There Will Be No Peace if Trump’s Evil Goes Unpunished
By: Walter Rhein
Tags: Racism, Politics, Freedom, Justice, Civil Rights

There Will Be No Peace if Trump’s Evil Goes Unpunished

Photo by Lukas Eggers on Unsplash

On September 8th, 1974, President Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a pardon. I’ve talked with people who were alive at the time to get their opinion on the decision. Most of them acknowledge that the country was divided and needed to move on. But they say those words on autopilot as if to cover up a sense of a terrible injustice.

On January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. His predecessor, Donald J. Trump, has been one of the most divisive figures in American history. Trump was impeached and investigated by a grand jury. However, he has always managed to escape punishment by leveraging the power of his office.

The hallmark of the last four years has been violence in the streets and unprecedented challenges to the democratic process. Our nation has never been closer to losing its status as a free state. It is said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps now is the time to recognize that Ford’s pardon can only be perceived as a terrible mistake.

Biden wants to be a force of unity

In a recent discussion, Biden has expressed a desire to place the nation on a path of healing rather than focus on holding the previous administration responsible for its transgressions.

President-elect Joe Biden has privately told advisers that he doesn’t want his presidency to be consumed by investigations of his predecessor, according to five people familiar with the discussions, despite pressure from some Democrats who want inquiries into President Donald Trump, his policies and members of his administration — Carol E. Lee, Kristen Welker and Mike Memoli

But what are the consequences of pretending that all the acts of evil that happened right out in the open simply didn’t happen? The American people had to endure Trump’s aggression. We had to stand by and watch him encourage his followers to acts of violence both at his rallies and through his reckless use of social media.

Some of us have witnessed aggression against our children directly as a result of Trump’s behavior. Now, we’re supposed to “move on?” Now, we’re supposed to forget?

The corrupt gentleman’s agreement

Sometimes you look at politicians and wonder why they eschew the knock-out punch. They get up and debate and fail to engage the most obvious arguments that would immediately disqualify their opponent.

Why didn’t Biden demand that all Americans have access to the same taxpayer-funded health care that Donald Trump received when he came down with Coronavirus? Trump dithers endlessly against socialism, but when he gets sick he’s perfectly happy to indulge in all the advantages of socialized medicine for his own benefit. In fact, every single person in politics has socialized medicine. They also have terrific pensions and wage guarantees.

It’s almost as if political candidates get together in private and come to agreements on what topics they will allow each other to engage. “Don’t attack me on X and I won’t attack you on Y.” Does that happen? Does the gentleman’s agreement extend to not investigating a fellow politician no matter what the circumstances?

Are politicians allowed to commit crimes?

Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal — Richard Nixon

To some extent, the president of the United States does walk in a gray area between what is legal and what is illegal. The president is allowed to call down airstrikes that kill people. The president wields power that can bring about tremendous pain and suffering. These facts are indisputable.

The question is, where is the line the president cannot cross?

We the people of the United States of America are allowed our say in what we consider to be inappropriate presidential action. We have spoken loudly and clearly to declare that the actions Donald J. Trump conducted during his occupation of the highest office in our nation were morally and legally reprehensible. We have made that statement and voted for his removal.

This decision cannot be without consequence.

The line must be pushed back

With every transgression against a sovereign people, more protections are eroded. Just as there is a doomsday clock, the people must maintain an awareness of political machinations that push a society closer to servitude. The Founding Fathers were well aware that the greatest threat to freedom was the government itself. In the face of abhorrent aggression, we cannot afford to do anything in the name of unity.

There will be no unity if we lose our freedoms. There will be no unity if our laws do not apply to the most powerful people in our community.

When a president nudges the needle of our government in the direction of authoritarianism, a new precedent is set. Subsequent presidents might begin their own aggression from this point. Once the voting public has elicited a cry of opposition, it is the duty of the incoming president to push the needle back to an appropriate point, and drive a banner into the ground so that future leaders might know the dire consequences of their malicious ambition.

Punishments for the rest of us

It’s not as if Biden will take office and immediately pardon all the illegal activities of all citizens for the past four years. All other Americans that have erred will still suffer the full consequence of our judicial system. Why should the outgoing president be exempt?

It’s not as though Biden can take office and remove the enduring pain that was created by Trump’s behavior. He cannot erase the agony of children that were separated from their parents for months. He cannot bring back the loved family members that are forever buried in the cold Earth because they succumbed to Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic.

Why should Trump be allowed to skate free when the rest of us have to toil in the miserable quagmire he left in his wake? We’re being punished. Why is it considered an act of political cruelty to demand Trump receive his share of the experience he called down upon the rest of us?

We might not have another chance

The only way to defeat a bully is to punch them in the face. Bullies always take advantage of our basic inclination to decency. They know that we would prefer a non-violent solution to all problems. They depend on that, and they continue to torment and attack until instinct takes over and you become fearful for your continued existence.

We aren’t showing strength by enduring abuse. A failure to respond to the transgressions of the last four years serves as an invitation for the subsequent bully president to elevate his own agenda of abuse to the next level.

Our nation is not in need of unity. It is in need of justice. We can’t have armed men taking over our government buildings. We can’t have police officers slaughtering innocent people. We can’t allow a president to spend four years abusing the powers of the office and betraying his sacred oath. These are the trends that must be reversed, and they will not be corrected through the cowardly act of turning our heads and pretending that everything is okay. For the sake of our children, the bully must be made into an example.