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Ghosts of Presidents Past
Author: BobR    Date: 07/14/2021 13:02:40

What a president does after they leave office is often more significant than what they did as president, and is generally quite telling of their character. President Obama has been involved in trying to heal race relations and voting rights. President Bush (the younger) took up art. President Clinton has the Clinton Foundation which works to improve lives across a broad spectrum of issues. Presidents Bush (the elder) and Reagan have passed; so out of respect I will not discuss them. President Carter is probably the most illustrious, having spent the last 40 years building houses for the homeless, swinging a hammer when most men his age would be falling asleep in front of the TV after eating dinner at 4:30.

I guess you know where this is heading. It's only been 6 months, but former pResident Orange Menace has spent his time like a zoo attraction in Mar-a-Lardo griping about how the election was "stolen", and believes a rag-tag group of white supremacist militias domestic terrorists will reinstall him in office before he's hauled off to jail for tax evasion (or driven to bankruptcy).

The toxic effect he's had on this democracy still lingers, unfortunately. There are plenty of folks in Congress who still express their fealty to him, and a minority who still openly support the terrorist insurrection on the Capitol building which he inspired (and promoted). Racists and the detritus of society across this country (especially outside of the cities where the majority of the U.S. population lives) have been emboldened, and want nothing more than to kick some liberal ass. That's what makes the Crap-hole Caligula's latest offense even more dangerous.

During the Jan 06 insurrection, one of the rioters - Ashley Babbitt - was shot. She is being made into a martyr in the worst possible way:

When Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, 35, was shot dead by police while trying to force her way through a barricaded door protecting members of the House of Representatives from a mob of rioters inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, she was energized in part by then-President Donald Trump's big lie that Democrats were hard at work stealing the White House from its rightful Republican owners.

Far from dampening support for the big lie, Babbitt's death is being amplified by Trump loyalists into a powerful rallying symbol for far-right anti-government extremists the FBI calls terrorists, who now find aid and comfort within a Trumpified GOP.

Babbitt's canonization as a right-wing martyr is a dangerous development for a Republican Party with members increasingly comfortable pressing for and defending political violence. Trump himself seems to want to use outrage over Babbitt's death as a blast furnace to heat up his 2024 political comeback — but cheerleading extremism is more likely to send the country up in smoke.

"Who was the person who shot an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman?" Trump asked Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, before interrupting himself to offer an answer: "I will tell you, they know who shot Ashley Babbitt. They're protecting that person. I've heard also that it was the head of security for a certain high official — a Democrat."

Anyone who's watched the video available knows it was s member of Capitol security who shot her, as she was trying to climb through a broken window into the House chamber. It's also common knowledge that Congress members AND their staff (both House and Senate) are not allowed to bring guns into the building, and especially not onto the floor of the House. There are some rumblings (per the Blog Diva) that he was referring to Senator Schumer when he said "a certain high official". A senatorial aide in the House while the electoral vote count was occurring? That makes absolutely no sense.

In reality, he could have been referring to anyone, but he's likely just throwing chum into the water and letting the sharks decide who he might be referring to. I'd say it's an ingenious use of stochastic terrorism, but with him I think it's more instinctual than calculated. He moves and acts like a predator without really thinking too hard about the consequences. It's the hallmark of a sociopath (or is it psychopath?).

Regardless, his post-pResidency will continue to be an aberration on our American experiment, just like his time in office was. Here's hoping - like his time in office - it's a short one.

 
 

15 comments (Latest Comment: 07/14/2021 20:13:49 by livingonli)
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