Post Mortem

About a year ago we decided to make a public statement that we would not allow Donald Trump to establish an autocracy over our country. We are Americans! We made an appeal encouraging others to join us in speaking out, believing and hoping that in expressing our determination we were speaking on behalf of We the People. We never thought that any one voice could articulate unanimous views, but we dared to hope that in expressing shared basic values of honesty and decency and a respect for all deserving it we were helping to dissuade Trump from making the attempt.

We made a few points that we thought would help achieve our goal. Salient among them was that not all old white men were Trump supporters. That generated a number of comments from friends along the lines of “why are you limiting it to old white men?” and “you shouldn’t exclude women“. Obviously we could have improved our wording.

Still, imperfect as was our statement, we saw in the eight months between Washington’s birthday and the election a realization that Trump had to go. Trump does not share our values. Trump has no principles at all, and has proven himself unfit for the trust given him. We agree that we cannot allow a twisted concept of winning to induce the abandonment of our principles.

In reaffirming what we believe to be important, we made it clear that we will not permit an aspiring autocrat to become a dictator. We the People give marching orders to our govenment, not the other way around. Our directions are clear now. We demand a government that works for us. We demand truth. We demand competence. We will not allow anyone to corrupt this great country. We are Americans!

In struggling over what should be done, and refusing to be impotent, we made our appeal. We reached a limited audience, and may have had no impact whatsoever. We were, at least, a drop in the stream. We made a statement, and along with many others helped form the narrative and make the decision. History will reflect that we did what we could. The groundswell we witnessed indicates that We the People would have done more had it been required. There is plenty of work to be done, but we can be grateful that more will not — we hope — be necessary to stop Trump. We the People have confirmed by the way in which we conducted our election that we are Americans!

In keeping with our goal to encourage thoughtful members of We the People to express their views on the topic of the day, we will be “publishing” short pieces of commentary from time to time. That begs the question “What is the topic of the day?” Individual answers will differ, but a short one would be: “What kind of a society do we want to create as we struggle to emerge from our present multiple crises?” 

The essential decency, honesty, and integrity of the majority of America’s citizens has been the foundation of our country since its founding. Those virtues are an essential component of any successful society. If we live in accordance with them, we will continue our experiment in improving the lives of We the People. Trump has scorned those values his entire life. We have seen for the past four years his idea of “winning” gravely injure our country. We are mystified by Trump’s mental and emotional hold on some of our fellow citizens, but are encouraged that many people with true conservative values are finally making clear public statements of their disapproval of Trump. We dare to hope there will be more as election day nears. 

We the People will define ourselves in the coming months. What kind of people are we, and what kind of people do we want to be? Our website will be available our fellow Americans so they can to help us get it right. We expect all visitors to prowethepeople.com to be well informed and well intentioned.  We are confident that our basic views and values are widely held, and believe there is great value having them expressed publicly. United with others across the land, we hold the ultimate power. It often appears that we and Trump’s adherents live in parallel universes, and we cannot let ourselves be dragged into theirs. 

“The practice of taking highly legitimate, effective institutions of the state, and politicizing, using them for short- term political advantage is page one of the authoritarian playbook.”   -   Steven Levitsky, Harvard University Professor of Government.

We the People have noted Trump’s proclivity for making enemies of anyone who tells the truth to counter his lies. We see his attacks on our institutions, and his attempts to undermine our confidence in the many dedicated professionals, staff members, and civil servants whose work enables our government to perform its duties for We the People. Weakening these institutions injures us in many ways. We have seen it inflict serious injury on numerous individuals, including Fiona Hill and LCOL Vindman, who spoke truth during the impeachment proceedings. It is clear that there was merit to the Mueller investigation, but Trump’s enablers allowed him to escape serious scrutiny by the Congress. We have seen honest, virtuous Americans, determined to do their jobs with integrity, thwarted and often removed from office by Trump. He has the power, given to him by We the People, to put his own loyalists in numerous positions where they can carry out his harmful policies. He has abused that power by firing or moving people who resist his corruption and replacing them with sycophants and stooges. We need to take that power back, and give it to someone worthy of wielding it.

Trump’s refusal to accept the recommendations of scientists for dealing with the pandemic is, if anything, even worse than his other treacherous acts of government subversion. He has made a concerted effort to instill doubt in the minds of anyone still listening to him that the Center for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, WHO and other institutions dedicated to helping maintain public health, as well as any physician, scientist, or public health official, who takes issue with any of his unsupported statements about Covid 19, are expressing their views to achieve a political end.

His rampant narcissism causes him to personalize every event, so he sees any person who disagrees with his untruthful statements about the pandemic as working for his downfall by advising people ro wear masks and avoid gatherings in public in order to hurt him by hurting the economy. These are the musings of a sick man, and they are contributing to making our society sick.

Of course, these absurd statements are extemely insulting to these highly intelligent doctors and public health specialists, whose careers have been built on their desires to protect and enhance our collective health. Trump doesn’t mind denigrating these fine, hardworking professionals. That is, as is everything about him, corrupt. Whatever he thinks makes him look good in the short run is good. What is good for the country — what is good for We the People — in the long run, has no relevance for Trump. Ratings now is what matters. How does this transaction benefit me now? That is the scope of his analysis. If the decision turns out bad in the long run, he will simply lie in whatever manner he thinks will make people accept his explanation that he has, always, done a smashup job! Or so he sees it.

Trump’s unmatched narcissism causes him to lie about the pandemic, attempting to convince people to return to work, school, recreational activities to "prevent the cure from being worse than the disease." He wants the economy to improve in the short-run, that is, before the election. Trump has no capacity to look beyond the immediate; he is concerned about his ratings today, and how he can improve them until the election. After that, half the country may get sick but that is then, and this is now. So, "don’t let Covid 19 take over your life. Don’t listen to Dr. Fauci. Dr. Redfield was confused when he said that if we all were to wear masks we could defeat this virus." Early in this most anxious of years, Trump did not want to allow passengers who had contracted the virus on a cruise to depart the ship because it would reflect badly on his numbers. He said the fifteen or so reported cases would soon be down to none.

Now, as Trump brays about doing a great job, the American carnage attributable to the virus includes a death toll approaching a quarter of a million. Scientists tell us it did not have to be this bad. These are facts. The sick, and the friends and families of the afflicted, cannot ignore them. The rest of us ignore them at our peril.

We know Trump is a fraud and a failure. We know that Trump lies to keep the bad news from We the People. We know that Trump will cheat in the election; the efforts to suppress the vote are on public display right now in Texas, in Georgia, and in other locales around the nation. Evidence of the damage an arrogant ignoramus can do to a society has been piling up for four years. We have forty years worth of evidence of Trump’s greed and corruption. We can, in general terms, predict the even greater injuries which will be visited upon We the People if Trump is allowed to retain power after January 20. We know all this. We have known it for a long while.

The question is: What are we going to do about it? ** * * *

Trump is a fraud and a phony. He tries to wrap himself in the American flag, but we aren’t taking any lessons in patriotism from Cadet Bonespurs. In his crude attempt to misuse our love of our country, he merely accentates the contrast between himself and those of us he labeled losers and suckers. Trump’s absurd claims about keeping America great deserve only scorn. America is great because the ideas upon which it was founded provide the basis for We the People to live in freedom, controlling our own destiny. Trump is devoid of ideals. He lies to cover up lies to cover up failures. 

His claims to be a great businessman are debunked by string of undeniable business failures and bankruptcies. He has cheated many people over the course of many years. His claims to have a plan for providing affordable health care to We the People have, unsurprisingly, proven hollow. We the People have been gravely wounded by Trump’s frauds and failures. Fraud is not a foundation upon which to build greatness. Enough. 

Trump’s disdain for We the People is obvious in his contorted explanation for lying to us about the threat of the virus.  He said he did not want us to panic.  He must have concluded we could not handle the truth, and thus he had to lie, saying that the disease was not serious when he knew that it was.  Then he had the audacity to compare himself to Churchill in WW II.  Trump must have forgotten that Churchill’s first words to the House of Commons were “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.  We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind.  We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.”   

Churchill made similar statements over the radio to the entire country.  Perhaps Trump is unaware that the British people did not panic after hearing those words.  Perhaps Trump is unaware that the British unflinchingly bore the injuries of the Battle of Britain, and fought on to victory, without panic.  Or is Trump’s lying simply a coverup for his failure to tell the truth to We the People, because he thought it would benefit him?    What if he had gone on television in March, while wearing a mask:  “Our country has a major threat to contend with — it’s called a Corona Virus.    We Americans don’t panic under a threat, we do what we must to defeat it.  I have a mask on because wearing a mask can help prevent the disease from spreading.  We will put the full strength of your government behind the effort to win this battle.  We have some tough months ahead, but we will follow the advice of our scientists and do what we must, as Americans always do.  Keep calm and carry on.  Listen to the doctors.  Wear a mask.”

Miles Taylor deserves an accolade for his candor in informing us about Trump’s failures to protect us, and for forming REPAIR (Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform) to oppose his reelection bid. 

A big salute also to Olivia Troyes for speaking publicly about Trump’s lack of interest in getting control of the corona virus, or anything else which he does not think benefits him. Trump labels these former insiders as disgruntled employees, which is at least partially true.

Becoming disgruntled is a common result of working for Trump, eventually occurring in anyone with a backbone and a sense of honor. We the People are indebted to Mr. Taylor, Ms. Troyes, and hope others will finally speak out to further expose the fraud that is Donald Trump.

September 2, 2020.  Joe Biden has recently been endorsed by 81 Nobel laureates, citing his 'deep appreciation for using science to find solutions', apparently in an effort to move away from Trump’s reliance on blind luck and superstition.