THE TRAITOR IN CHIEF

You know things are bad when you can find some positive things to say about Richard Nixon in comparison  to the current president. But that’s where I, and many others, are at. Richard Nixon, despite his now infamous claim that he was not a crook, was exactly that. He disgraced the presidency, he embarrassed our country, throwing us into turmoil and shame. According to sources, following his demise he spent hours wandering around his San Clemente estate, often with his dog and often late into the night — a lonely and haunted figure. Yet here is where the positive elements intrude: I think he really did love this country. And despite his unhealthy desire for power, his disrespect for the law, and his belief that he was above the law, Richard Nixon did not want to destroy our democracy.

Compared to the egotistical narcissist now occupying the Oval Office (when he isn’t hitting the links at Mar-A-Lago) that’s actually, these days, a commendable achievement. This is how low the bar is now — if you don’t want to dismantle America’s democracy, if you don’t want to turn us into a dictatorship run by a megalomaniac, we’ll find something good to say about you. How far we have fallen, and Donald Trump, according to his own claims, is just getting started. I have no idea if America will survive his time in office, however short or long it is. I know the environment has suffered enough blows under him that he has moved the planet closer to a meltdown. And let’s please not forget that the Doomsday Clock was just moved up by 30 seconds. We’re now two minutes to midnight.

Since Trump gleefully used the word “treason” some definitions are in order. Treason is the only crime defined in the Constitution. It is defined as levying war against the United States or adhering to enemies of the United States, giving them aid and comfort. So according to Donald Trump, who has almost certainly never read the Constitution, Democrats refusing to stand and applaud him equals levying war against the United States. For the White House to then try and pass his comment off as a joke is obscene. One of the great things about our democracy is that we can protest without fear of being killed, which happens swiftly in countries like North Korea.

The word “traitor” is a less legally binding term for a person who has indulged in acts that could be interpreted as treasonous. So, Donald Trump, I personally think you are a traitor to American democracy, to freedom (and that includes freedom of the press), and to the Constitution. The latter is a document you might want to read someday, since you’re so good at taking an ax to it. The Founding Fathers were brilliant. They thought of almost everything. They just couldn’t have foreseen Donald Trump.

7 Responses to THE TRAITOR IN CHIEF

  1. David Marks says:

    Quite a brilliant piece of writing, Patti, and very intuitive. I’m not going to spend time making otherwise obvious comparisons to great presidents, which I often do, but I will say this: I truly believe Trump is a traitor, and there is no equivocation. If we were to assume that all elected presidents were not, and I believe that to be the case, Trump is, and his actions become more and more anti-constitutional, and without question, anti-American. I’m not a cheerleading patriot, but my skin tingles, my emotions soar, when great presidents do super-human things. Trump is the antithesis of all that is good in our government, in our history, and you have painted a canvas well worth display, Patti

  2. Debra Sheltton says:

    Thanks, Patti, for so eloquently putting into words what so many of us are thinking. TBH, I wasn’t a fan of your dad’s, but I have no doubt he’d be mortified to see the pathetic excuse for a human that currently (though, hopefully not for long) resides in the People’s House. All best to you and your brother, Ron. I’m a proud member of FFRF.

  3. Rodney Wilson says:

    As far as we know, Trump doesn’t read documents longer than one page. Therefore, there’s no way he’s ever read the Constitution — or had any interest in doing so. Isn’t that a sad commentary on where we are right now!

  4. Edward Jenny says:

    Excellent and to the points that keep us up at night … be well, Peace.

  5. Ken W. Brown says:

    On tar get per usual and as always thankyou!

  6. Mrs. Linda Cordial says:

    Brilliantly written, as always, Patti ! Your words have a more empowering effect, as you saw the presidency & democracy up close and personal-even though you didn’t agree with your dad’s politics. It seems Trump is turning the sacred office of President into everything that goes against the fabric that is America. Thank you

  7. Erika Griesemer says:

    Sorry to say right on in a tweet earlier this week, but that was my initial reaction to your piece. You brilliantly wrote how some, if not all people feel right now. I disappointed how he has disgraced the office of the president and is treating this country as though he is supreme ruler. Thank you for writing what I can’t say.

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