Stormy Times Ahead
I noticed Donald Trump will spend more time in front of a judge this week than in front of potential voters. It’s his new normal. Trump’s schedule looks like a litigious hellscape. And his calendar for the foreseeable future is more of the same. It’s all so antithetical to my belief about what kind of person should lead our great nation.
The American presidency has fascinated me for a long time. I’ve been fortunate to interview every man who has held the office since Dwight Eisenhower. I was twice the chief White House correspondent for CBS News, covering all or part of the Johnson, Nixon, and Ford administrations. None of this is said to be self-serving. It’s offered for context when I say that through all of those years, I developed a tremendous respect for the office of the presidency, a respect bordering on reverence. Regardless of each president’s individual actions, I’ve always been acutely aware of the uniqueness of the office in which a president is not only the head of government but the head of state. It’s a role where character matters mightily. So does competency. The behavior of the president tends to become closely associated with the identity of our nation. Words like honor and duty should come to mind when considering the majesty and the responsibilities of the American presidency. It is the most powerful job in the world, and that is not hyperbole.
These grand and grave expectations are completely contrary to a calendar that looks like this:
Monday, February 12 - Federal court hearing
Trump attended a closed hearing in Miami federal court in the classified documents case. He has been charged with hoarding highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate.
Thursday, February 15 - Pre-trial hearing
The New York state court hearing will deal with pre-trial motions in the case of Trump’s $130,000 payment to a porn star for her silence about their adulterous affair. The trial, which is tentatively scheduled to begin on March 25, would be the first-ever criminal trial against a former president. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts, including lying to conceal his affair from the American public as they prepared to vote in the 2016 election. The Manhattan district attorney has made this case about election interference rather than hush money. The adult film star, Stormy Daniels, says she will testify. If convicted, Trump could face four years in prison.
Friday, February 16 - Ruling released
In a different New York courtroom, Judge Arthur Engoron will release his ruling as to Trump’s punishment in his civil fraud trial. The New York attorney general has asked that Trump be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and be severed from his company.
This agenda would be almost farcical if it weren’t so dire. The fact that we even need to write about this is disheartening. How has a sexual assaulter, a convicted fraudster, an alleged insurrectionist, a hoarder of classified documents, and an election denier all but sewn up the Republican nomination for president?
Against this backdrop and with this knowledge, we consider anew the future of the power and the glory of the presidency.
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Vote Blue and end the chaos. Remove every single MAGA politician.
I lay a lot of blame on the mainstream media; Their lack of coverage of Biden’s accomplishments. Their over coverage of Biden’s age. Their over coverage of trump’s outrageous statements without any editorial commentary about how dangerous those statements are. It seems they want trump back in Oval Office, without realizing how bad it will be. How shortsighted. Corporate America better wake up to the reality that America will look a lot like Russia if trump gets elected. That won’t be a good thing for to them. He will destroy us, and them.
I’m not a religious guy, but I pray nightly that the cheeseburgers and stress will finally take their toll. Is that too much to ask?