The View From Here

The View From Here

Like many of you, I believed the infatuation with Trump would have worn off a long time ago. Yet, it still goes on. Back in 2016, conventional wisdom predicted his defeat by Hillary Clinton and after his abortive run in 2020, I thought he would be gone for good.* Like many, I underestimated his tenacity and the anger and contempt many Americans have against Democrats and what they perceive as the corrupt establishment. And I did not count on the cowardice and self-interest that has prevented Republican leaders and congressmen from standing up to Trump and his henchmen.

Just recently, David Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer-prize-winning photographer for the Ford White House, resigned from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation board after it rejected honoring Liz Cheney.** Apparently, the board fears being attacked by the Internal Revenue Service or losing its tax exempt status if Trump is reelected. Kennerly, in resigning, did not mince words saying “Those of you who rejected Liz join many good Republicans’ now aiding and abetting our 45th president by ignoring the genuine menace he presents to our country.”

Kennerly’s resignation is just one example among many that show how Trump has managed to stay relevant despite his actions and behavior these last eight years. Republican political leaders and party officials have enabled him at every turn out of fear of speaking up.

Another cause of Trump’s staying power is that a sizable number of conservatives and Republicans have continued to support him. They do so, despite his despicable behavior as president, including his crowning atrocity in fomenting the insurrection on January 6, 2020 in his failed effort to stay in office. They largely do so out of spite and contempt for Biden and the Democrats, a mindset that, unfortunately, reminds one of General Phil Sheridan’s oft-quoted comment about dead Indians. These voters, along with White supremacists and Evangelicals make-up Trump’s hard-core base. Together with the Republican leadership they continue to enable the former president and the MAGA movement.

The unfathomable thing is these faithful do this knowing full well that doing so not only threatens Democrats but far more seriously threatens the very foundations of our government and possibly the world order.

So the national tragedy continues enabled by the Republican leaders and a minority of self-centered voters who call themselves patriots.

This strikes me as virtually treasonous.

*See “Our National Nightmare is Over,” November 9, 2020, in these pages.

**https://www.yahoo.com/news/david-hume-kennerly-resigns-gerald-161951864.html