There are four fatal flaws in the recent Trib editorial, “Better that voters reject Trumpism than judges. But Trump makes that case hard to argue,” Chicago Tribune, Jan. 10.
First, disqualifying a candidate because they attempted to overthrow democracy is hardly a “technicality”! Is it also a technicality that one must be at least 35 years old to run? Do rules have no meaning? Trump and his gang wanted to disqualify Obama from serving as President because they claimed he was not born in the U.S. Another “technicality”? No matter, it was fiction anyway.
The second fallacy is the frequently argued “innocent until proven guilty” adage. The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack conducted 10 public hearings, more than 1,000 witnesses testified, and millions of pages of documents were analyzed. This bipartisan panel voted unanimously to refer former President Donald Trump for criminal prosecution. They concluded there was sufficient evidence to convict Trump of at least four main criminal charges: (1) Obstruction of an official proceeding, (2) Conspiracy to defraud the United States, (3) Conspiracy to knowingly make a false statement, (4) Assisting, aiding or comforting an insurrection. The bipartisan Committee was far more thorough than any criminal trial, and Crime #4 obviously disqualifies Trump from running for any public office.
The third error is to argue that because Trump has rabid, violent supporters who might engage in domestic terrorism (as they demonstrated on Jan. 6, 2021) if Trump is not allowed on the ballot, we should give in to fear and try to appease them. I, for one, refuse to give in to threats of terrorists!
The final and most devastating flaw in the Tribune editorial is to naively say, “Let the people decide,” when we are dealing with a former president who has already refused to let the people decide. He tried multiple criminal methods to overturn the 2020 election, and continues to claim he actually won. Why would any sane person imagine that, when he is defeated in 2024, he will accept the verdict of the American people?
Trump has made a career of avoiding punishment for his crimes, using intimidation, bribery, and exploiting the legal system, especially with delaying tactics as he is attempting again.
The fact is, everyone, including Congress, the Supreme Court, the Republican Party, and the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, seems to terrified of his retribution, so they pass the buck to someone else. When Trump was impeached for his attack on democracy, Mitch McConnell, who directly blamed Trump for fomenting insurrection [1], said “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.” [2]
Now Trump’s lawyers claim that a president can commit murder and be immune from prosecution. In other words, he is above the law. Were he president, he would thus have the power to do absolutely anything. He would be a King or perhaps a God. Democracy would be a memory and the consequences of giving this infantile, vindictive, delusional sociopath absolute power would be a disaster beyond comprehension.
The Republican Party is so terrified of Trump that his primary opponents grovel at his feet and fear to criticize him. They will never hold Trump accountable. The Supreme Court has already declined to issue a speedy decision on whether a president can be prosecuted for crimes in office. Perhaps they hope the Appeals Court will decide so they don’t have to. If this openly, brazenly corrupt Supreme Court majority is the final arbiter of whether they support the U.S. Constitution or Trump, I deeply fear for democracy.
Tom DeCoursey is a longtime resident of Oak Park.
