A Felon in the White House

Donald Trump in prison stripes

Donald Trump in prison stripes
If you drive the get-away car for a bank robber, you are considered to be an accomplice because you aided and abetted the robber. That means you face the same liability and culpability as your friend who physically entered the bank and robbed it, and, likely as not, you will face the same punishment. Last Tuesday, knowing of his many crimes against this nation and with full knowledge that he will enjoy immunity from any future crimes, 72 million Americans bailed out Donald Trump, and enabled a convicted felon to go free and once again occupy the highest office in this land. Certainly, those folks did not help Trump commit bank and insurance fraud, or sexually assault women, or steal classified documents, or stage an insurrection to overturn an election, but in voting for Trump they condoned his criminal acts and helped him escape sentencing for his many offences. That makes them complicit in his past crimes and culpable for any future ones.

The question is, why would anyone vote for a criminal to be the leader of the free world? Some pundits say it’s because of inflation, but the truth is, inflation is way down. Others say it’s because Kamala Harris didn’t care about regular folks, but her economic plan included helping more people buy their first home. Then there are the folks who say Harris let too many illegal immigrants into our country, but Trump is the one who killed Biden’s immigration bill that would have solved the problem. And what about all of the Evangelicals who chose an adulterous, sexual predator who has never read the Bible (he only sells them) as their vessel of Christian leadership? What about Trump supporters who say that they voted for him because he was persecuted by the Justice Department? But here’s a reality check: Jack Smith didn’t force Donald to organize fake electors or pressure election officials to find him more votes.

But the thing that most disturbs me about most Trump voters is that they claim to be pro-law and order, yet downplayed an insurrection that injured over 140 officers and resulted in the death of four more. That MAGA mob acted on Trump’s orders because he wanted to halt the certification of votes in order to replace legal electors with fake ones.

I will never forget the visceral reaction I had to watching 3,000 rioters storm our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, causing death and destruction in their maniacal wake. If people say they voted for Trump because of his immigration policy, or if they forgive and forget his other criminal acts then so be it. But if you don’t care about the collateral damage of January 6, then you are worse than complicit, you are un-American.

Trump not only led the insurrection, he did nothing to stop it until hours later when he told the rioters, “Go home now, we love you.” Today he refers to the insurrectionists as “hostages,” and he promises to pardon them after he takes office. In wake of that, we should all remember the words of three brave officers who survived January 6, beginning with Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards who received traumatic head injuries when the mob hit her with a bike rack.

“I felt the bike rack come on top of my head, then my head hit the concrete stairs behind me. I saw officers with blood all over their faces.”

Metro D.C. Officer Mike Fanone was brutally beaten, suffered traumatic brain injury and a heart attack. He describes Trump as “An authoritarian with a violence fetish.”  And he sees Trump’s victory as a personal afront. “It feels like America said, ‘fuck you, Mike Fanone!’”

Meanwhile, officer Aquilino Gonell who sustained severe injuries, which caused him to retire, remarked, “People who voted for Trump put him above the law. He betrayed us, and the vast majority of Americans think that’s OK. The majority of people in this country saw what happened on January 6, but they seem to have amnesia.”

The day after the election Melania Trump tweeted, “We will safeguard the heart of our Republic.” That sentiment comes as a surprise to 142 police officers, as well as to scores of former Trump cabinet members (including his own vice president), who say Donald Trump is not fit to be Commander in Chief. Even Trump’s new running mate, J.D. Vance once referred to his new hero as “America’s Hitler”.

The 72 million people who voted for Trump have essentially just driven the get-away car for a serial criminal, and unlike him, you are not immune from the bad things he will do over the next four years.

 
 

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