Trump and his minions seed corruption, practice self-enrichment, and betray the American people.
“I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they’re never the ones to fight or to die”
Jackson Browne, “Lives in the Balance”
Every day, no matter how insane and upsetting the political news is, I return to two questions predicated on the idea that this malign era will end, either by Trump’s physical or mental collapse or when enough Americans demand that our political leaders change course. If I was a wagering man, I’d stack my chips on the former happening first because Trump is descending very fast. He’s battling Reality like a cornered wolverine and his myth of invincibility is showing signs of wear. But to return to my questions. Here’s the first one: Will we commit the resources, energy, and political capital to hold the Trump Regime accountable? Question two: Will we find the political will, maturity, and imagination to Trump-proof our republic?
While I don’t know the answers to these questions I do know this: once corruption becomes endemic, once pay-to-play and greasing every palm becomes standard operating procedure, it’s as difficult to eradicate as mold. At the rate Trump and his criminal misfits are going, nothing short of an ethical revolution will stand a chance of restoring what they’re destroying, day by day. From the Justice Department to the Defense Department, from the demolished East Wing of the White House to selling pardons to the highest bidder, Trump and his minions seed corruption, practice self-enrichment, and betray the American people, millions of whom have little idea of the carnage being wrought.
It took less than one year for Trump to become engulfed in scandals that make those of his first term seem inconsequential by comparison, though we shouldn’t forget that Trump was impeached twice in his first term, for extorting the government of Ukraine, and for instigating an insurrection in 2021. Both times Trump escaped conviction in the Senate. I don’t know if anyone is keeping a list of the impeachable offenses Trump has committed in his second term, but they might already number in the hundreds. Sheer volume and frequency is one reason we cannot catch our breath or focus on one crime at a time. This Regime is on a crime spree that dwarfs anything that has happened before in American history.
The White House isn’t only the center of incoherence and stupidity, it has become an ongoing crime scene.
The Epstein scandal and the murders in the Caribbean ordered by the incompetent Secretary of Defense, Pete “Whisky & Jesus” Hegseth — confirmed by cowardly Senate Republicans who now own his crimes — will not fade away. No matter how much Trump and Karoline Leavitt lie and deflect and obfuscate, these scandals will hang like water-logged sandbags around Trump’s neck, weakening him by the day, by the hour. His barely functioning reptile brain will prioritize his own survival above all else. What further disasters will befall the country is anyone’s guess.
All the more reason to begin thinking about the aftermath and the hard political work, decades-worth, that looms ahead of us. We got into this mess after 9/11, when the United States lost its collective mind and began twisting the rule of law into unrecognizable shapes abroad and at home. Abandoning all principle and adopting the methods of terrorists spread to nearly every aspect of our society. Crime problems? Militarize police departments. Income and wealth inequality? Slash taxes for the wealthy and wage war on the poor. Pesky foreign adversaries? Assassinate them with drone strikes and dismiss any innocents killed as collateral damage. Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Yemen. The Caribbean. Michael Brown. George Floyd. Tamir Rice. Use blunt force to solve every problem. Treat the entire world with imperial arrogance.
Donald Trump is but a symptom of our disease. His reign will end and we will stand in the ashes with a glorious once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform and renew and recalibrate our country. Will we seize the opportunity or allow it to pass in favor of a failed status quo? Will we be bold or timid?
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