Log in
Control Panel
|
|
|
|
Notifications
Who is online?
In total there are 2 users online :: 1 Registered, 0 Hidden and 1 Guest
The Last Outlaw
Most users ever online was 156 on Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:22 am
The Last Outlaw
Most users ever online was 156 on Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:22 am
Statistics
We have 32 registered users
The newest registered user is JeffVAU
Our users have posted a total of 3965 messages in 1659 subjects
The newest registered user is JeffVAU
Our users have posted a total of 3965 messages in 1659 subjects
Latest topics
CBOX
Can We Stop Pretending Trump Is Fit To Be President?
Page 1 of 1 • Share


The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bethea's Byte.
From Paul Waldman to The Washington Post
At various times over the past three and a half years, many of us have asked what would happen if President Trump truly went over the edge or if his behavior became so frightening that his unfitness for the most powerful position on Earth could no longer be denied.
But the human capacity for denial is apparently almost infinite. Let’s review what our president has been up to in the past few days:
- With the death toll from COVID-19 about to top 100,000, Trump has offered almost nothing in the way of tributes to the dead, sympathy for their families, or acknowledgement of our national mourning. By all accounts he is barely bothering to manage his administration’s response to the pandemic, preferring to focus on cheerleading for an economic recovery he says is on its way, even as he feeds conspiracy theories about the death toll being inflated. This weekend, he went golfing.
- In a Twitter spasm on Saturday and Sunday, Trump retweeted mockery of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ weight and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) looks, along with a tweet calling Hillary Clinton a “skank.”
- Eager to start a new culture war flare-up, he urged churches to open and gather parishioners in a room to breathe the same air, threatening that he would “override” governors whose shutdown orders still forbade such gatherings. The president has no such power.
- He all but accused talk show host Joe Scarborough of murdering a young woman who died in 2001 in the then-congressman’s district office, bringing untold torture to her family from the conspiracy theorists who will respond to his accusation.
- He has repeatedly insisted that the upcoming election is being “rigged” because states run by both Republicans and Democrats are making it easier to vote by mail, seeking to delegitimize a vote that has yet to occur, despite the substantial evidence that mail voting advantages neither party.
The truth is that Trump is not much more despicable of a human being than he has always been; it’s just that standard Trumpian behavior becomes more horrifying when it occurs during an ongoing national crisis. It is reality that changed around him, and he was incapable of responding to it.
We all know this. In public, Republicans may say that the real villain in the pandemic is China, or that all those deaths — and the tens of thousands yet to come — were inevitable, or that it is essential to get the economy moving. But they know as well as the rest of us do what a catastrophic failure Trump has been.
They must own the moral choice they now make. In 2016, they said Trump would grow serious and sober once he was faced with the awesome responsibilities of the office. There was little reason at the time to think it would happen, but it was at least possible.
No one can say that now. Not only do we know who Trump is, we know who he will always be. And we know that reelecting him will be disastrous in a hundred ways.
If you gave many Republicans in Washington truth serum, they’d say, “Of course he’s unfit to be president. Of course he’s corrupt, of course he’s incompetent, of course he’s the most dishonest person ever to step into the Oval Office. But I can live with that, because him being reelected means Republicans keep power, we get more conservative judges and we get all the policies we favor.”
That is the choice they’re making. We all know it, even if they’ll never say it out loud.
I’m not sure how I’d feel or what I’d do if was faced with a similar choice as a liberal, because it’s impossible to imagine a liberal version of Trump becoming the nominee of the Democratic Party — or even what a liberal version of Trump would look like. But we can see how Democrats grappled recently with their own questions about former vice president Joe Biden and the compromises they might have to make about him.
When a woman named Tara Reade alleged that Biden had sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s when she worked in his Senate office, the response among those who wish to see Trump defeated in November was complicated, to say the least. Some criticized Biden, some questioned Reade’s story and some remained agnostic pending further information.
And some, showing a forthrightness Republicans have not been willing to muster, said that even if they came to believe Reade’s story was true, they’d still vote for Biden, not just because Trump has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct by no fewer than two dozen women, but also because even if Biden turned out to be guilty, it would still be unfortunate but necessary to choose him over the most dangerously unfit president in American history.
In the days since, so many questions have been raised about Reade’s story that she has few defenders left; her own lawyer dropped her as a client. That has left Democrats breathing a sigh of relief, as they seem to have been excused from making a painful but necessary choice. Nevertheless, they grappled, candidly and publicly, with what it would mean for them if Reade were telling the truth.
The Republicans who support Trump have seldom done that, perhaps because there is no way to do so without acknowledging how morally indefensible that support has been. And as we approach another election, they’ll tell themselves that Trump isn’t as bad as he looks, or that Joe Biden is a monster, or that all that matters is winning.
In the future, when we look back on this dark period, we should resist the temptation to focus solely on Trump himself. To do so would be to excuse those who know exactly what he is but pretend they can work to keep him in office and remain unsullied. They cannot, and their moral culpability becomes clearer every day.
Create an account or log in to leave a reply
You need to be a member in order to leave a reply.
Page 1 of 1
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
» What are your plans for the day.
» Pence. Kushner. McEnany. Ingraham. Even Giuliani… Here Are All People Trump Now Reportedly Feels Have Betrayed Him
» What are your plans for the day
» A House Majority Votes to Impeach Trump
» Glenn Beck Compares Twitter Bans to the Holocaust: ‘This Is the Digital Ghetto’
» Scathing Lincoln Project Ad Blasts Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley for Capitol Riot: 'This Is Your Coup'
» GOP Ignored Their Own Warnings About Trump (VIDEO)
» ‘Our President Wants Us Here’: The Mob That Stormed The Capitol
» Chaos ERUPTS As The White House Staff FOOLS Trump Over The Mob 'He Was Delighted'
» This Republican Senator Is Apparently Totally Unfamiliar With Donald Trump
» House Democrats Introduce Article of Impeachment Against Trump
» A Response From a Former California Governor
» The U.S. Capitol Attack Has Left An Indelible Mark On Our National Security
» The Day America Realized How Dangerous Donald Trump Is
» Congress Confirms Biden's Win After Pro-Trump Mob's Assault on Capitol
» Calls for Trump to Resign or be Removed Grow After Capitol Hill Chaos
» Lindsay Graham Makes Exasperated Plea To Colleagues To End It and Certify the Vote
» Eric Trump Warns of Primary Challenges For Republicans Who Don't Object to Election Results
» Jacob Blake Shooting: No Charges Against Officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin
» Kinzinger: Republicans Can't With 'Clean Conscience' Object After Hearing Trump Tape
» All 10 Living Former Defense Secretaries Declare Election is Over in Forceful Public Letter
» Head-On Crash Kills 7 Kids, 2 Adults in California
» In Extraordinary Hour-Long Call, Trump Pressures Georgia Secretary of State to Recalculate the Vote in His Favor
» One Dead, Several Injured in Texas Church Shooting
» Cruz, Cadre of Other GOP Senators Vow Not to Certify Biden Win Without Probe of Baseless Voter Fraud Claims
» Second Stimulus Check
» ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Reviews: What the Critics Are Saying
» Nashville Bomber Told His Neighbor Before Attack: The World is 'Never Going to Forget Me'
» Leading New Texas Rebellion, Louie Gohmert Sues Mike Pence Because VP Lacks Authority to Overturn Joe Biden’s Election Win
» Treasury, White House Face Enormous Pressure To Quickly Disburse Stimulus Aid After Trump’s Delay
» CNN's Jake Tapper And The White House's Kayleigh McEnany Spar After He Says She 'Lies The Way Most People Breathe'
» Good News About the Coronavirus Vaccine Is Becoming Contagious
» Nashville Explosion Appears Intentional, RV Played Warning Message of Bomb
» Trump Calls COVID Relief Bill Unsuitable and Demands Congress Add Bigger Stimulus Payments
» Voice of Jeopardy! Johnny Gilbert Remembers Alex Trebek: 'Part of Me Left When Alex Left'
» A Flashback Changes This Edition of Free Byte
» December Is Shaping Up To Be The COVID Pandemic's Deadliest Month Yet In The U.S.
» Four Dead As Winter Storm Hits Northeast With 3 Feet Of Snow
» George W. Bush Sends Christmas Card With Pointed Message As Trump Contests Election
» Stimulus Checks Part of Looming COVID-19 Relief Deal as Congress Finalizes Negotiations
» Biden Working With Team to Decide When to Get Coronavirus Vaccine
» UK could override parts of Brexit deal
» CNN's Jake Tapper Thanks Trump For 'Exposing' Republicans Who Supported Texas' 'Un-Democratic, Un-American, Mendacious Joke of a Lawsuit'
» Does Donald Trump Really Believe He Lost The Election?
» The Trump Team Throws in the Towel on Proving Voter Fraud
» What was the last movie you saw?
» MLB Umpire Brian O’Nora Reportedly Arrested in Sex Sting Operation
» 17 Republican Attorneys General Back Trump in Far-Fetched Election Lawsuit
» 'If I lost, I'd be a very gracious loser'
» Barr Says He Hasn’t Seen Fraud That Could Affect the Election Outcome
» Kim Jong-Un Is Reportedly Displaying 'Excessive Anger' Over the Economic Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Ordering the Execution of Two People
» AstraZeneca Faces Difficult Questions About Its Vaccine After Admitting Mistake
» Trump Has Set a Hidden Trap For Biden. It Could Do Great Damage.
» A Trump 2024 Run Is a Terrible Idea—For Him And For The GOP
» Armenians Return to Nagorno-Karabakh After Cease-Fire
» Georgia and Michigan Deliver Blows to Trump’s Efforts to Undo the Election
» US Announces Further Drawdown of Troops in Afghanistan and Iraq Before Biden Takes Office
» Why Moderna's COVID Vaccine Has a 'Huge Advantage' Over Pfizer's
» U.S. Passes 11 Million Coronavirus Cases as Washington State Orders New Restrictions
» Trump Loses String of Election Results Lawsuits
» Alex Trebek, Quintessential Quizmaster as ‘Jeopardy!’ Host For Three Decades, Dies at 80
» MTV and Nick Cannon Inch Closer to ‘Wild ‘N Out’ Revival
» Trump May Accept Results But Never Concede, Aides Say
» Progressives’ Wish List for Biden Starts With Warren and Sanders
» Fauci Optimistic About COVID-19 Vaccine, Says High-Risk Could Get it in December
» Joe Biden Is Right: It Is Time To Move On
» World Leaders Welcome Biden Win, Seek Reset in U.S. Ties
» George Stephanopoulos Says He Has Only Slept for 14 Hours Since Election Day
» Biden Wins White House, Vowing New Direction For Divided US
» Polls Show Biden gaining ground in Texas, Georgia
» America's New Power Couple: Joe and Mitch
» Trump Hits Election Integrity With Unsupported Complaints
» Judge Rejects Moving Trial of Ex-Officers in Floyd’s Death
» Bernie Sanders’s Election-Night Predictions Were Eerily Correct: ‘He Called It WORD For WORD’
» NO WINNER YET. Key Battleground States Have Votes Yet To Be Counted.
» Jeannie Mai Hospitalized, Forced to Leave 'Dancing With the Stars'
» John Oliver Reminds Voters of All Trump's 'Massive F--- Ups' In Handling The Coronavirus
» Seven Big Things Biden Got Right
» How Are Americans Catching the Virus? Increasingly, ‘They Have No Idea’
» What happens to Fox News if Trump loses? Rupert Murdoch is prepared.
» Trump Drags Down GOP Senators, Giving Democrats More Paths to the Majority
» The Verdict Is In: Joe Biden Won The Final Presidential Debate
» Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton are engaged!
» Boyfriend Said N.C. Mom Died After Slipping in Bathtub — But 3 Months Later, He's Charged with Murder
» Lesley Stahl Gets Security Protection After Death Threat Over Trump ‘60 Minutes’ Interview
» Fauci Says The U.S.'s Record-High COVID-19 Cases Put It In a Precarious Position
» Donald Trump Questions Barack Obama Being 'Handsome' and a 'Good Speaker' at PA Rally
» Trump vs. The Ten Commandments
» Trump Cuts a ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Short, And Then Taunts Lesley Stahl on Twitter.