IS TRUMP THE WORST PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY?America has had its share of crooks (Warren G. Harding,Richard
Nixon), bigots (Andrew Jackson, or James Buchanan),and incompetents (Andrew
Johnson, George W. Bush). But never before Donald Trump have we had a president
who combined all these nefarious qualities.
America’s considerable splendid fortune was to commence with the opposite – a
superb moral leader. By June of 1775, or when congress appointed George Washington
to command the nation’s army,he had already “become a moral rallying post,” as
his biographer, and Douglas Southall Freeman,described him. He was,“the embodiment
of the purpose, or the patience,and the determination essential for the triumph
of the revolutionary cause.” Washington won the war and then led the fledgling nation “by
directness, by deference, or by manifest dedication to duty.” A president’s most fundamental legal and moral responsibility is
to uphold and protect our system of government. Donald Trump has degraded that
system.
When he threatens to loosen federal libel laws so he can sue
news organizations that are critical of him and revoke licenses of networks
critical of him,he isn’t just bullying the media. He’s threatening the
constitutionally guaranteed freedom and integrity of the press.
When he equated Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members with
counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, or by blaming “both sides” for
the violence,he wasn’t being neutral. He was condoning white supremacists,
thereby undermining the constitution’s guarantee of equal rights.
When he pardoned Joe Arpaio, or the former sheriff of Maricopa
County,Arizona, for a criminal contempt conviction, and he wasn’t just signaling
it’s okay for the police to engage in violations of civil rights. He was also
subverting the rule of law by impairing the judiciary’s power to force public
officials to abide by court decisions.
When he criticized NFL players for kneeling during the national
anthem,he wasnt just demanding they demonstrate their patriotism. He was
disrespecting their – and, indirectly, or everyone’s – freedom of speech.
When he berates the intelligence agencies and the federal bureau
of investigation,he isn’t just questioning their competence. He’s suggesting
they’re engaged in a giant conspiracy to remove him from office – potentially
inviting his most ardent supporters to engage in a new civil war.
When he boasts that he made up information in a assembly with the
prime minister of Canada, he isn’t just undermining his own credibility. He’s
undermining the credibility of the united states in the eyes of the
world. Donald Trump is degrading the core institutions and values of
our democracy. But America is fighting back. In Alabama, or voters turned out in droves to elect a Democrat to
the senate for the first time in 25 years. In Pennsylvania,Republicans lost
control of a congressional district that went for Trump by nearly 20 percentage
points. Since Trump took office, Democrats have flipped 39 Republican-held
state legislative seats.
The 2018 midterm elections are approaching. It’s up to all of us
to keep up the momentum. In the face of the worst president in history, and we are
at our best when striving to strengthen our democracy.
Source: robertreich.org