Warning #6: the election of Donald Trump will end in a moral catastrophe
Warning #6: the election of Donald Trump will end in a moral catastrophe
I voted yesterday for the third time against Donald Trump. He is a fascist threat to the American way of life. He is morally, intellectually and physically unfit for service as president of the United States of America.
Soon, the matter will be in the hands of the American people, who will decide for the 60th time our shared destiny as a people and nation. We are bound together, not by the whims of a shared despot, but by the collective judgement of free men and women who are called to affirm or reject our civic faith on a quadrennial basis. Throughout our history we have had great disagreements and debates — even a civil war — but have never faced directly the proposition now at hand, which is to commit national suicide by electing a leader who doesn’t believe in America. He has convinced his cultish followers that the worship of his vanities and insatiable ego is patriotism.
It is not.
When I filled in the circle on my ballot I did it with anger and the deepest contempt for Donald Trump, JD Vance and the legion of corrupt cronies — many of whom I once knew — who have desecrated every value they once claimed to hold dear. They have done this for status in an autocratic clique that routinely threatens violence, vengeance and revenge against political opponents and the US Constitution.
I filled out the circle next to Kamala Harris’ name with the deepest disdain for the cynicism of Donald Trump and his tens of thousands of lies. When I pressed the pen to my ballot, I let the ink seep out onto the ballot filling in the space reserved for my revulsion at the mainstreaming of Hitler rhetoric, Nazi slogans, fascist militias, religious zealots, hucksters, frauds and charlatans by the criminal Donald Trump, an adjudicated rapist, draft dodger, abuser of women, and a fraud who can’t keep his word or be trusted.
I voted to end the MAGA era and for fundamental change in the direction of the United States.
I voted to put Kamala Harris behind the Resolute Desk because she believes in the most important thing in the world to me in a way that shares my values. She believes in America. Trump does not. She is a patriot. Trump is not. She is loyal. Trump is not. She can be trusted. Trump cannot. She is fit to receive the salute of an American soldier as commander in chief. Trump is not.
This era that we are living through is a despicable one. It is an era of titanic ego and titanic cowardice. Few examples will shine more enduringly or vividly than the arrogance of Jeff Bezos, who wrecked the integrity of The Washington Post with an instinct for appeasement that affronts at every conceivable level the great legacy of the paper in standing firm for fundamental American values. The second richest man in the world acted out of fear because that is how oligarchies function. Bezos acted precisely like Oleg Deripaska would have acted in Moscow, trying to triangulate around the mercurial sensibilities of the boss who happens to be a man whom Trump admires very much.
Though moral clarity was obliterated at The Washington Post it is far from lost. It can be found in Las Vegas in an extraordinary editorial that I will reprint in full and urge you to share as broadly, widely, and aggressively as possible. It is from the Las Vegas Sun. It is an American masterpiece of truth-telling, conviction, and common sense. Here is the editorial in its entirety:
Donald Trump’s racism, sexism, xenophobia and penchant for corruption have long made him unfit for any public office, let alone the presidency. But as he continues his bid for a second term in the White House, there is an unsettling and undeniable shift that is leading many experts, observers and even some Trump supporters to conclude that the former president’s mental acuity and sharpness are also in decline, that his physical health and stamina are waning and that his frustration and anger are boiling over.
Americans from both sides of the political spectrum should be alarmed by Trump’s words and behavior. The nation must confront the fact that beyond his hateful character, he is crippled cognitively and showing clear signs of mental illness.
There’s no need to resort to armchair psychology to interpret what’s apparent. If victorious, Trump would be the oldest president ever inaugurated. In recent weeks, he has canceled an increasing number of public appearances, with Trump’s own campaign citing the candidate’s exhaustion. When he does appear publicly, Trump struggles to complete sentences or sustain coherent thoughts, and has shown a pronounced difficulty concentrating and a tendency to repeat himself, sometimes within the same sentence.
At a recent rally in New Hampshire, for example, Trump began to discuss infrastructure and wound up segueing into a disjointed monologue about loyalty and perceived injustices against him, ending with a bewildering comment about windmills causing cancer.
This is not an isolated incident. A recent analysis by The New York Times noted that Trump’s rally speeches over the past eight years have become darker, longer, more profane and increasingly unfocused and unhinged — a troubling sign that he is no longer able to articulate ideas or reason in ways we expect of our leaders. This makes him prey to manipulations by his own staff or, worse, the control of foreign adversaries.
He shambles about aimlessly, slurs his words and sometimes speaks gibberish. Always an effortless liar, now that his speeches are nothing more than a series of lies tangled in a mass inside his head, it appears he no longer even knows he’s lying.
He has called for the imprisonment of journalists, pledged to purge the government of “deep state” operatives he perceives as disloyal and is amplifying his tyrannical rhetoric. He has also increased his public praise for dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping while using increasingly fascist language to describe those he deems political enemies. The former president has even suggested using the military against his domestic critics — an approach reminiscent of repressive regimes in history that has often been the precursor to creeping authoritarianism.
With Trump’s fragility comes an increasing dependence on enablers who show a disturbing willingness to indulge his delusions, amplify his paranoia or steer his feeble mind toward their own goals. Among these enablers is his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. Should Trump be deemed unfit to serve, Vance would step into power.
Once a “Never Trump” conservative who openly criticized Trump as a danger to the republic, Vance has since fully embraced an extremist ideology, morphing into a vocal MAGA supporter who seems eager to emulate Trump’s worst instincts.
Beyond his weird obsession with childless women whom he says are “deranged” and “sociopathic,” and his penchant for spreading conspiracy theories about immigrants and other marginalized communities, Vance poses a different threat to democracy than Trump. He has repeatedly demonstrated that he is little more than a puppet of his billionaire hedge fund benefactors and has openly stated he would have refused to certify the 2020 election, suggesting he would subordinate constitutional principles for personal profit and power.
His willingness to discard any principles shows that he would likely not push back against Trump’s excesses or his deteriorating mental stability. Instead, he might embrace a Trumpian authoritarianism, exacerbating the very dangers we face with Trump’s current mental decline.
If history has taught us anything, it is that democracies are fragile. America’s founders designed the presidency to be a stabilizing force. Trump’s instability, paired with his and Vance’s increasing willingness to trample democratic norms and visible contempt of anyone not like him, has transformed what might have once been seen by conservatives as an uncomfortable leadership style into an existential threat to American democracy.
For those who believe in a country governed by checks, balances and the rule of law, a return to Trumpian leadership is dangerous in its own right. But to do so with an impaired leader who cannot govern competently and a fellow authoritarian waiting in the wings is perilous.
As voters consider Trump’s latest bid for the presidency, it’s essential to recognize that this election is not merely a choice between policy platforms or party loyalties. It’s a test of our willingness to safeguard our nation from leaders whose fitness for office is in serious question. This election is about protecting the integrity of our democracy from those who would let it collapse in the name of power, loyalty or expedience.
Donald Trump has never had the moral compass to lead this country. But even his supporters cannot afford to ignore the signs that he may no longer have the mental faculties to lead it either. The stakes are simply too high.
Today’s warning #6 is very simple: the election of a mentally ill and immoral man who staged a coup, raped women and is promising revenge against the people will end in a moral catastrophe for the United States. It will also end in death.
This is what I thought as I lifted my pen off the ballot. This is a life and death election, and I am making a life and death mark.
We have reached the last exit before the abyss.
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The abyss………and there are many, many millions of my fellow citizens, most of whom are not Stephen Miller or Steve Bannon, or Trump or Vance or any of the rest of the clown car of crazy, in their normal lives, who are blissfully and aggressively HAPPY to ignore the “evidence of their own eyes and ears” and give the country back to him. Insane is the only word I can come up with………What has happened to us??
Thank you for this excellent OpEd from the Las Vegas Sun. Here is another one from Michael Luttig in the NYTimes:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/29/opinion/donald-trump-oath.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V04.xE_L.I1mYEJXww7aQ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
I sent it out as my last political post before the election to my Republican family and friends. It was a Hail Mary. I feel such deep frustration that it’s unlikely I’ve changed a single mind, even though we’ve had many long and respectful conversations. The cult mentality is hard to penetrate. My hope hangs on young women.