By Berl Falbaum
Donald J. Trump, who will be sentenced November 26 on 34 felony counts, was elected again as president of the United States on November 5.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever write a sentence like that. Had I used it in a novel with a candidate like Trump for president, the publisher would have thrown me out on my ear.
Interestingly, the sentencing of Trump was never mentioned in the campaign or in the aftermath of his victory last week.
But this juxtaposition is true and New York Justice Juan M. Merchan will sentence Trump — he faces up to four years in prison — in a case involving falsifying business records to cover up payments of hush money to a porn actress. (My guess: Merchan will sentence Trump and then stay its implementation until Trump finishes his four-year term.)
How in the world did we come to this?
When Trump won in 2016, I wrote that like a CT scan that unexpectantly discovers a tumor in a patient who believes he/she is healthy, the election of Trump as president revealed a dangerous malignancy in the body politic of this country.
I wrote that I hoped the cancer would not metastasize, but metastasize it did.
Also, using a medical metaphor, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a few days before yesterday’s election that we had been immunized against outrage. She did not go far enough. We have been immunized against truth, civility, honesty, decency, integrity, and dignity.
In 2016, some explained that while the electorate knew of Trump’s corrupt character, they believed he would change once in office. But this time, it had no such excuse; after four years as president and another four spewing his hate, it knew exactly who Trump was.
The incitement by Trump of an insurrection in which nine people died and 150 police officers were injured meant nothing nor did the two impeachments. Lying about the 2020 election for four years was acceptable as were his efforts to overturn the election with bogus electors. Also dismissed were three criminal cases he faces besides the November 26 sentencing.
With its vote, the electorate put its stamp of approval on: raping and sexually abusing women; lying ad infinitum; misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, racism, vulgarity, depravity, and a kind of ugliness this country did not experience even in the Civil War, the Vietnam War protests, or the Civil Rights movement.
For those who believe I am too harsh, consider how major Republicans described their candidate.
JD Vance, now vice-president-elect, called Trump “America’s Hitler” and an idiot; Trump’s former chief of staff, General John F. Kelly, labeled Trump a fascist; Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump was a xenophobic racist and told him to go to Hell; former Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry described Trump as a cancer on conservatism; former South Carolina governor and presidential challenger in GOP primaries, Nikki Haley, said Trump was unhinged and it would be suicide to elect him; and Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz painted Trump as a “sniveling coward” and “utterly immoral.” Of course, there was so much more from GOP officeholders.
All these ultimately supported Trump. Why? Because their constituents did. While that is detestable, a politician’s primary objective is to remain in office. They would not dare scorn the voter. They don’t lead; they follow.
Thus, the cancer lies at the core of our body politic. Joe Biden continually said that Trump’s venomous, depraved politics did not represent who we are. Sorry, Mr. President, they represent exactly who we are.
Trump took our politics into the gutter and the electorate followed, not reluctantly, but with cheers and applause as displayed at his rallies. Consider that six Republican presidential candidates in the primaries said they would support Trump even if he were a convicted felon.
And his victory did not just result because of his base. He could not have won without votes — substantial votes — from independents and, perhaps, even from some Democrats.
Now comes the analysis. How and why did this happen?
I can hear it already: Kamala Harris did not separate herself sufficiently from Joe Biden; her support for Israel cost her; she should have done more one-on-one interviews; she was not chosen in a Democratic primary; and so on.
All of these reasons probably played a part. But, I for one, put much of the blame on the fact that the issue of character was never explored significantly — vetted in depth — and for that I fault the mainstream media.
Most of the reporting focused on immigration, abortion, and the economy. Character was hardly ever mentioned.
For instance, Republicans on political talk shows were never asked if they believed character matters.
Did they believe that officeholders, particularly the president, should be people with integrity, leaders with a commitment to decency, honesty and morality? Time and again, I waited for interviewers to put Republican sycophants’ feet to the fire. But it never happened, and I use “never” advisedly.
Not did reporters challenge Trump voters in interviews. Examples:
They never asked Blacks why they supported a man who banned Blacks from his property in Florida; who described African countries as “s__hole countries;” who called for the death penalty of the so-called Central Park Five (all Blacks) who were falsely accused of raping a white woman in New York’s Central Park; and who questioned the birth place of the country’s first Black president.
They never asked Jewish Trumpites why the backed a man who distributed antisemitic materials in 2016 as well as running antisemitic TV campaign ads; said that white supremacists who claimed that “Jews will not replace us” included some “very fine people;” who would not repudiate the KKK; and invited white supremacists for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
They never asked women Trumpites how they supported a man who bragged about grabbing women by the p_____; who was found guilty of sexual assault (the judge called it rape); who was accused of sexual harassment by more than two dozen women; who paid off a porn actress; who discussed his daughter in sexual terms; and who had several extra-marital affairs.
They never asked veterans who backed Trump how they could do so when Trump escaped being drafted by getting four questionable deferments, thus avoiding the Vietnam War; who criticized the late Senator John McCain, who was a POW in North Vietnam for 5-½ years; who called fallen soldiers “suckers and losers;” and who did not want to be seen with crippled soldiers because it would make him look bad.
Throughout the campaign I waited for reporters to pose these questions, particularly to Republicans who appeared regularly on political shows as “expert analysts.” But it never — again never — happened.
When I reflect on all of Trump’s depravity, I find it hard to believe that we, at one time, held politicians accountable for taking a bottle of liquor from a lobbyist.
In the 1960s, I was a reporter for The Detroit News and covered what turned into a major scandal when we learned that the nine Detroit councilmen had accepted TVs for Christmas from the Detroit Police Officers Association (DPOA).
Even in recent years, officeholders had to resign because of offenses that paled against Trump’s behavior. Just a couple of examples: Major presidential Democratic candidate Gary Hart had to drop out of a presidential campaign for having a consensual extramarital relationship, and Minnesota Senator Al Franken resigned after facing some questionable charges of sexual harassment.
To sum up the reason for Trump’s victory: The country has entirely lost its moral footing, its moral foundation.
To continue the medical metaphor, if our political cancer was in stage two when Trump was elected in 2016, we will be approaching stage four after he takes office again in January.
The first time he made the mistake of appointing many respectable and competent officials to his administration but who refused to do his bidding when his demands required violating the Constitution, were simply unethical or illegal.
This time he will not repeat that error. We can expect the appointment of nothing but Trump acolytes i.e. Senator Lindsey Graham, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, former Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor who went to prison for four months, General Michael Flynn, also a former adviser who was pardoned by Trump before being sentenced for lying to the FBI, Roger Stone, a longtime Trump associate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News political commentator (press secretary or chief of communications?), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the
presidential race as an independent and threw his support behind Trump, and many others. Unfortunately, there is no shortage.
If all this were not bad enough, Republicans have won control of the Senate while, at this writing, the fate of the House was still in question.
When Ben Franklin was asked what kind of government was established at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Franklin’s implied concern has, regrettably, never required more attention because the future of the republic could not be in more jeopardy.
Donald J. Trump, who will be sentenced November 26 on 34 felony counts, was elected again as president of the United States on November 5.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever write a sentence like that. Had I used it in a novel with a candidate like Trump for president, the publisher would have thrown me out on my ear.
Interestingly, the sentencing of Trump was never mentioned in the campaign or in the aftermath of his victory last week.
But this juxtaposition is true and New York Justice Juan M. Merchan will sentence Trump — he faces up to four years in prison — in a case involving falsifying business records to cover up payments of hush money to a porn actress. (My guess: Merchan will sentence Trump and then stay its implementation until Trump finishes his four-year term.)
How in the world did we come to this?
When Trump won in 2016, I wrote that like a CT scan that unexpectantly discovers a tumor in a patient who believes he/she is healthy, the election of Trump as president revealed a dangerous malignancy in the body politic of this country.
I wrote that I hoped the cancer would not metastasize, but metastasize it did.
Also, using a medical metaphor, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a few days before yesterday’s election that we had been immunized against outrage. She did not go far enough. We have been immunized against truth, civility, honesty, decency, integrity, and dignity.
In 2016, some explained that while the electorate knew of Trump’s corrupt character, they believed he would change once in office. But this time, it had no such excuse; after four years as president and another four spewing his hate, it knew exactly who Trump was.
The incitement by Trump of an insurrection in which nine people died and 150 police officers were injured meant nothing nor did the two impeachments. Lying about the 2020 election for four years was acceptable as were his efforts to overturn the election with bogus electors. Also dismissed were three criminal cases he faces besides the November 26 sentencing.
With its vote, the electorate put its stamp of approval on: raping and sexually abusing women; lying ad infinitum; misogyny, xenophobia, antisemitism, racism, vulgarity, depravity, and a kind of ugliness this country did not experience even in the Civil War, the Vietnam War protests, or the Civil Rights movement.
For those who believe I am too harsh, consider how major Republicans described their candidate.
JD Vance, now vice-president-elect, called Trump “America’s Hitler” and an idiot; Trump’s former chief of staff, General John F. Kelly, labeled Trump a fascist; Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump was a xenophobic racist and told him to go to Hell; former Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry described Trump as a cancer on conservatism; former South Carolina governor and presidential challenger in GOP primaries, Nikki Haley, said Trump was unhinged and it would be suicide to elect him; and Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz painted Trump as a “sniveling coward” and “utterly immoral.” Of course, there was so much more from GOP officeholders.
All these ultimately supported Trump. Why? Because their constituents did. While that is detestable, a politician’s primary objective is to remain in office. They would not dare scorn the voter. They don’t lead; they follow.
Thus, the cancer lies at the core of our body politic. Joe Biden continually said that Trump’s venomous, depraved politics did not represent who we are. Sorry, Mr. President, they represent exactly who we are.
Trump took our politics into the gutter and the electorate followed, not reluctantly, but with cheers and applause as displayed at his rallies. Consider that six Republican presidential candidates in the primaries said they would support Trump even if he were a convicted felon.
And his victory did not just result because of his base. He could not have won without votes — substantial votes — from independents and, perhaps, even from some Democrats.
Now comes the analysis. How and why did this happen?
I can hear it already: Kamala Harris did not separate herself sufficiently from Joe Biden; her support for Israel cost her; she should have done more one-on-one interviews; she was not chosen in a Democratic primary; and so on.
All of these reasons probably played a part. But, I for one, put much of the blame on the fact that the issue of character was never explored significantly — vetted in depth — and for that I fault the mainstream media.
Most of the reporting focused on immigration, abortion, and the economy. Character was hardly ever mentioned.
For instance, Republicans on political talk shows were never asked if they believed character matters.
Did they believe that officeholders, particularly the president, should be people with integrity, leaders with a commitment to decency, honesty and morality? Time and again, I waited for interviewers to put Republican sycophants’ feet to the fire. But it never happened, and I use “never” advisedly.
Not did reporters challenge Trump voters in interviews. Examples:
They never asked Blacks why they supported a man who banned Blacks from his property in Florida; who described African countries as “s__hole countries;” who called for the death penalty of the so-called Central Park Five (all Blacks) who were falsely accused of raping a white woman in New York’s Central Park; and who questioned the birth place of the country’s first Black president.
They never asked Jewish Trumpites why the backed a man who distributed antisemitic materials in 2016 as well as running antisemitic TV campaign ads; said that white supremacists who claimed that “Jews will not replace us” included some “very fine people;” who would not repudiate the KKK; and invited white supremacists for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
They never asked women Trumpites how they supported a man who bragged about grabbing women by the p_____; who was found guilty of sexual assault (the judge called it rape); who was accused of sexual harassment by more than two dozen women; who paid off a porn actress; who discussed his daughter in sexual terms; and who had several extra-marital affairs.
They never asked veterans who backed Trump how they could do so when Trump escaped being drafted by getting four questionable deferments, thus avoiding the Vietnam War; who criticized the late Senator John McCain, who was a POW in North Vietnam for 5-½ years; who called fallen soldiers “suckers and losers;” and who did not want to be seen with crippled soldiers because it would make him look bad.
Throughout the campaign I waited for reporters to pose these questions, particularly to Republicans who appeared regularly on political shows as “expert analysts.” But it never — again never — happened.
When I reflect on all of Trump’s depravity, I find it hard to believe that we, at one time, held politicians accountable for taking a bottle of liquor from a lobbyist.
In the 1960s, I was a reporter for The Detroit News and covered what turned into a major scandal when we learned that the nine Detroit councilmen had accepted TVs for Christmas from the Detroit Police Officers Association (DPOA).
Even in recent years, officeholders had to resign because of offenses that paled against Trump’s behavior. Just a couple of examples: Major presidential Democratic candidate Gary Hart had to drop out of a presidential campaign for having a consensual extramarital relationship, and Minnesota Senator Al Franken resigned after facing some questionable charges of sexual harassment.
To sum up the reason for Trump’s victory: The country has entirely lost its moral footing, its moral foundation.
To continue the medical metaphor, if our political cancer was in stage two when Trump was elected in 2016, we will be approaching stage four after he takes office again in January.
The first time he made the mistake of appointing many respectable and competent officials to his administration but who refused to do his bidding when his demands required violating the Constitution, were simply unethical or illegal.
This time he will not repeat that error. We can expect the appointment of nothing but Trump acolytes i.e. Senator Lindsey Graham, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, former Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor who went to prison for four months, General Michael Flynn, also a former adviser who was pardoned by Trump before being sentenced for lying to the FBI, Roger Stone, a longtime Trump associate, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News political commentator (press secretary or chief of communications?), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the
presidential race as an independent and threw his support behind Trump, and many others. Unfortunately, there is no shortage.
If all this were not bad enough, Republicans have won control of the Senate while, at this writing, the fate of the House was still in question.
When Ben Franklin was asked what kind of government was established at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Franklin’s implied concern has, regrettably, never required more attention because the future of the republic could not be in more jeopardy.
