President Donald J. Trump pulled back the curtain and exposed his true character when he incited the attack on the Capitol Building. It is now impossible for even loyal Trump supporters, including the Republican politicians who have had their lips firmly placed on the President’s rear end, to ignore the President’s malicious malcontent.
After directing his followers to march to the Capitol and confront even Republicans who did not support his false claim that the election was stolen and that he had beaten Joe Biden in a landslide victory, President Trump now has blood on his hands. Four people died, and their deaths were related to the storming of the Capitol. 68 have been arrested at the time of this writing.
Yesterday, America witnessed President Trump reaching the tipping point of his ego-driven maniacal reign. Loyal Trump ally, Mick Mulvaney, former chief of staff and acting as a special envoy for the Trump administration, was one of several high-profile resignations that followed President Trump’s actions. Mulvaney said that many others wanted to resign but were afraid that Trump would replace them with someone less qualified that could have a negative impact on America.
Trump sycophants, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, lead the growing change in attitude and support for President Trump. Staunch Trump supporter, Senator Lindsey Graham, said on the floor of the Senate, “Trump and I, we had a hell of a journey, I hate it being this way. Oh God, I hate it, but today all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”
Today, Congressman Adam Kinzinger became the first Republican to call on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment immediately and remove Trump from the White House.
There is talk of Congress censuring or impeaching the President. Slowly, Republicans are speaking out against Trump, and this is a sign that supporting the insane antics of the President is NOT the criteria by which we judge the Republican Party.
Trump supporters are different from Trump voters. Many Americans who voted for President Trump recognize him for who and what he is but voted for him because of an agreement with overall ideology or they did not like the option. Those who invaded the Capitol are Trump supporters.
Facebook and Instagram have banned Trump. There will be those who will call that “censorship,” but it can also be called “sensible.”
Trump has been driven by a massive ego that does not allow him to see reality. When a massive ego is the foundation of an individual’s character, whether a politician or a professional athlete, there will be a moment of reckoning. That’s the moment when reality overpowers the false sense of importance that comes from the ego. Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump faced his moment of reckoning.
In the face of the travesty that Trump incited and the criticism and resignations that have resulted, the President himself is now saying that the end of his presidency is near and that “there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.” Essentially, President Trump has conceded. It’s time for the circus to leave town.
What happened at the Capitol yesterday was made worse by the fact that the President himself incited the embarrassing assault on democracy. But in the end, all of the actions of the invading force of Trump supporters did nothing but act disgracefully and destroy historic property.
Last night, Congress returned and finished their work of declaring Joe Biden President-elect; and, in doing so, they sent a message to those Trump supporters that what they did was wrong and that their actions had no impact on their work.
As bad as the images from yesterday were - America has survived even more challenging times. Let’s keep this in perspective and seek the lessons we can all learn from this sad event. As divided as America has been, perhaps yesterday was a flashpoint in time that exposes how unnecessary our differences have been. With more Republicans now coming out from under the rocks of denial, maybe we all have seen where that kind of intense division leads.
In the true spirit of America, it would have been nice to have kiosks selling Kool-Aid to the crowd that stormed the Capitol.