, dictators murder as a matter of course; you can't remain in absolute power unless you're willing to kill off those who rise in opposition to you.  For that reason, it might be said that the willingness to kill one's opponents--or let others do the killing for you--is the most essential trait an actual or would-be dictator must possess.

Well, as of this week, Donald Trump got there, so to speak.  We now have one more reason to think that he's on his way to being a dictator:  he's learned to kill.  Or, at least, if we are to deal in distinctions without differences, he's pretty chill with others doing it for him, once his rhetoric has opened the window of opportunity for them to do so.

Let me walk you through the steps:

In February of this year, Trump used his favorite medium, Twitter, to denounce American journalism as the "enemy of the people."  You can't dismiss this as an alternative fact; it's right here for all to see.  And it's not merely a not-nice thing to say about the press.  The phrase "enemy of the people" is a loaded piece of rhetoric with a long history of use in connection with those who opposed powerful interests willing to do anything--especially committing murder--to maintain there power.  Curiously, given the fact that Trump is nominally a Republican, the phrase has been historically a favorite of Communist rulers, especially those in the former Soviet Union.  Again, not an alternative fact.

And neither is the most tragic news of the past week:  the deaths of five reporters/editors at the Annapolis Capital-Gazette, here in Maryland.  The tragedy of gun violence on which so many journalists have reported finally, sadly, caught up with the journalists themselves.  With not a little help from the nation's highest elected official, whose rhetoric, whether we like it or not, shapes our reality by virtue of his position.

You don't think Trump isn't himself aware of this?  Why, apart from his boundless narcissism, would he be more addicted to Twitter than he is to time spent in the Oval Office?

And that's not the only means by which he betrays his awareness.

Trump, who never misses an opportunity to speak to the press he treats with open contempt, just couldn't find words to express anything about the slain Annapolis journalists.  Not sympathy, Not thoughts and prayers.  Not even a limp-wristed effort to shift the blame onto his political opponents.  Nothing, absolutely nothing (unless you count the meaningless waves).

Not even a master prevaricator like Trump can pretend that he doesn't give a damn about the professionals who give him the oxygen of free publicity.  Is it too much to hope that, in the wake of that monstrous display of public indifference toward human tragedy, the press finally starts acting like the Fourth Estate that they are supposed to be, and stop looking every morning for new and more exciting ways to give Trump a free pass on behavior that has, without a doubt, moved into the realm of the criminal.

Maybe lacking a soul is not a high crime or misdemeanor.  But the fruits of that poisonous tree surely must be counted as such.  This week produced five demonstrations of that truth.  How many more do we need before the press, the voters, and, ultimately, a Congress with a conscience, does the right thing by the Constitution and the people whose interests are protected by it?

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