Donald Trump’s attempts to cover up his vulgar and sexist womanizing and his ongoing efforts to undermine the credibility of media have revealed his most practiced modus operandi: his determination to suppress the truth about himself and his activities. When children do something wrong and are discovered, their impulse is to lie: “No Mommy, I didn’t pour juice on Billy’s head; he did it himself.” Usually, they eventually own up and confess their guilt. Over time, the impulse to lie, to hide the truth, is often (though sometimes very slowly) muscled out by the growing sinews of moral character. As we see in Trump’s case, that process of developing moral character never took place.
Trying to suppress any fact or truth that might jeopardize his interests are the steps that has choreographed Trump’s life. Consequently, it has come as no surprise that hardly a day passes when he does not assail the probe into Russia’s subverting of the 2016 election. For the first time, Trump even began naming Mueller in his attacks. This morning (Wednesday, March 21, 2018), Trump, referring to a comment made by Alan Dershowitz, tweeted:
“‘Special Council (sic) is told to find crimes, whether a crime exists of not. I was opposed to the selection of Mueller to be special Council. I am still opposed to it. I think President Trump was when he said there never should have been a Special Council appointed because…
“‘there was no probable cause for believing that there was any crime, collusion or otherwise, or obstruction of justice!’ So stated by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.”
Over the weekend, Trump raged on twitter against Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired Friday, March 17 and Robert Mueller. In a barrage of tweets, he poured out his ire:
“The Fake news is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!”
“The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!”
If his campaign in no way colluded with the Russians, then why is Trump twittering like Blake’s
“A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage”?
It seems clear, that Trump feels certain walls closing in on him. What dealings with the Russians is he so anxious to hide? Is it that the tales of micturating females are true? John Brennan, former C.I.A. director, wondered on MSNBC “Morning Joe (3/21/18) ” that the Russians “may have something on him personally.”
The aim of Trump’s twitter, and from what we can gather, the meetings with his lawyers, is quite obvious. Trump wants Mueller gone; he wants any investigations into Russia scuttled. Whatever connections he has forged with the Russians in business or whatever knowledge of his unseemly conduct they possess exercise a powerful sway over him. That’s why he asked James Comey to go easy on Michael Flynn. That’s why he had Comey fired. That’s why he had McCabe fired. That’s why he keeps screaming that there is no collusion. Russia holds the secret, and given his sterling reputation, Mueller will keep digging till he unearths the truth. Ironically, Trump too is digging a hole. As he tries to “dish dirt” on the intelligence agencies, on McCabe, on Comey and now on Mueller, he can’t see that the hole he’s digging will end up entombing him. For any intelligent survey of Trump’s words and actions could be viewed as obstruction of justice, and if his dealings with the Russians haven’t broken any laws his efforts to conceal them certainly suggest conspiracy to obstruct justice. To get a clear picture of what might constitute obstruction of justice, one need only remember two recent Presidents, one who fell and one who nearly fell:
One of the charges from Impeachment of Nixon
“Interfering or endeavoring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees.”
One of the charges from Impeachment of Clinton
…”has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice, and has to that end engaged personally and through his subordinates and agents, in course for conduct or scheme designed to delay, impede, cover up, and conceal the existence of evidence and testimony related to Federal Civil Rights Action brought against him.”
Over his lifetime, Trump has bamboozled many credulous people. And, as difficult as it might be to imagine the bloated and bombastic Trump as a child, I suppose his dealings in business reflect what he learned from that childhood. It is as if no one ever bothered to plant and nurture in him the roots of honesty and integrity when he was a young boy. Instead, we see a man in whom the gnarled and coarse sinews of selfishness and avarice have grown rather than moral character. Obstruction of justice to him, therefore, isn’t wrong; it’s simply him asserting his character.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete