Ideas & Opinions — The Donald vs Democracy

By Cheryl Cook, As Published in The Union

What is happening in the courts in Florida, New York, Washington DC, and Georgia are not about one man. It’s about a mindset that believes it has the right to go to any length to retain power. Even breaking the law.

Because the law is meant for those other people.

But breaking the law includes lying to federal agents. Threatening state election officials. Harassing state election workers. And forging a violent insurrection to attack our very core of Democracy by denying the legitimacy of real votes.

To all the columns in The Union referring to whataboutisms.......please tell us which flawed, former Democratic president has obstructed the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of a presidential election. We’re waiting....

Nothing, no whataboutism, comes close to 91 (count’em!) felony counts in four different cases against Trump. No former president or presidential candidate comes close to that dishonorable feat.

Trump was given his days in court challenging his loss. Republican officials in states he lost reported it was a fair election. Despite threats, election officials held their ground. Votes were counted and recounted with no significant change. So he conspired to send fake electors to Washington and organized a violent siege on our Capitol.

Instead of pledging allegiance to our Constitution, he had already pledged a fight if he lost due to a “ rigged election”. It was a manipulation of fore-thought by a privileged individual who has always relied on the razzle of showmanship and dazzle of celebrity to get what he wants.

I’m wondering if those who still defend him will have the moral fortitude to watch the televised court sessions in the Georgia case where Republican witnesses will testify and factual evidence will be presented that support the counts against him

A refusal to watch his day in court would be very self-revealing. Because this is how democracy works and we are either for or against our judicial system. We can’t be Back the Blue and not support prosecutions of alleged crimes. We cant be the party of Law and Order and threaten to demolish the FBI and DOJ.

This country is Trump-fatigued. He emerged from the glitz and greed of the casino underworld, lost a ton of money loaned to him by his father, and unfortunately decided to stay in the gambling business by taking high risks in the world of politics.

He carried the mob boss mentality by charging his attorneys like Michael Cohen with doing his dirty work and remaining seemingly unaware. He even targeted those he perceived as threats by labeling them with insulting nicknames. And like juveniles right out of the locker room, the MAGA bully squads cheered him on. They never saw through the act. A few holdouts still don’t.

He got away with threatening Vladimir Zelensky, so he repeated the ploy with Brad Raffensberger, with the words, “All I need is for you to find 11,780 votes.”

This is NOT A CHARACTER FLAW. Other presidents made mistakes. But even Nixon had the moral fortitude to leave office. And those around him were there to tell him so. They didn’t coddle him, or lie for him, or conspire for him. They chose another man.

We all make mistakes. But this irrational behavior is indicative of a man so tied up in his defense mechanisms to protect a fragile ego, that it has led him into criminal behavior. He has shackled himself within his life of lies and delusion.

It pains me that our kids are seeing this. So much for “Critical Race Theory” or “Woke” or saying “Gay” to unhinge their vulnerable sensibilities and scar their fragile minds. This is abhorrent and depraved behavior coming from a former US President. He has been arrested and a criminal mugshot has been taken. And yes, Virginia, there was a surrender.

I am angry because our kids in high school and colleges across this country are having to experience this mobster wannabe attempt to manipulate the government just like he manipulated those who brought legal suits against him in the past. He has been in the courtroom fighting little guys all his life. This is different, Mr. Trump. In the Federal case, it is the United States Government, We the People, against Donald J. Trump!

This may be tough on America. But it is not bad for America. What is good is holding Trump responsible for the first time in his life. What is good is preserving our way of Justice for All. We must show the world that Democracy wins in America. Even when the stakes are this high.

It is a Black female prosecutor who is bringing Tump to justice based on the findings of a Grand Jury in Fulton County, Georgia. If that isn’t a marked manifestation of progress, I don’t know what is.

The system may be working. Following his surrender and arrest in Georgia, Trump suddenly softened his position from a podium slamming, “The election was rigged!!” to a demure shoulder shrugging, “I believed it was rigged.”

Too late, Mr. former President. You will be proved to be a clear and present danger to Democracy. You will lose this fight, too. Take this bet.... Democracy will win!