Ponderthescriptures.Com Just Reporting Trump, Aka, Caligula, the Evil Of, the Case Against R
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ponderthescriptures.com just reporting tRUMP, aka, caligula, the evil of, the case against r. scott burton Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trump’s failure to act after a mob stormed the Capitol, Parker, Dawsey, Rucker, washingtonpost.com “As senators and House members trapped inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday begged for immediate help during the siege, they struggled to get through to the president, who — safely ensconced in the West Wing — was too busy watching fiery TV images of the crisis unfolding around them to act or even bother to hear their pleas. “‘He was hard to reach, and you know why? Because it was live TV,’ said one close Trump adviser. ‘If it’s TiVo, he just hits pause and takes the calls. If it’s live TV, he watches it, and he was just watching it all unfold.’ “Even as he did so, Trump did not move to act. And the message from those around him — that he needed to call off the angry mob he had egged on just hours earlier, or lives could be lost — was one to which he was not initially receptive.... “Trump ultimately — and begrudgingly — urged his supporters to ‘go home in peace.’ But the six hours between when the Capitol was breached shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and when it was finally declared secure around 8 p.m. that evening reveal a president paralyzed — more passive viewer than resolute leader, repeatedly failing to perform even the basic duties of his job… “This portrait of the president as the Capitol was under attack on Jan. 6 is the result of interviews with 15 Trump advisers, members of Congress, GOP officials and other Trump confidants, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share candid details.” “Trump should be impeached. But that alone won’t remove white supremacy from America, Hillary Clinton, washingtonpost.com "Almost 20 years later [after 9/11], we are living through another failure of imagination — the failure to account for the damage that can be done to our nation by a president who incites violence, congressional leaders who fan the flames, and social media platforms that sear conspiracy theories into the minds of Trump's supporters. Unless we confront the threats we face, we risk ensuring that last week's events are only a prelude to an even greater tragedy.” “Republicans wrestle over removing Trump,” Alexander Olson, thehill.com “‘As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building,’ Sasse told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt in an interview. ‘That was happening. He was delighted.’ “‘I’m sure you’ve also had conversations with other senior White House officials, as I have,’ Sasse told Hewitt. Page 1 of 91 “Particularly damaging to Trump was a clip that emerged showing him and his family in a festive mood watching video monitors of the pro-Trump mob gathered around the Capitol with the party song ‘Gloria’ blaring. “The video filmed by Donald Trump Jr. showed his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle dancing and urging viewers to fight, with an enthusiastic White House chief of staff Mark Meadows flashing a thumbs up shortly before rioters overran Capitol Police and ransacked Senate and House offices. “In the background, the president and his daughter Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser, could be seen intently watching coverage of the crowd.” “Donald Trump Isn’t Going Anywhere Anytime Soon,” Jessica Wildfire, medium.com “He won’t ever concede victory. Not only that, but he’ll spend the rest of his life insisting he won. Think about it. He’s never admitted to being wrong once in his entire life. Ten years after the fact, he still won’t even acknowledge Barack Obama’s birth certificate. “Trump will never stop. He doesn’t know how. “He’ll be leaving office with a sizable base of support. His mob of deplorables will continue donating their savings to his piggy bank and committing acts of violence in his name.” “This is How Donald Trump Broke America,” Umair Haque, medium.com “America leads the world by a massive way — a terrible way. It has the most deaths and the worst Covid outcomes of any nation, except perhaps its junior partner in disgraced stupidity, Britain. “More than 330,000 people are dead. Mutliply that by two, because that’s the number that’s going to be hit as the pandemic tails off — if it does. That brings us close to three quarters of a million deaths. “No calamity or war in America history comes remotely close to this staggering, jaw-dropping number. And the even grimmer truth — one which Americans are either too numb or foolish to grasp — is that 99% of those deaths were needless. If America had acted like Vietnam, it would have had just 120 deaths. If America had acted like South Korea, it would have had just 3,200 deaths. If America had acted like New Zealand, it would have had just 1,200 deaths. “So. Why isn’t Donald Trump being held accountable for all this mass death?... “Sure, Trumpists played a role, flouting lockdowns, not wearing masks, calling it tyranny — but again, it was Trump who led them to that, justifying it, inciting it, modelling it. The epitaphs of the Covid dead are dug by Donald Trump’s horrific irresponsibility. “A decent lawyer, I imagine, could make any of several cases, without too much effort. Negligent homicide, manslaughter, dereliction of duty. Any number — any number — of abrogations of responsibility if not outright criminal acts come to mind.” “There Are No Disputed States, Only A Mad President, Laid Bare,” Eric J. School, medium.com “And on a recorded phone call this weekend with the Georgia Secretary of State that was distributed by the Washington Post, Trump’s ‘evidence’ of fraud first and foremost is the comparative size of the crowd at his rallies. Which of course is proof of nothing. And he keeps returning to that. As evidence. Really. Read it; listen to it if you don’t believe me (I’ve just given you a link): it’s where he starts, and he keeps coming back to it. Then, after you do, tell me he’s not completely delusional….” “F*** You, Ted Cruz,” Nicholas Grossman, medium.com Page 2 of 91 “A bunch of Republican voters believe ‘the election was rigged’ because political and media leaders told them so. Trumpist leaders lie about the election, Trump supporters believe those lies, and Trumpist politicians claim that voters believing their lies means those lies have to be treated as not- lies. This despite the fact that the allegations are such obvious lies that Trump’s lawyers aren’t even alleging them in court.” “America’s acceptance of Trump’s behavior will be his vilest legacy,” Robert Reich, theguardian.com “Most of the 74,222,957 Americans who voted to re-elect Donald Trump – 46.8%of the votes cast in the 2020 presidential election – don’t hold Trump accountable for what he’s done to America. “Their acceptance of Trump’s behavior will be his vilest legacy…. “Trump has brought impunity to the highest office in the land, wielding a wrecking ball to the most precious windowpane of all – American democracy…. “And he can get away with it. Almost half of the electorate will even vote for his reelection. “A president can also lie about the results of an election without a shred of evidence – and yet, according to polls, be believed by the vast majority of those who voted for him.” “Trump has unfinished business. A republic he wants to destroy still stands,” Finton O’Toole, irishtimes.com “The power of his instinct was that he knew how to tap into a hatred of government that has been barely below the surface of American culture since before the foundation of the US. “That instinct proved sufficiently well attuned that he got nearly 75 million votes in November, even while his malign incompetence was killing his own people. He got those votes, moreover, having made it abundantly clear that he would never accept the result of the election unless he won. They were votes for open autocracy. “This is his legacy: he has successfully led a vast number of voters along the path from hatred of government to contempt for rational deliberation to the inevitable endpoint: disdain for the electoral process itself. “In this end is his new beginning. Stripped of direct power, he will face enormous legal and financial jeopardy. He will have every reason to keep drawing on his greatest asset: his ability to unleash the demons that have always haunted the American experiment — racism, nativism, fear of "the government." “Trump has unfinished business. A republic he wants to destroy still stands. It is, for him, not goodbye but hasta la vista. Instead of waving him off, those who want to rebuild American democracy will have to put a stake through his heart.” “Biographer Michael D'Antonio on the most ‘subversive and traitorous federal official’ in history,” Chauncey Devega, salon.com “There was not any corner of the mainstream media that was prepared to deal with a person as malevolent as Trump, who was not operating out of any commitment to the country or to the oath of office. The press was paralyzed by the enormity of Trump's malevolence. Reporters kept waiting for the moment when they could say, ‘Oh, see, he is capable of something better.