We now know what Donald Trump's legacy will be. Glen Pearson writes:
Only a week ago, commentators were saying that he might be the worst president in American history. Now there is no doubt. The endless footage of riots in and around the Capitol building put a sudden end to what had become a political and democratic tragedy.
That all this was occurring while a pandemic raged through the country, receiving scant attention from the occupant of the Oval Office, is a failure of major proportions. That millions had lost their health coverage in the Trump era was of little significance to him. And his endless fascination with Wall Street over Main Street while millions of citizens were without work was a kind of political blindness that was beginning to shake the country.
Trump was never concerned about the conditions of his nation's citizens:
He enjoyed focusing on the hundreds of conservative judges he had appointed, including three to the Supreme Court. The fact that the stock market continued to surge despite COVID seemed to convince him that he was a genius in economics. But the joblessness, growing poverty, decline of cities, historic losses for small and medium-sized businesses, and the overcrowding of public health systems couldn’t hold his attention.
Trump’s four years, already highly controversial, have now ended in a fashion destined to denigrate his name and diminish any influence in the future. A legacy is defined as “something long-lasting from an event or process.” In Donald Trump’s case it was both – a process of four years of a mild kind of dystopia that was, in the end, eclipsed by one event that sealed his fate. Conservatives are neither idiots nor fools, despite the actions of some of their more extreme elements. The Trump-instigated riots of last week have proved too much for the sound conservative mind and have run counter to loyalty to the country.
He was always focused on himself -- to the detriment of everyone else. What happened last week was the inevitable result of one man's monumental ignorance and an insane need for approval.
Image: CNBC.com
10 comments:
I do fear that Trump's narcissism will have long-lasting ramifications, Owen. The forces he unleashed on Capitol Hill will not go gently into that good night.
The republic rests on a razor's edge, Lorne. Benjamin Franklin knew it could easily disappear.
Conservatives are neither idiots nor fools, despite the actions of some of their more extreme elements. Sorry, lacks supporting evidence. Only two Republican senators have said they'd vote to convict in an impeachment trial despite the already overwhelming evidence of guilt.
But impeaching Trump won't heal the GOP. The party is now fully authoritarian, anti-democratic and beyond repair. What to do with the GOP is the real problem. Even if Trump went out the way of Mussolini, how do Americans bring Congressional coup ringleaders and enablers like Cruz, Brookes, Hawley, McConnell, Jordan, Tuberville, Nunes, and others to justice? Can they put Fox and Murdoch, Sinclair, OANN, Hannity, Carlson, Limbaugh, Levin and the rest of the right-wing ranters on trial like the people behind Radio Mille Collines? Not likely, especially with over 200 Trump-appointed judges filling the courts at all levels.
Pearson gets it wrong. The evidence shows that conservatives are fools and idiots who have ruined their party and their country in order to enrich themselves and their backers in the name of entrenching white Christian rule.
Cap
.. Legacy implies Gift.. the alternative is Debris - Collatoral Damage - Victims
In other words.. 'the Legacy of Grassy Narrows'
or Poisoning of Minimata have no 'gift' to offer
Nor Boat Harbour or Kalamazoo
We're in the state sanctioned delivery of extirpating West Coast wild fisheries
just as we solemmly observed the extirpation of East Coast wild Fisheries
We seem not to have the handle.. to dangle with disaster & 'tipping points'
we prefer 'c'est la vie' and kumbaya.. let's be mellow eh !!
Jason Kenney proclaiming on 'people of little capital value' ie 'SENIORS' - Elders
and Doug Ford's fictional LTC Iron Ring Of Protection - 3 pronged mind you !
I think John Stuart Mill was closer to the mark, Cap. "Not all conservatives are stupid. But most stupid people are conservatives."
A good point, sal. We think that a legacy is something of value. Nihilism is of no value.
I saw a very interesting video by Michael Moore called Michael Moore: The Terrorist Attack Is NOT Over. | Rumble with Michael Moore podcast | EP. 153.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQCsVVVknzQ&t=674s
I don't know if Moore is right; I guess we will soon know. It does suggest it is a little premature to talk of legacy.
I suspect that Trump's legacy will be long lasting, ffd. It's not at all clear that the republic can recover from the damage he's done.
Two developments today. The Attorney-General of Washington D.C., announced he is opening an investigation into Trump's apparent incitement of the Capitol building attack. He added that, by the time the investigation is completed (and ready to present to a Grand Jury), Trump will have vacated the presidency and be liable to arrest.
As if there wasn't enough evidence of Trump's culpability for summoning the horde, inflaming their passions with blatant falsehoods and then exhorting them to march on the Capitol, today the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, informed several congressional Republicans that during a call earlier today, Trump said he was at least partly responsible for the insurrection.
While it's clearly hearsay, it does seem to fall within the exception for "statements against interest" and, as a confession, should be admissible into evidence. That's especially true because the admission is contemporaneous, consistent with the events both well prior to and on the day of the insurrection and, as such, serves to corroborate Trump's crime. In other words it's not untethered evidence such as a surprise deathbed confession.
The good thing is that American prison jumpsuits are orange, the same colour as Trump's hide.
Trump and those who stormed the capital are remarkably alike, Mound. The evidence of their crimes is in plain sight.
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