{"id":500991,"date":"2022-02-06T16:45:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-06T16:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=6415f57c1c111674256f53d97d450f07"},"modified":"2022-02-06T16:45:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T16:45:10","slug":"trumps-political-depravity-sank-to-a-new-level-this-past-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/02\/06\/trumps-political-depravity-sank-to-a-new-level-this-past-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Political Depravity Sank to a New Level This Past Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Former<\/a>

Donald Trump is a \u201cwrecking ball\u201d aimed at constitutional governance, Rep. Jake Auchincloss<\/a>, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said earlier this week in response to revelations that losing presidential candidate Trump urged national security and military agencies to seize voting machines in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This past week has shown the clear and present danger that Trump represents to the survival of United States democracy. As the committee investigating the January 6 attempted putsch has revealed, Trump and his inner circle were willing to do just about anything to maintain their hold on power. Trump himself has, this week, shown just how politically depraved he is: In a statement that he released online, he berated former Vice President Mike Pence for having not \u201coverturned the election<\/a>.\u201d And at a pep rally in Texas, Trump all but promised that he would pardon those who participated in the January 6 storming of the Capitol<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump also urged his followers, many of whom have come to protests armed in recent years, to flood the streets of U.S. cities<\/a> should prosecutors in Atlanta, Georgia, or in New York City indict Trump on criminal charges — some relating to his business practices and tax filings, some relating to his efforts to intimidate election officials — as is quite possible over the coming months. In the wake of this clear effort to derail the judicial process, the Fulton County district attorney in Georgia asked the FBI to conduct a threat assessment<\/a> and to identify potential vulnerabilities in the courthouse that would be targeted by the MAGA mob.<\/p>\n

This is all so far down the lawless, fascist, paramilitary rabbit hole that even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell<\/a>, who has spent the past six years enabling Trump\u2019s every attack on democracy, mildly pushed back, saying that he was \u201cnot in favor\u201d of pardons being issued for the January 6 coup-plotters. Sen. Lindsey Graham, perhaps Trump\u2019s most odious and opportunistic of cheerleaders, also chimed in, saying that the ex-president\u2019s promise was \u201cinappropriate<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But these are milquetoast criticisms, equivalent to trying to put out a five-alarm fire with teacups full of tepid water. And even those criticisms are a rarity. Over the past year, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy<\/a> has repeatedly huddled with the ex-president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and talked over strategies to retake the House in 2022, despite the fact McCarthy initially held Trump responsible for the coup attempt of January 6<\/a>. After Trump\u2019s latest outrageous comments, there was nary a peep of discontent or discomfort from McCarthy.<\/p>\n

There are tools to bar Trump, as an instigator of efforts to trigger an insurrection, from ever running for public office again. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment<\/a>, passed in the wake of the Civil War, which specifically bars insurrectionists from office, is tailor-made for the Trump situation; yet the overwhelming majority of Republicans in Congress, including Senators McConnell and Graham, wouldn\u2019t in a million years dream of alienating their base by using this mechanism against Trump.<\/p>\n

It is, once again, a stunning example of political cowardice in the face of this concerted and escalating effort to destroy U.S. democratic norms and institutions.<\/p>\n