July 3, 2020 – If you are tired of hearing the same old news day in and day out, if you are tired of hearing the well-worn axiom “fake news,” if you are tired of listening to incoherent tirades and personal self-aggrandizement – you are not alone. Since January of 2017, America has embraced a “new normal” – much beyond COVID – a new normal that has worn down the hearts, minds, and civility of many everyday Americans – from Joe Six Pack to Joe Elite.
But, it should come as no surprise after hearing the cryptic and dark inaugural address on January 20, 2017 that preemptively tipped the scales from normal, to the bizarre. The startling and unabashed statements about “American carnage” made by the new president were not only disconcerting – they were deeply foreboding. The inaugural statement that appeared to have set such havoc in motion:
“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,”
But what specific ‘carnage’ is he speaking of? That was never quite apparent, yet it was eerily disturbing as well as deeply evocative. Most leaders when taking office speak about hope, inspiration and betterment of the nation and its people – of future aspirations – not of a darkness, foreshadowing of what is yet to come.
Despite the grim declaration, Americans remained hopeful, as Americans usually are – wanting their new president to succeed, whether they voted for ‘him’ or not. But this election was something very different.
It began with his embracement of the American cultural and military experience, an untethered reminiscence of a by-gone era – where the new ‘leader’ touted American exceptionalism as if it were alone in the modern world of technical innovation and intellectual prowess. His depiction, evoked grim remembrance of the brutal and turbulent years of the American Revolution and the Civil War, combined with the grandiosity of World War II allied victory.
But what we soon would learn, is that this president has a penchant for touting American grandiosity and exceptionalism, combined with the dictatorial schema, even though it was the ‘greatest generation’ of Americans who fought and won against the Nazi’s regime – against the Axis of Evil. Such dismissive conduct by the president is not only dangerous and disturbing, but eerily parallels his fond embracing of authoritarian dictatorial regimes, as if a model for our own.
Throughout the last four years, we have seen divisiveness among Americans grow to epidemic proportions, reminiscent of the days when the North and the South fought a long and brutal Civil War, when families were literally divided because of their standing on the issue of slavery, and succumbing to pressures of secession, and what that dissociation represented. But we have also seen what his reigning ‘tyranny upon the people’ when he ordered the American military to reign down teargas upon peaceful protestors in Lafayette Square, we saw it in his response to the Charlottesville protests, when the president exclaimed there were “very fine people on both sides” – when there were in fact White-Nationalists, neo-Nazi and KKK members present; when he flouted Constitutional inquiries, and directed those close to him not to testify in the Congressional probe on impeachment, and when he rebuked Supreme Court Justices who failed to do his bidding.
The president is the highest elected official of the Executive Branch of government – he was not meant to be a king, nor a dictator, nor in any way superior over the Legislative or Judicial Branches. He is only the head of a co-equal branch of government – end of story.
With regard to the oath of office, every branch of government has its own formal process of swearing in its members under oath. But the oath the president takes has a Constitutional basis, unlike the others. The US Constitution dictates that a president-elect recite the Oath and Affirmation of the Office of President of the United States to the nation and to the Constitution. That oath is a steadfast promise to God, swearing to execute the laws in manner that will be faithful to both.
Article II, Section 1, Clause 8:
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Yet, on his watch, what the nation is now seeing is inapposite of what a solemnly made oath should be. Instead, we see validation that his inaugural pronouncement of ‘American carnage’ was not made in jest, nor was it hyperbole, but in fact, it was an ominous and foreboding pronouncement of what was yet to come.
We have seen his wrath displayed for those who challenged his authority or who he sees as disloyal. It did it to not only those who helped him get elected, but those who left his administration, including the former FBI director, James Comey.
The Mueller report made clear, there was ‘troubling’ conduct by the president, some of which could be classified as ‘obstruction of justice’ and ‘suborning perjury.’ We see it when he demeans those of his associates who plead guilty in federal court, we see him name call members of Congress and the Democratic party. How he projects his wrath upon others, yet he has single-handedly caused more calamity with his inability to comprehend, or lack of interest in digesting intelligence reports to make insightful judgments? We look to the slow response and denial of a pandemic as a measure of his interest and ability to lead, we look to his failure to incorporate national procedures for a uniform approach to combating the virus, we look to his failure to admonish dictators who subjugate their own people to internment camps such as in China, but instead – praise them. How much more does America need to know that their leader has not only deserted them, but has completely abandoned them. One must also ask, Whose best interests can be served by praising autocrats?
Through the revolving White-House door, a number of former officials who left described a childlike and self-serving behavior that the president routinely exhibits – the most recent depiction was made by former National Security Advisor, John Bolton. Do we really want to give this another term to a president like this?
It just keeps adding up. Robert Mueller found a number of instances he documented his report that wreaked of corrupt intent, flouting the law with his remarks to taint a grand jury that was hearing Manafort case – the man that had links to Russia – also flouting the law in Trump Tower was his son-in-law, Jared Kushner and son Donald who were trying to use a Russian operative to get ‘corrupt’ information on former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Then the Trump impeachment where everyone knew he was guilty of trying to extort favors from the Ukrainian government trying to dig up dirt that could potentially implicate his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden in the upcoming election. It is extremely troubling when a sitting president can say there are good people on both sides, when there are members of Neo-Nazi’s and the KKK in the Charlottesville protests, and where intelligence reports and first-hand witness statements reveal that Russian President Valdimir Putin may be responsible for paying Taliban militants as much as $100,000 for each American soldier killed by a proxy hit squad. Wouldn’t most “fine” people find this offensive to our Constitution, as well as beneath the office of the Presidency?
Not only did Trump receive the information in a brief, but even after it was disclosed to the public he called it a ‘Hoax’ – just like he depicted the Mueller investigation, just like he depicted the Impeachment Inquiry, just has he depicted the deadly Coronavirus, and just how he depicted any and all Russian interference either in the election or on intelligence reports of Russia putting a hit on American soldiers in Afghanistan.
America, Have you had enough? If so, get out and Vote in November – vote like your life depends on it – and this time, it actually does.
For More on the Mueller Report ‘Uncensored’ See our Article here, and his Report on ‘Obstruction’ here.
Update: On January 6, 2021 – America and the World got to see Trump’s Carnage – at the steps of – and inside of the US Capitol. Many hearing the inaugural address were wondering about Trump’s choice of words – that he was going to put an end to “American Carnage.” Instead, it appears that early verbiage was a “predictor” of what was to come in the US – something many Americans view as the “Trump Reign of Terror on Truth and Justice.” What happened at the Capitol at the behest of Trump and his “Big Lie” that the election was stolen from him. To learn more about the “Insurrection” at the US Capitol and Trump’s part in it, read:
January 6, Siege at the Capitol – Insurrection, Radicals & the Big Lie – How We Got Here
Copyright 2020. Mary Kay Elloian, MBA, JD,Esq., All Rights Reserved.
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