We often hear the “will of the people” invoked to defend Donald J. Trump. He became the President of the United States as the result of the will of the people. His actions as president are ordained as the “will of the people.” Really? Only twenty six percent of the eligible voters in the 2016 presidential election voted for Donald J. Trump. We all know Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a decisive margin of approximately three million votes. Trump does not have a mandate and his poll numbers are sinking into the thirties leaving only his hardcore believers as his supporters. (Poll numbers are volatile and could move either way before the midterms.)
When we recall much of what Trump has done we don’t see the will of the American people at work. Withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, leaving the Iran nuclear deal in the face of evidence it is working, allowing murderer Kim Jong-un to ascend to the world stage in Singapore, demonstrating that he is indeed Putin’s puppet in Helsinki, kidnapping children at our southern border, nominating Supreme Court Associate Justices with Roe v. Wade, same-sex marriage and civil rights in their sights, imposing tariffs leading to trade wars, giving a nod to White Supremists, attacking the Department of Justice, the Intelligence community the free press and the rule of law, giving tax breaks to his wealthy buddies while seeking to deny health care to those in need and signing numerous executive orders designed to please Republican mega-donors all done in the name of the “will of the people” is a travesty. His religious zealot of a Vice-President Mike Pence, one of the greatest sycophants of all time, reminds us how noble our president is as he does the “will of the people.” Nonsense.
The Presidency of Donald J. Trump is built upon pillars of lies and deceit. His minority base bought the lies Trump trafficked in as he ran for president and continue to buy his lies as president. They believe in the alternate reality of the Trump presidency and one must question even the validity of his supporters’ will. Is a “will of the people” argument based on the will of people who do not recognize the truth valid?
The hypocrisy of the Republican Congress is the engine that drives the Trump presidency. Without that hypocrisy Trump could not remain in office. It is the hypocrisy of Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans who are going to shove Brett M. Kavanaugh down our throats as the deciding voting on a Supreme Court that will gut much of what the majority of Americans believe in that runs counter to the “will of the people.” Senate Majority Leader McConnell didn’t care about the will of the people when he denied duly elected President Barrack Obama his right under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution to nominate a Supreme Court Justice and have that nomination taken up in the Senate when McConnell refused to schedule hearings for Obama nominee Judge Merrick Garland. The Republicans press on to confirm the glaringly unpopular Kavanaugh with his closet full of skeletons.
We hear from Team Trump that he was duly elected in a free and fair election. The Mueller investigation has turned that claim into the fiction many of us knew it was early into the Trump presidency. Russian assistance to defeat Hillary Clinton, campaign finance law violations by Team Trump and the still unexplained action of former FBI Director James B. Comey on October 28, 2016 contrary to the DOJ guideline not to interfere in an election brought us President Donald J. Trump.
The November midterm elections give us the chance to show Trump and his corrupt Republican enablers what the will of the people really means. This is not an election to sit out. Unless Trump, his Republicans and his dwindling minority base are turned back in November our government will slide into an autocracy with a meaningless Constitution that fails to promote and protect the will of the people. To stay home and not vote if you believe in democracy is to give tacit consent to all that Trump has done and will do to destroy democracy in the United States of America. Every day he remains in office unchecked by a Congress that refuses to do its Constitutional duty is a danger to all Americans, the rest of the world and future generations. You don’t have to fight in rags at Valley Forge, sit in trenches in Europe or storm the beaches at Normandy facing a likely death to defend democracy. You just have to exercise your right to vote this November. One good strong blue wave in November and this national nightmare like we’ve never witnessed before will see the beginning of its end.
