It's Nov 6, 2020 and I believe Trump's presidency is ending. I look forward to forgetting him, but one day I'll be asked what all the fuss was about.
For that day, to remind me, here is what I know of him know:
- The crimes for which he was impeached -- extorting a foreign power to attack a political opponent.
- The crimes for which he was not impeached -- the collusion with Russia against HRC.
- The obstruction of justice.
- The personal corruption.
- The corruption of government and of industry, including running a protection racket against businesses.
- The casual racism.
- The people who worked for him.
- The anti-science -- from CO2 to COVID to the environment and beyond.
- Inserting Christian fundamentalism into American government.
- The constant lying. (He was paradoxically transparent however. An accusation was invariably a confession.)
- His mockery of persons with disabilities.
- The threats and the cruelty. Not least the separation of migrant children and parents.
- The stupidity. He really didn't seem to know very much about anything beyond corruption and real estate.
- The propaganda.
- The destruction of the ACA without a replacement.
- The complete disinterest in art, culture, and the humanities.
- The destruction of government agencies.
- A complete lack of honor, compassion, or decency.
- COVID mismanagement.
- QAnon.
- The authoritarianism.
- The pardons. (Remember Al Kinani)
- The post-election conduct.
- The record-breaking federal executions.
- The Gallagher war crime pardon
- The illegal destruction of government records.
As of Nov 2020 McSweeney's has a list, NYT Magazine did an interactive summary, The Atlantic had many articles summarized in their Biden endorsement:
...he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus"
Was there anything he did that was good?
- Accepting North Korea as a nuclear power. It was the only viable choice, but I'm not sure HRC could have taken it (esp. with a GOP Congress).
- He understood the Left Behind -- the majority of Americans who will never be knowledge workers. I don't think my team gets this. He didn't know what to do for them, but he knew what they wanted.
Update 1/18/21 - adding Unthinkable from The Atlantic.
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