Mr. Chaos

 A metaphor for the behavior of Donald Trump since Election Day 2020 might be found in Ernst Haeckel’s biogenetic law of Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. The lifelong evolution of the phenomenon known as Trump was one of narcissism, sociopathy, and criminality. We may view his obscene actions since Election Day as a reprise. And such behavior has never been seen since the republic was founded.

There is of course the constant refrain that he actually won the election, despite the popular vote difference (7 million fewer votes than Biden) and the electoral vote difference. Donald Trump cannot believe he would lose anything, ever. His team of inept lawyers, led by Rudy Giuliani and joined by such miscreants as Sidney Powell, have lost overwhelmingly when they have tried to bring frivolous suits to courts at all levels. When the obvious hit Trump in the face, he went deeper into delusion, inviting Powell, Flynn, and Giuliani into the Oval Office to discuss other methods of overturning the election. Seizure of voting machines and imposition of martial law were suggested by Powell and Flynn respectively. Both Trump and Flynn have crossed the line into sedition. That is an impeachable offense but Trump will not be impeached; lack of time and a supine bunch of Republican toadies in Congress rules that out. Flynn is retired and remains subject to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. He could be brought back to active duty and court-martialed by the Army; I suggested this weeks ago and now so has Colin Powell.

While fomenting sedition and treason, Trump continues to sow chaos as he has always loved doing. Thus begins Pardon-a-Rama. His first batch on December 22nd included three former Republican Congressmen convicted of various and sundry crimes. Their saving grace in Trump’s eyes was that they were early Trump supporters in 2016. The list is here. Even more heinous was the pardon of three war criminals, four Blackwater guards who murdered Iraqi women and children with no provocation. Blackwater is owned by Erik Prince, brother of Betsy DeVos, the billionaire Secretary of Education who has fouled American education for four years. Just so you recognize how deep the sleaze is.

And of course he is pardoning his conspirators in the 2016 election conspiracy with Russia. Manafort and Stone got full pardons and he has pardoned all the others too. As Paul Waldman wrote in the Washington Post, “ The long and winding coverup of the Russia scandal is now complete.” Short of a release of an unredacted copy of Mueller’s investigation, the American public will be left in the dark over this nefarious and dangerous episode in our history. Waldman also points out that all of us must not allow this disgrace to become simply a part of American history. If it does, there may not be much history to follow for the United States.

Who is next on the pardon list? Benedict Arnold? John Wilkes Booth? Al Capone? The only reason (other than he has no idea who they were) is that they never professed total loyalty and obeisance to Trump. So, we are left with a bunch of corrupt Republican politicians, his corrupt cabal that must have worked with the Russians to facilitate the 2016 election, and war criminals (Trump seems to love war criminals). In all probability next will come his own corrupt family: Don Junior, Ivanka, Eric, Jared. The power to pardon was a monarchical holdover from the power of the English crown when the Constitution was drafted. George Mason argued against inserting the power into the Constitution; James Madison argued for it and won. Mason was right. 

But there is more. In the midst of a coronavirus pandemic that his administration completely bungled, along with the severe economic catastrophe that the pandemic spawned, Republicans (led by Mitch McConnell) chose inaction on real relief for suffering Americans until days ago, when they coupled Covid relief with an omnibus bill to fund the government. Congress had just passed the National Defense Authorization Act. And of course Mr. Chaos says no; he vetoed the NDAA and threatens to veto the Covid relief bill. The only schadenfreude in this at all is that the Republicans in the House, craven cowards almost to a one, are now raging that Trump has cut the floor out from under them at the last minute. There is no honor among thieves.

As I write this there are 26 days, 18 hours, and 30-some minutes until Inauguration Day, when all of the Trump chaos is bequeathed to Joe Biden. He will need all of our help but I suspect he will get more obstruction from the GOP and its Trump cult. Trump will pull more evil cards from his sleeve. He is already fomenting civil unrest on 6 January, the date that Congress counts the electoral votes and his toady Pence has to preside (BTW, Pence has announced he is leaving for his final paid taxpayer junket overseas immediately after the vote is counted). And there is always the possibility that he will attack Iran and provoke a war for Biden to add to his burden. America cannot claim we did not know about Trump’s mental instability and corrupt behavior, which is a long-known fact. Our broken Electoral College system, voter suppression, and gerrymandering must be fixed if we are to survive as a democracy. There is work to be done by all of us. We had better remain engaged and vigorous. As we say in the League of Women Voters, Democracy is NOT a spectator sport.