I’m having some trouble ranking the latest revealed antics of the former president who (Hopalong stepping on the scene to help save the Republic?) named Cassidy on the recent House committee January 6 hearing†
Was it when he wanted to remove the metal detectors at the Ellipse because so many people were turned away for carrying guns that the then president thought it made the crowd seem smaller?
Or attacked the Secret Service agent—after the president’s speech at the Ellipse when he wanted to go straight to the Capitol and the agent, presumably fearing for the president’s safety among the insurgents already attacking the Capitol, said he would return straight to the White House?
Or was it the president who in a fit of rage threw a plateful of food against a wall in the White House, broke it and got food on the wall? This is important because the crockery does not belong to the President, but to the White House and therefore to the American people. One can only hope that the January 6 committee will at least bill the former president for the record. Let’s just assume that clearing the walls is part of the staff’s duties.
(Trump’s claim that Mike Pence should be hanged for insisting on following the Constitution is so blatant and typical of the former president that he doesn’t deserve to be on the list.)
The former president certainly fulfills two definitions of “character”: he acts like a child who is a character but lacks personal character.
Here are a few apt quotes from people wiser than former President Trump. They appear chronologically.
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.” (Buddha)
“If the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers.” (Socrates, because Trump calls it lies and fake news)
“We, the people, are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overwhelm the men who would pervert the Constitution.” (Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president)
“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we have destroyed ourselves.” (Lincoln)
“Patriotism means helping the country. It does not mean to assist the president or any other official… It is patriotic to support him as far as he is serving the country efficiently. It is unpatriotic not to resist him to such an extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he is failing in his duty to assist the country.” (Theodore Roosevelt, another great Republican president)
“In any case, the question is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger of causing the material evil that Congress has a right to prevent.” (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes)
“All that really matters in public life is character.” (Jennifer Rubin, columnist, The Washington Post)
What a truly pathetic person, and to think he was president for four years. Just look at the Supreme Court to see how it has succeeded in making American citizens less safe, and for women, less free.
Sam Oppenheim taught history at California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock from 1971 to 2005. He now lives in Massachusetts and remains a faithful reader of the e-edition of The Modesto Bee.