I appreciate Admiral McRaven’s (USN-Ret.) urge to pinpoint President Trump as being dangerous:
Today, as we struggle with social upheaval, soaring debt, record unemployment, a runaway pandemic, and rising threats from China and Russia, President Trump is actively working to undermine every major institution in this country. He has planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of many Americans that our institutions aren’t functioning properly. And, if the president doesn’t trust the intelligence community, law enforcement, the press, the military, the Supreme Court, the medical professionals, election officials and the postal workers, then why should we? And if Americans stop believing in the system of institutions, then what is left but chaos and who can bring order out of chaos: only Trump. It is the theme of every autocrat who ever seized power or tried to hold onto it. [WaPo]
But, quite honestly, stories and, yes, alleged jokes denigrating Congress have circulated for decades, not just a few years. From ridiculous remarks to more controversial topics such as term limits, I’ve seen anti-Congress, anti-government email for decades – here’s one now. McRaven is quite right that Trump is the tip of the spear, but the shaft of that spear must also be part of the treatment that the Republic will require if it is to survive and prosper with a wise government,
And not be populated with a bunch of third-raters who know how to chant ‘lower taxes,’ ‘too much regulation,’ and ‘abortion is baby-killing!’, and by so doing, get themselves elected without regard to any actual competency. None of those arguments are well thought out, and yet they’re the prison bars of the GOP voter these days. They’re clung to as if they’re sources of nutrition, but, for the nation, they’re just poison.
