Former President Barack Obama has been delivering at his rallies by far the best critiques of Donald Trump and his administration.
So far, his is the best effort to put the case against Trump and his record in a relatively short, engaging, and cogent form.
How do you, after all, summarize the crimes of a fascist political leader who has committed countless abuses over the last four years, and who is committing new crimes and telling “big lies” every day?
The grimmest outrages include Trump’s raising doubts about the conspiracy to kidnap and perhaps kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, when the conspirators have already been arrested and jailed by the FBI and the Justice Department. “Maybe it’s a problem, maybe not,” Trump said.
This is one of the most shameful statements ever made by a president of the United States. Trump is, in effect, giving encouragement to apparent traitors plotting to overthrow the government.
Another outrage is the unexplored role Trump played in the assassination of Michael Reinoehl on September 3, 2020, near Seattle. In a tweet, Trump egged on the Justice Department-led police operation to get Reinoehl, complaining about the fact that they were taking so much time. An hour or so after Trump’s tweet, Reinoehl was assassinated by these federal and other police officials. Quickly thereafter, Attorney General Barr praised the successful operation.
See
1) Aaron Rupar, “‘There has to be retribution’: Trump’s chilling comments about extrajudicial killings, briefly explained; He’s not waiting for the facts to come in, ” VOX, September 14, 2020 (5:10pm EDT).
2) Trump Tweet at 8:40 p.m.EDT on September 3:
“Why aren’t the Portland Police ARRESTING the cold blooded killer of Aaron “Jay” Danielson. Do your job, and do it fast. Everybody knows who this thug is. No wonder Portland is going to hell! @TheJusticeDept @FBI”
3) Evan Hill, Mike Baker, Derek Knowles and Stella Cooper, “‘Straight to Gunshots’: How a U.S. Task Force Killed an Antifa Activist; New accounts from the scene raise questions about whether Michael Reinoehl, suspected of killing a far-right Trump supporter, pulled out a gun before officers fatally shot him, ” New York Times, October 13, 2020 (Updated Oct. 15, 2020).
There is so much material here.
Trump’s campaign, in its last days, boils down to a massive and unabashed campaign of huge lies. It is an attempt to envelop voters in a cloud of lies and propaganda, in order to obscure reality (e.g., the Covid-19 pandemic) from their view, so that they will vote on the basis of Trump’s phantasmagorical version of what is going on in the world.
If Trump succeeds in stealing the election, or seizing power through an ongoing attempted coup d’état, his government will lack any legitimacy. He will have to be impeached and removed from power by the Senate, whether before or after the new Congress is convened on January 3, 2020.
The Trenchant Observer
