I find it hard to classify the latest exposed antics of the former president that (Hopalong riding to help save the Republic?) Cassidy mentioned during the recent House Committee hearing on January 6th.
Was it when he wanted to remove the metal detectors at the Ellipse because so many people were turned away for carrying weapons, that the then president thought it made the crowd look smaller?
Or, was it to attack the Secret Service agent – after the president’s speech at the Ellipse when he wanted to go straight to the Capitol and the agent, probably fearing for the president’s safety among the insurgents already attacking the Capitol, said he was going straight back to the White House?
Or was it the president throwing a plate of food at a White House wall in a fit of anger, smashing it and putting food on the wall? This is important because the dishes do not belong to the president, but to the White House and therefore to the American people. One can only hope that at least the January 6 committee will charge the plate to the former president. We will just assume that cleaning the walls is part of the staff’s duties.
(Trump’s claim that Mike Pence should be hanged because he insisted on following the Constitution is so blatant and typical of the former president that it doesn’t deserve a ranking.)
The former president certainly fulfills two definitions of “character”: he acts like a child who is a character but personally lacks character.
Here are some apt quotes from people wiser than former President Trump. They appear chronologically.
“Three things cannot long remain hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” (Buddha)
“When debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers.” (Socrates, for Trump calling it lies and fake news)
“We the people are rightful masters of Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to crush men who would pervert the Constitution.” (Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President)
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. (Lincoln)
“Patriotism means being with the country. This does not mean standing with the President or any other official… It is patriotic to support him as long as he effectively serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that, through inefficiency or otherwise, he fails in his duty to stand with the country. (Theodore Roosevelt, another great Republican President)
“The question in any case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are such as to create a clear and present danger that they will result in the substantial harms which Congress is entitled to prevent.” (Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes)
“The only thing that really matters in public life is character.” (Jennifer Rubin, columnist, The Washington Post)
What a truly pathetic person, and to say he was president for four years. One need only look at the Supreme Court to see how it has succeeded in making American citizens less secure and, for women, less free.
Sam Oppenheim taught history at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock from 1971 to 2005. He now lives in Massachusetts and remains an avid reader of The Modesto Bee electronic edition.
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