The Politics of Revenge

Donald Trump could have been an entirely normal Republican President. It would have been easy (at least for a normal person who wasn't a narcissist) to put his divisive, hateful rhetoric behind him and just get down to the business of governing. He started off on the right foot, thanking Secretary Clinton for her many years of government service and sounding downright humbled by his election win the day after the election. Progressives among the Democrats would have still opposed his policies, which differed little from run-of-the mill Republican fare, but anyone attacking his personality flaws would have just sounded petty. He could have appointed experts who knew their field, rather than loyalist yes-men and -women. The economy, for the most part, continued to improve (even though it was largely a continuation of the trends started at the end of Obama's second term) giving him bragging rights and making him look good. He made it through three years without an external crisis, and the crisis of the pandemic would have challenged any president. Even with Covid rampaging through the country, he could have been re-elected if he had handled it differently. I give him credit for pushing the pharmaceutical industry to come up with a vaccine, which was produced in record time. But he sunk himself, first by pretending it wasn't a problem, then by projecting false hope about how quickly it would go away, then by undermining his own experts instead of coordinating a consistent narrative - and supporting half-baked conspiracy theories. It was about him and not about the hundreds of thousands who were dying. 

Trump's constant stream of personal attacks, unseriousness about his responsibilities, ignorance and public incompetence, as well as his apparent belief that he could flout the norms, and even the law, was what got him impeached twice and made him the subject of multiple civil and criminal indictments. His public comments were often virtual confessions to various crimes! It's as if he has been daring the justice system to do something about his actions. I'm not saying there isn't a political component to the numerous investigations, but the idea that it's "election interference" as many Republicans say, is ridiculous. A glitch in our election laws allows someone who is under indictment, or even has been convicted and imprisoned, to run, be elected, and serve as President. Nothing prevents it. Whether it's true or not, it's an article of faith among Democrats that they'd rather run against Trump than any of the more traditional conservative Republicans. Someone like Sen. Tim Scott or former Gov. Nikki Haley might receive votes from conservative leaning independents who would never vote for Trump. Even some moderate Democrats who have never supported Biden might cast a vote for a Republican in that case. Trump on the ballot will mean that Biden will win. Probably. 

Despite the obvious fact that the investigations into Trump are justified, (in most cases Trump doesn't deny doing what he is accused of, just that he "did nothing wrong") Republicans are rewriting history to claim that the impeachments were unjustified (even unconstitutional) as are the various investigations into documents, January 6th and his alleged financial crimes. They have taken up Trump's cry of "witch hunt" and have set out on a mission of revenge and retribution. The majority of the business that the House of Representatives is engaged in is "investigations" where they badger and shout at witnesses who don't say the things that they have already decided is the truth. Republican politicians obsess over the President's former drug addict son, making allegations based on assumptions about his business dealings and further assuming that, just because they don't know everything about those business dealings, they must by corrupt. Sitting members of the House of Representatives routinely refer to "The Biden Crime Family", as if that's a settled fact. They have created a Committee on "The Weaponization of Government" that does nothing but weaponize government. 

If by some horrible twist of electoral fate Trump is elected in 2024, and Congress is back in the hands of the Republicans, Trump has stated that that he is "your retribution". We'll see what a politicized Department of Justice really looks like.