IG-noble president

Crisis reveals character, they say. The coronavirus is revealing that President Trump is, well, the very same small man he’s been all along. See the Friday night firing of intelligence community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who made the grave mistake of acting like a responsible professional when confronted with evidence of Trump’s abuse of power.

Last summer, Atkinson received a whistleblower complaint claiming the president had twisted the arm of the Ukranian president to try to get him to investigate Joe Biden’s son. Having correctly deemed it credible, Atkinson then followed the law, referring the complaint to the acting director of national intelligence. By the book, he then told Congress that the complaint existed, without revealing the details.

Refusing to engage in a coverup is a firing offense in Trump world.

This is a world where Navy captains who write letters to try to save their crews from a virus get cashiered, while SEALs convicted of war crimes get pardoned. Where FBI directors are asked to swear loyalty to the president. Where officials whose job is to police the integrity of the executive branch become deep-state enemies of the people if they hew to their job description.

Sunday evening, a manic Trump made clear the firing was pure payback, smearing Atkinson as a “disgrace” for forwarding the complaint of a “fake whistleblower.”

As usual, a guilty man projects shame upon those with infinitely more decency than he. As usual, he labels as counterfeit the threatening truth.

As usual, he shows there is no bottom.