By Edwin Cooney
More than anything else, Donald John Trump has demonstrated that he's a man steeped in turmoil. The bottom line question is how deeply has his turmoil seeped into the American body politic? How catching, how permanent, and how deadly might that turmoil ultimately be?
Shockingly but fairly elected and inaugurated back on Friday, January 20th, 2017, Mr. Trump has sought to rule rather than govern this free society.
At the close of President Trump's Inaugural, it was reported that former President George W. Bush was overheard to ask: "What kind of shit was that?”
Hence, I'm convinced that political and social turmoil was the main weapon behind his legitimate and legal authority. From the very outset of his administration, President Trump's rude and shabby treatment of staff and department heads and even foreign leaders had no equivalent in the annals of presidential history. Since 1972, residential candidates and their supporters from both parties have succeeded in confusing the legitimate distinction between the person and the office. When I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, most people would proudly assert that they voted for the man rather than the party. After all, Ike wasn't a politician, he was a beloved war hero distinctly above politicians. Jack Kennedy was a youthful candidate whose "New Frontier" concepts and idealism melded with a distinctly younger electorate than had voted for Ike just four and eight years before.
With all their distinctive differences, LBJ, Nixon and Ford were pure politicians bred if not born in the ways of Washington D.C. Ronald Reagan, although he'd been elected to a substantial political office, lacked a taint of the Beltway. As for both Carter and Clinton, Carter was judged too much of a Beltway outsider and Clinton was considered clever and even smart, but his behavior and his motives were deliberately misunderstood. Ultimately American by documentation (his birth certificate), Obama was an African-American with a background containing overtones of an Islamic heritage with which too many Americans were loathed to identify.
The question not a few Americans are beginning to ask themselves is whether any former president ought (and the key word here is ought) to go to jail if convicted of having committed a crime while holding office.
The answer is both limited and conditional. Of course, a former president should go to jail if convicted of a crime during his or her tenure of office. It is vital to keep in mind however that at present Mr. Trump hasn't been indicted for any crime. At the time of Nixon's resignation, a number of frontline politicians such as Massachusetts Senator Edward Brook admitted they'd pass a resolution against a Nixon jail term so long as the former president acknowledged having made serious misjudgments during the Watergate era.
It will be remembered that Donald Trump not only insisted but bragged that if he shot somebody in New York he could easily avoid conviction of a crime.
History clearly teaches that the individual leader rather than the nation's reputation is affected by crime. This history lesson is deepest and most dramatic in the history of England.
In 1215, King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta denying the right of kings to act as absolute sovereigns.
In 1330, Edward II was deposed and painfully murdered as the price for his arrogant sexual activities that embarrassed his queen and parliament. Then his son Edward III followed and ruled brilliantly for 46 years.
More recently, Soviet Russia, France, and especially Germany all have recovered from the foolish audacity of Stalin, Napoleon and even Adolf Hitler.
I'm convinced that while the election of certain presidents reflect the socio/political mood of America, that doesn't mean that such an election mirrors the character of this republic.
The character of 21st Century America will be reflected in how the nation responds to Donald "Turmoil" Trump's deeds. Of course, it's sad that any former president might go to jail, but "Jail to the Chief" must not be eliminated as a possibility as long as it reflects the abiding rule that no one is above the law. Eliminate that rule and the character of America would definitely be affected.
It's important to keep in mind that as of now, “DJ Turmoil” has not been convicted of anything no matter how despicable he is. I'm convinced that his sanity is questionable. I'm also worried at the willingness, especially of GOP-oriented citizens, to minimize his faults. Had Presidents Clinton or Obama defied federal law by removing classified documents from the White House, the GOP elephant trumpeting that move would have kept the whole nation awake at night for months to come!
Personally, I regard Mr. Trump as being beyond the pale when it comes to indecency. Donald Trump is for Donald Trump before and beyond anything else. Some of the "Never Trumpers" such as George Will, former President Bush and now Liz Cheney realize that Trump is no conservative. He merely uses conservatism's traditional social outrages against traditional liberalism as a shield to protect his psychic turmoil.
Admittedly, it's unlikely that Mr. Turmoil will ever see the inside of a jail cell as much and as often as he proscribed such a fate for Hillary Clinton. Jail, even if it comes down to that, is not likely to ensure that Mr. Trump will mend his ways, and rarely — very rarely — is revenge palatable.
In this instance, however, revenge reflects the reality asserted in Ecclesiastes that there is a time for every purpose under Heaven. It is not only justifiable — it’s commendable!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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