Trump Supporters: Genius has its Limits

Last time, I explained how a key motivator for some Trump supporters is ignorance of his behavior. This angered some people. The following will definitely not relieve their ire.

Donald Trump’s approval numbers remains comfortably around 40%. This means approximately 40% of the population remains in support of Donald Trump, in spite of the numerous bad behaviors I listed last time. Since then, he’s even managed to add a few new ones, like using his brush with death as an excuse to tell the American people to not fear the Coronavirus. Never mind that his treatment included several experimental drugs that aren’t available to the average American. Generally doctors don’t prescribe experimental treatments unless proven methods aren’t working. So, maybe do fear the Coronavirus.

Some people aren’t aware of Trump’s behavior problems. Some people are aware of them and don’t understand why they’re worth worrying about. This group of people continue to support Donald Trump, not out of ignorance but out of…

Well, that’s not entirely fair. It’s not really stupidity. It’s more they lack the ability to take historical events, examine them for commonalities and then use those commonalities to critically evaluate current situations and anticipate logical outcomes using that information. But that’s much too long to fit into the bubble, so stupidity it is.

Note: Again, I feel the need to explain that a person can act out of stupidity without being stupid. Smart people do stupid things all the time. That doesn't mean it wasn't stupid or shouldn't be called out as such.

In short, these people don't see how a president behaving badly is dangerous to them or the country as a whole. In long, I'm going to attempt to explain why presidential behavior matters, why Trump's behavior is dangerous and why it should concern you, even if you think his policies are good. 

The office of the president is imbued with incredible power. Over the past 230 years, those powers have almost exclusively grown, save a brief check following the Watergate scandal. Regardless of the reason or best method of curtailing this power and reestablishing equity between the branches, the president has a disproportionate amount of power now. And it is unlikely this will change soon. Neither major party has shown an interest of reeling in executive overreach or really challenging the executive when it’s their party reaping the benefits. Far too many members of the legislature crave power but don’t have the stomach for responsibility. This means that, barring a divided government, the executive remains unchecked in accumulating power, establishing new norms and changing public expectations of the office.

As such, the president alone can greatly shape the course of the nation and the office of the executive itself. This expands the scope to which future executive can change the course of the nation and office of the executive and so on and so forth. It’s a snowball rolling down a hill, building mass and speed as it goes.

Regardless of how you feel about the policies of a particular president, the utmost concern must be of how the powers are being used and the office is being treated. Precedents are important because they help guide and inform future actions. Sometimes breaking from the norms is ok, other times it opens up a dangerous path for future abuse if not immediately rebuked. President Donald J. Trump has frequently opened up paths for abuse. And they will be abused.

You must evaluate the actions of the executive, not on how they benefit you, but on how they can affect the republic down the road. Behavior must be weighed more heavily than policy. Policy is changed relatively quickly and easily, while behavior can remain in place for generations or longer. Never forget that after FDR, the 22^nd Amendment was added the constitution because it was obvious that the two-term norm was shattered and would be broken again if not dealt with immediately.

It is incongruous to reject Trump’s behavior and support him on policy alone. When you support him you validate his behavior, normalize it and as such it becomes acceptable in the office of the president. It is the height of insanity to expect future executives to refrain from similar behaviors if they see the electorate tolerates it. Power comes from the electorate not God after all. Why should a leader refrain from using every tool the people have approved of?

Let’s take a look at the tools Trump has exposed through his behavior and why they are dangerous left unchecked. And the only way to check them is to immediately and overwhelmingly reject him, even if that means withholding your vote, supporting a third-party candidate or supporting a candidate whose policies you detest.

• Lied 20,000+ times: American democracy works on the assumption the government will not blatantly lie to the people. When the people are expected to participate in the governing process (which is the definition of a democracy) they need to be as fully informed of facts as possible. How else can they be expected to make informed decisions? Donald Trump doesn’t just spin facts, he makes up whole new ones. This sort of behavior is dangerous as it weakens the electorate's ability to make sound decision when it comes to policy and drives a wedge of mistrust between the people and the government. When the people stop trusting the government, they begin to envision a new one they can trust. (See France 1789, 1830, 1832, 1848, 1870, and 1968 for but a few examples).

• Commuted the sentence of Roger Stone: Roger Stone was convicted of a crime related to an investigation into Donald Trump. Using the presidential pardon in this way opens up the possibility of future presidents doing all sorts of illegal things without worry of being tried. All they need to do is have a confidant take the fall and pardon them after conviction. Any illegal activity can be justified so long as it results in you sitting in the white house because everyone can get off scot-free after the fact.

• Cast doubt on election outcomes and refuse to accept the results: No elected official should ever cast doubt on the democratic process. Any concerns of election integrity should be delt with behind closed doors. Not because it’s ok to lie, but because discussing election fraud without including “which is why we’re working hard to ensure these issues are addressed”  only serves to prime people to reject the results of the election. Democracy only works when people accept the results because they trust they were fairly reached. When the people stop trusting the process, they start to remember the only thing keeping them from marching into the white house and declaring a new government is… nothing. The people are the government. It is their right to change the system whenever they please, which is why great effort must always be taken to ensure they feel the current system is fair and provides viable avenues for change. When they feel the system is unfair and doesn’t allow for change, the people have a tendency of deciding a new system would work better. (See America 1776, Haiti 1791, Mexico 1910, Egypt 2011 and Belarus 2020 for some examples)

• “Fake News”: The first amendment guarantees Freedom of the Press. The founding fathers believed so strongly in the importance of a free press they put it in the number one spot. The role of the president isn’t to play favorites with press sources that provide favorable coverage. By constantly referring to unfavorable coverage as “fake news” Trump is trying to co-opt factuality. Even when stories are validated by multiple journalists using multiple independent sources, “fake news” gets thrown out as a reflexive response. Trump has even gone as far as to revoke press passes of journalists who criticize the administration. Freedom of the press must be taken to mean the press are guaranteed free and equal access to the government. Blatantly supporting and rebuking certain outlets can easily be used by future administrations to create a state-sanctioned press. State-sanctioned press is a hallmark of authoritarian states. It’s useful for presenting events as the government would like them happen but generally awful for keeping the public abreast of current events as they actually happen. (See modern-day China, North Korea and Russia for a few examples of state-sanctioned press in action).

• Visited his properties 274 times: The office of the president shouldn’t be used for personal enrichment. Even if the government was getting a great deal (it’s not), Trump is still funneling tax dollars to his properties and turning them into a destination of interest to anyone hoping to get in close with the president. This creates a perverse situation where even if taxpayers aren’t enriching the president, the office is being used to lure others to enrich him. This could easily be abused in the future by less scrupulous executive who encourage foreign dignitaries to patronize certain locations in exchange for preferential treatment. Which has maybe already happened. The people need to trust that officials are acting in the best interest of the people, not themselves. Once the people lose faith in their leaders to act selflessly, the people look for new leaders who will put their interests first. (See Rome 133 B.C., France 1792, basically all of Europe in 1848, Russia 1917 and Cuba 1953)

 

These behaviors are bad today and they are worse tomorrow. You only get one real chance of closing Pandora's box. After that, you are left living with the new reality you’ve created. Even if you believe Trump himself is acting in the best interests of the country, that his policies are sound and good, he is opening up the possibility of future abuse that is justified by his actions today. How can a future president be held to radically different standards just because the policies are different? These behavior are acceptable for all or they are acceptable for none. It is only a matter of time before someone does use these tools to truly break the republic, if that isn’t already happening.

Trump’s behaviors present an existential threat to the republic. He has frequently behaved and done things that left unchecked will lead to the destruction of the American government as we know it. This isn’t to say that what emerges on the other side will be authoritarian in nature, nor will it necessarily be an improved democracy. The only thing for certain is that it will be different. It may not even happen anytime soon, but it will happen. When they write the history of the United States, Donald Trump will be singled out as a turning point in the history of the country. The president who revealed how fragile the republic was and the people who saw the cracks and couldn’t comprehend the threat they represented.

This sort of systemic change doesn’t happen peacefully. Some will scratch and claw to keep the status quo, and others will push and shove to topple the whole thing over. When those forces meet chaos ensues. Donald Trump doesn’t offer stability, he guarantees chaos. Is your 401(K) today worth your child’s head tomorrow?