Trump's night of judgment

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History isn’t a courtroom. There are no defense attorneys. No procedural objections. No appeals.

There’s only judgment.

John F. Kennedy understood this. Speaking to a Joint Convention of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, January 9, 1961, before departing for Washington to assume the presidency, he reflected on what he called the “high court of history:”

For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us — recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state — our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:

First, were we truly men of courage — with the courage to stand up to one’s enemies — and the courage to stand up, when necessary, to one’s associates — the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed?

Secondly, were we truly men of judgment — with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past--of our own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others — with enough wisdom to know that we did not know, and enough candor to admit it?

Third, were we truly men of integrity — men who never ran out on either the principles in which they believed or the people who believed in them — men who believed in us — men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?

Finally, were we truly men of dedication — with an honor mortgaged to no single individual or group, and compromised by no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good and the national interest.

It was a simple, but profound idea. Every generation is weighed. Every leader is measured. Every act is judged.

Eventually the speeches are forgotten. The excuses fade away. The propaganda dissipates.

What remains is what happened, why it happened, and who was responsible.

John Adams contemplated the same question. He wondered whether the republic he helped create would endure. He understood that America wasn’t guaranteed. It was an experiment, and experiments can fail.

In one of his most sobering reflections, Adams warned that:

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.

He understood that each generation inherits a responsibility. Freedom isn’t self-sustaining. It survives only when citizens possess the character to defend it.

Adams left another message for future generations. It’s carved into the mantle of the State Dining Room in the White House:

I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.

It’s among the most beautiful sentences ever written by an American statesman.

It’s also a devastating indictment of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is the opposite of the man John Adams hoped would inhabit the White House.

He’s a vulgar man consumed by grievance and vanity. He’s cruel where he should be compassionate, reckless where he should be prudent, dishonest where he should be truthful.

He’s a liar. A fraud. A serial predator. A criminal defendant turned president.

His public life has been a monument to selfishness.

His presidency has become a monument to national decline.

The damage extends far beyond politics.

It’s cultural, moral and spiritual.

Something has broken in America.

After the New York Knicks lost last night, crowds filled the streets of Manhattan. Chants of “Fuck Donald Trump” echoed everywhere.

Think about that.

A spontaneous political outburst following a basketball game.

Why?

Because Trump is no longer simply a political figure.

He’s become a symbol of corruption, exhaustion and national frustration.

The anger directed at him isn’t merely partisan. It’s the accumulated frustration of millions of Americans who feel their country slipping away.

Meanwhile, the institutions that once acted as guardrails continue to surrender.

Axios reports that David Ellison is delighted with the work being done by Bari Weiss as Paramount reshapes one of America’s most important news organizations. The corporate consolidation of American media continues. More capitulations lie ahead.

At the same time, a Quinnipiac University poll released last week shows a profound collapse of public confidence in the country’s institutions and in democracy itself. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they believe “the system of democracy in the United States” isn’t functioning.

The numbers are flashing red.

The warning lights are everywhere.

The crisis isn’t approaching.

The crisis is here.

History teaches that decline rarely announces itself with a single dramatic moment. It arrives through accumulation, surrender, cowardice, and the normalization of behavior that would once have been shocking.

The road to catastrophe is almost always a downward slope.

There are curves and detours.

There are moments when it appears the descent has stopped, but the direction remains the same.

For 10 years America has been traveling down that road.

The consequences are becoming impossible to ignore.

America’s adversaries see it.

Our allies see it.

The world sees it.

They see a country that has become weaker, angrier and more divided.

They see a nation consumed by internal conflict, while external dangers multiply.

They see a political culture incapable of telling the truth, and they are drawing conclusions.

The bill always comes due.

History is patient.

Judgment is inevitable.

One day Americans will look back on this era and ask some simple questions:

What did we do when the warning signs were everywhere?

What did we do when character collapsed as a national value?

What did we do when the republic demanded courage?

That’s the case that will be argued before the high court of history.

No excuses will be accepted.

No spin will matter.

There will only be judgment.

God help us if the verdict has already been decided.

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