op-ed (will be) published by Ray Mueller March 2020
There has almost always been an ugly underground in American politics. It usually surfaced only in cities, counties, and a few states.
But now it’s in full view on the national stage. Left unchecked, it will destroy the country’s fundamental structure of government after 240 years. The long-standing institutions of government are being poisoned by personal and political pollutants.
This ugly underground’s message is: Lying is a virtue. Telling the truth is a punishable act. Denigrating, mocking, belittling other people is honorable. Undermining long-standing protocols for administering justice is proper. Overturning the military code of justice is appropriate. Breaking the law is acceptable. Changing the law to exonerate one’s behavior is lawful. Using the levers of government to carry out personal vendettas is appropriate. Evidence, fact, and truth are irrelevant. Personal loyalty oaths are in order. Only opinion matters.
Many examples of this ugly underground have played out during the Donald J. Trump administration. Many more will be coming.
The humiliating escort (firing) of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the White House – a tactic ordinarily applied to anyone being arrested for alleged criminal activity – was appalling. His twin brother was also vengefully ousted.
Vindman was ejected not because he was a danger to the security of the country but, because in speaking truthfully at a Congressional hearing, he was a threat to the security of Trump. This was a message of intimidation to anyone else might not bow to the Trump Party line.
Days later, Attorney General William Barr complained about supposedly not being able to do his job because of Trump’s tweets. What he didn’t say is that for one year he had already been doing Trump bidding anyway. He was merely asking that Trump not make it so obvious.
What Barr also didn’t say is that his job in particular is to protect Trump’s political henchmen (and a few women) from the appropriate punishment for their crimes and to prosecute anyone who opposes Trump’s doings. This was a brazen attempt to show that Barr is independent, which he has repeatedly shown he’s not.
Had the dispute between Barr and Trump been genuine, Trump would have fired Barr immediately after the ABC News interview aired. Barr’s “rebuke” of Trump was a face-saving, window-dressing effort to mitigate the embarrasment in handling the case of Roger Stone, a long-time sleazy political operative.
Was this surreal spectacle a set-up orchestrated and done with Trump’s blessing with “no collusion”? More than 2,000 former Department of Justice employees and some 1,000 judges asked Barr to resign but this charade nonetheless deceived tens of millions of Americans.
Trump defies anyone to stop him. So far, the complicit Republican senators haven’t shown any backbone to do so.
If Trump deserves any credit, it’s for revealing what he’s going to do before enventually doing it. Trump describes other people as being “evil, vicious” persons. He’s really describing himself. If he’d only recognize that in himself.
Ray Mueller, Chilton
P.S. I hope this will inspire one or more of you to write your own letters to the editor. This one is limited to 500 words. Check the word limits for the publication you send one to. You can borrow my terminology.