It seems clear that the ignorance of basic math, history and economics produced by forty years of policies decimating education and decades of political discourse contaminated by unlimited corporate speech have produced a society where words are completely meaningless.
One example...
Ex-President Trump is battling a local zoning commission regarding his living arrangements at Mar-A Lago. In 1993, Trump signed an agreement that limited club member stays at the facility to no more than three weeks in a calendar year. A lawyer for Trump at the time stated at that time that Trump was a member of the club and would not try to "live" at the club.
Fast forward 28 years... Trump argues he is the OWNER of the club and an EMPLOYEE of the club and has the right to live there without restriction.
He is exactly saying he DIDN'T say what he agreed to and what his lawyer clarified at the time.
Another example...
Trump argued EVERY day after the 11/3/2020 election that his win was stolen. He filed 61 bogus procedural objections and lawsuits in jurisdictions all over the country that were laughed out of court by judges of all political stripes. He was recorded directly soliciting a Secretary of State to manufacture a change in results to deliver him a win in a single state that alone wouldn't have swung the Electoral College in his favor. Trump implemented post-election management changes in key departments to place Trump-friendly officials in charge over functions related to DOJ and DHS security positions who failed to share information about threats with local police. His post-election political fund gave money to individuals and groups who organized the protest in Washington D.C. on 1/6. Personnel from his Administration participated in meetings to plan the 1/6 protest. Trump SPOKE at the protest, despite having access to domestic intelligence that clearly stated a material portion of the participants were threatening specific members of Congress with violence. Trump HEARD the mob yelling threats to those politicians -- INCLDING HIS OWN VICE PRESIDENT -- as he spoke to the crowd. Trump even stated that they should march down to the Capital to stop the steal and that he would follow them (then didn't). Trump didn't communicate anything from the White House or social media until 4:17pm EST -- 3 hours 24 minutes after the first barricades were breached at 12:53pm EST, 2 hours 6 minutes after the first window of the Capital building was busted by the mob.
Today? February 10? Republicans are saying it isn't clear Trump meant to encourage a physical assault on the Capital. "Fight like hell" is just heated campaign rhetoric. One pundit on the PBS NewsHour stated that Trump has been using language like that in campaign rallies since 2016. No one can take that seriously.
That's what passes for logic and morality today. On one hand, if someone says something crazy one time and people object vociferously (as many did during the 2016 campaign), we're just a bunch of pansies and can't take the heat of some old fashioned bare knuckle politics. However, if we let it slide, we have consented to any future behavior in the same vein at any multiple of magnitude.
If a President incites a mob to interrupt a key public function at the heart of our constitutional democracy and the resulting mob action directly leads to multiple deaths, we first hear an argument that we don't have to worry about impeaching him with only six days in his term, there's plenty of time for that later. When the president leaves, we then hear the argument that an impeachment can only be pursued against a sitting President, thus setting a precedent that a President is virtually untouchable in some magic window at the end of a term. A precedent which ignores most interpretations of the US Constitution and precedents from State Constitutions pre-dating the current US Constitution which explicitly allow for impeaching officials after leaving office as a means to prevent them from holding future office.
And here we sit. A single article of impeachment dutifully delivered by the House of Representatives to the Senate charging a President with inciting a riot in an attempt to thwart a crucial process in the processing of the presidential election with the riot resulting in multiple deaths. And the mind blowing thing is that seventeen Republican Senators whose lives were equally threatened by Trump's actions are paralyzed. Paralyzed with fear, even when the most ethical, moral thing to do happens to also be the most obvious, easy and simple thing to do. Convict.
If convicted, Trump loses any legal "juice" to continue influencing state and national influence in the Republican Party. Trump is so crooked there is no way he will successfully operate a PAC taking in millions of dollars without getting caught siphoning off cash for illegal personal benefit, triggering another round of prosecutions over election law violations.
His most adamant followers are not an economic force that can compete with the "lone Koch" and other GOP oligarchs for campaigns. If current Republican politicians continue supporting Trump, more of the 20% of "moderate" Republicans who probably contribute 50% of the cash will leave and what will be left of the Republican Party might not fill a Chuck E Cheese.
It's an easy decision and yet seventeen Republicans can't be found who believe that words matter and that facts supersede belief. Apparently, there aren't seventeen Republicans who understand that when you can get people to believe anything, you can get them to DO anything. Unfortunately, you can't guarantee such people will always do YOUR bidding.
When words are meaningless, virtually every aspect of life will get worse. Not for everyone. Not for the one percenters who control forty percent of the wealth in the country. Just worse for the people who need words to mean something. People who need laws to be enforced. People who need contracts to be enforced. People who need to be protected from those in power who would like to abuse power with impunity.
America isn't a place. America is an idea. A more perfect union...
If words are meaningless, the idea of America is meaningless.
This vote isn't about Trump. This vote is about the next wanna-be despot. Someone out there matches that description and is watching very carefully. And learning a great deal.
WTH
