Donald Trump is our weakest president ever. He has accomplished nothing that he promised his gullible voters. He has made the U.S. a pariah and laughingstock in the international community. He lacks popular support, having lost the popular vote by several million voters.
In all probability he “won” the Electoral College because Vladimir Putin, Trump’s hero and his true boss, orchestrated by far the most massive voter fraud in U.S. history. The FBI has confirmed that Russian hackers succeeded in breaking into the voting systems of dozens of states.
We must wait until the FBI finishes its investigation, but if it is true that Trump lost the Electoral College as well as the popular vote, what will happen? The answer is “Nothing!” Just as when G.W. Bush lost the vote in Florida, but a corrupt Republican Supreme Court forbade counting the ballots and appointed him president anyway.
It is truly stunning that barely a handful of Republicans care that our last election was tampered with by an enemy foreign power because they personally benefited. Even if the investigations prove Trump’s campaign violated the law, Trump can simply pardon his family members and co-conspirators. This might be the first time a presidential pardon has excused treason.
Republicans control the House and the Senate, and have enjoyed operating under the cover provided by their Court Jester. They busily dismantle the Bill of Rights, our health care system, the environment, investment in the future, Medicare and Medicaid, women’s rights, and have ended regulation of the Wall Street corruption and greed that a decade ago nearly crashed the U.S. economy.
While the GOP gleefully destroy everything that has made America great and strong, they give Trump free reign. He violates nepotism laws to an extent never seen before in this country. He refuses to divest his financial holdings, and he and his family openly use diplomatic trips to enrich their own businesses. The corruption of the Trumps is flagrant and undisguised.
But so what? Who will stop them? The press cower as they are insulted with bald-faced lies. The Republican Congress cares nothing for Trump’s corruption, which is petty compared with the scale of corruption the Republicans are enacting. Gerrymandering is overt and undisguised. Every cabinet post is held by a corporate CEO who now regulates his own industry to maximize profits at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer, the environment, and the U.S. economy.
There is no hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will stop Trump’s corruption. The deciding vote on the court was appointed via Mitch McConnell’s refusal to allow a Democratic president to fill the vacancy left by Scalia. Will Neil Gorsuch resign in shame for being an illegitimate justice? Or will he reward the GOP for their unconstitutional abuse of power? The last Republican president to be elected legitimately was George H.W. Bush. Gore and Kerry both won but declined to serve “to avoid a constitutional crisis.” Democratic candidates should be asked, “If elected, will you become president, or will you let the GOP candidate steal the office?”
It is ironic that after the demise of the Soviet Union, Russia has far more power over the U.S. than at any other time in history. But soon China will be the true master of the U.S. While our economy is dragged into the abyss mired in oil and coal, China will ride into the future with renewable energy technology.
If Donald Trump declares himself dictator and king for life, who will stop him? Good-bye, Democracy. It was nice while it lasted.
Tom DeCoursey is a longtime resident of Oak Park.