Trump Must Go

The President Must Resign

The hijacking of our democracy continues. Alarm bells ring loudly, but none in the corridors of power with the power to stop it seem to be paying attention. What will it take for those who can bring the madness to a peaceful conclusion to take decisive action?

This week one of the nation’s most respected and trusted journalists published a book on the failings of the Trump presidency only to be ridiculed and dismissed by Trump and his minions. This week one of the most trusted and respected newspapers in America published an anonymous op-ed piece that revealed serious resistance to Trump’s presidency inside the White House at the highest levels only to be called “gutless” by Trump. This week Trump’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court refused to answer basic questions from United States Senators charged with vetting his qualifications in advance of a confirmation vote. At the same time, the White House withheld tens of thousands of documents related to the nominee’s background and views from those who need them in order to do their work effectively. 

First, there was Bob Woodward’s book, “Fear: In the Trump White House.” Woodward was part of the team that broke the Watergate burglary and cover-up story at the Washington Post that helped end the Nixon presidency. His reputation since has been beyond reproach. His writings then and up to the present were and are always backed up by recorded interviews with multiple sources who have first-hand knowledge of the matters discussed. He follows up all of the leads and resolves the conflicts between different perspectives of the same event. His work is always documented and vetted. If Woodward makes a claim or puts a statement in quotes, he can back it up with ease when challenged. 

Woodward’s book has been excerpted from advance copies to other media outlets and many of his more telling descriptions of the Trump presidency should raise serious concerns and questions, especially for the members of the GOP in Congress who support the Trump presidency. Woodward’s reporting shows a White House run by fear and a president out of control. These GOP members, many of whom are up for re-election in the coming mid-term elections, stand with Trump at their peril.

On Wednesday, the New York Times took the highly unusual step of publishing an anonymous op-ed piece by a senior Trump White House staff person. The Times’ editors know the writer’s identity and must have believed what their source provided or they would not have published it, at least without attribution. The writer disclosed the existence of a “soft resistance” in the White House staff and, apparently, in the President’s own cabinet, that actively works against the worst of Trump’s ideas and plans. Trump is variously described as morally and politically adrift, issuing contradictory demands and proclamations while favoring America’s enemies over long standing allies and unable to look beyond his own selfish goals to see what the people of America need. The discussions of what this “resistance” should do to protect the country included consideration of the provisions of the 25^th Amendment to the United States Constitution that make it possible for the Vice-President and a majority of the cabinet to declare the President unable to perform the duties of his office and have the him removed from power. Never before in our nation’s history has there been such an active resistance within the White House against a sitting president.

Finally, we have the three-ring circus of the confirmation hearing for D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the seat on the Supreme Court vacated under questionable circumstances by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Here we see the partisan gridlock in full bloom. The republicans have the votes to confirm Judge Kavanaugh by the slimmest of margins. To keep their members in line, the leadership ramrodded the scheduling of the confirmation hearings before much of the Judge’s record could be examined. The White House invoked a claim of Executive Privilege and refused to release over 100,000 pages of documents related to Kavanaugh’s work in the Bush White House. The night before the hearing, the White House delivered 40,000 pages of Kavanaugh related documents to Congress, leaving no time for review or analysis before the hearing began. No previous Supreme Court nominee has had his or her record stonewalled like that. 

Even if one is compelled to forget all of the other atrocities committed by this President during his short tenure in the Oval Office, the events of this week alone should be enough to compel Americans of conscience to rise up and demand the President’s resignation.