NIGHT THOUGHTS ON TRUMP AND AMERICA
With Donald Trump vacationing at one of his golf resorts, the rest of us may have a chance to relax. But in truth, it’s more like a short break in a continuing nightmare, with just enough time to turn on the light, look at the clock and ponder where we are before the nightmare envelopes us again.
What can we ponder that will make all of this a bit less frightening? For one thing, it could be far worse. Trump could have fulfilled his campaign promises to repeal Obamacare, lock up Hillary Clinton, build a wall and throw out all immigrants without papers. Actually, very little has happened. He’s huffed and puffed, threatened and fumed, yet almost none of it has found its way into concrete laws.
Another thing is that Trump’s “favorables,” as pollsters call them, continue to tumble into territory never before seen at this stage of a presidency. Only about a third of the country still supports him; the opinions of the rest range from bad to awful.
Even Republicans in Congress are now more willing to buck him. Meanwhile, special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury with the power to subpoena Trump’s financial records. Didn’t Trump hint he’d fire Mueller if he did this? Wouldn’t firing Mueller be the beginning of the end?
Trump has also ignited a prairie fire of grassroots activism, almost all of it against him. Across the country, people who were never politically active are rolling up their sleeves and getting involved — attending congressional town hall meetings, writing letters to the editors of their local papers, organizing for the 2018 midterm elections. Some are even running for office themselves.
In the middle of the night, one’s thoughts also turn to where we are in life. Trump was born in 1946, the same year Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and, coincidentally, Clinton’s own special prosecutor, Ken Starr, were born. And yours truly. We are all, shall we say, beyond our prime. There’s only so much damage a septuagenarian can do from here on.
Most presidents spur debates over issues such as whether the economy needs a more stimulative fiscal policy, or whether America should support the expansion of NATO to the Baltic states. Trump has made us debate whether the U.S. economy can exist separate from the rest of the world, and whether we should even belong to NATO.
Some presidents get us talking about civil rights and civil liberties. Trump has got us talking about democracy versus tyranny.
I don’t mean to minimize the damage he’s already done. I don’t remember America ever being so angry and divided — not even through the battles over civil rights and Vietnam. Trump has also demeaned the office of the presidency, licensed bigotry, appointed absurdly incompetent people to his Cabinet, violated every ethics and conflict-of-interest rule imaginable, reduced America’s influence and moral authority in the world, and may even have conspired with a foreign power to rig a presidential election.
That’s a lot in just under seven months. He deserves a vacation.
But taking the slightly longer view, the nation is still functioning. Our democratic institutions have so far withstood the test and remain strong, just as the Founding Fathers intended. Presidential power is checked and balanced. Plus, our friends and allies around the world understand that our condition is temporary.
It has been an incredibly stressful time, but most of us are OK. In fact, I’d venture to say most Americans remain optimistic — especially my incoming college freshmen, who have their whole lives ahead of them.
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.