Political Asymmetry

It is clear from the evidence presented by the Congressional January 6th commission that Donald Trump was instrumental and central to the effort to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. It is also clear that he was enabled in this by those around him; some like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell were completely unscrupulous actors for whom the end justified the means and truth was immaterial. Others were simply too weak or too afraid to cross Trump who, like every gangster, used fear as a means of control; and as spiteful and vindictive as he is, would exact revenge against any who dared exhibit an iota of disloyalty. 

But to most rational outside observers, the puzzle is why those in his circle apparently took so long to understand what Trump was doing and took no steps beforehand to prevent him from ripping up the constitution in his pursuit of power.  It's astounding because Trump told everyone on prime time TV on multiple occasions what he would do should he lose; and still Republicans and in particular those in his inner circle chose to pretend that he wouldn't carry out his thread to undermine the election. To the rest of us, his lies about the election was shocking but unsurprising. (Indeed, I still don't understand why, when some fact Trump doesn't like, the media insist on reporting that "Trump denies the allegation". Anyone who has been paying attention these last six years knows that Trump lies incessantly; to report his denial is therefore of no legitimate news value - but I digress).    

After the second day of public hearings today, the PBS News Hour invited Ben Ginsberg, a long-time Republican elections attorney, onto the program to comment on the days proceedings. He cautioned that Republicans should be concerned that by not soundly condemning Trump's disregard for the constitutional transfer of power, they set a precedent that Democrats would exploit should a Republican win fair and square in a future election.  Unfortunately he's quite wrong and Republicans need not worry. When push comes to shove, Democrats lack the raw craving for power that Republicans have increasingly exhibited the last quarter century; Democrats are still, to some small degree, restrained by principle and allegiance to the rule of law (rather ironic,  since that used to be the Republican's key selling point). 

Kayser Söze ("The Usual Suspects") was feared because he was prepared to kill members of his family to demonstrate just how ruthless he was. Trump has proven to be the Kayser Söze of the American political system. And in the six years since he entered the political arena, we have not found a way to combat his unprincipled self-interested pursuit of power. The result is a laying waste of values and trust in democracy from which it will take decades for the country to recover - if it ever does.