Don’t stop speaking out against Trump
Donald Trump is no stranger to trying to distract from serious issues threatening his position and power. He is, if nothing else, a keen and indelicate user of media and marketing to craft a storyline.
It came as no surprise, then, that at a time when his former advisor Omarosa Manigault-Newman is out with a new book and media tour that includes allegations of boorish behavior, Trump took the opportunity to bypass normal protocol and remove former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance.
Why? In his full statement on the matter, Trump claims that Kelly displayed “erratic conduct and behavior,” “frenzied commentary,” “wild outbursts on the Internet and television,” and that he monetized his official position and “told lies.”
If this list sounds strangely familiar, that’s because it could just as easily be summing up the conduct of the president himself. Frankly, I think we’d all be a lot better off if Trump had his security clearance revoked, too.
The move is yet another in a series of punitive measures taken against people who dare criticize Trump. In much of the reporting on the subject, it’s noted that the intelligence community generally goes to great pains to stay out of partisan disputes, or to be perceived as partisan in its actions. But Trump has targeted top national security officials and current and former intelligence operatives as being part of an alleged “deep state” conspiracy against him.
At this point, I would consider it a dereliction of duty for such experts to stay quiet or, worse yet, condone the actions of an increasingly unhinged and autocratic leader. This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s one of national security.
From the start of his administration, when Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates, to booting former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, Trump has a distinct pattern of ousting anyone in government who questions his actions, especially those involved with the Russia investigation. He admitted that was the real motivation behind the Brennan decision when interviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
This is, in short, not the behavior of an American president, but more closely aligned with the actions of a dictator.
What’s especially interesting in this instance, though, is that Trump thought he could use this to distract from Omarosa’s tell-all — which really tells us nothing we don’t already know about the man. That he’s a longtime racist. That he lies about his personal health. That he’s an insecure bully who calls people names behind their backs. That his administration is wildly corrupt.
The only good that came come of this whole Trump debacle now is that it will galvanize our country into action. We need a full accounting of what went wrong, and how to make sure it never happens again, and where we go from here.
Thankfully, I am heartened to see that process picking up speed. It’s coming in the form of a whole new generation of activists and candidates for office who are far more diverse, progressive, and driven by a real sense of community than ever before.
Regardless of party or post, now is the time to stand up against Trump’s attempts to run roughshod over our democracy.
Emily Mills is a freelance writer who lives in Madison.