Turning away from Trump is best path for US

I began this column four days before Trump calls out his followers to raise hell in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6….

Somehow he intends to overturn the democratic election he lost, or at a minimum, cement the belief among his cult of supporters that the election was fraudulent and so oppose and undermine the upcoming Biden administration. His Trumpians in Congress who support the effort want to remain on good terms with his base in order to win their future elections.

I know, this is so bizarre to comprehend in America that it must be a fantasy. No president would attempt to overthrow more than two centuries of constitutional government, would organize riots in the nation’s capital, and would cheer them on from his fortress in the White House. Can Trump really be mad?

I am confident that, not only will the protests fail to trigger the Insurrection Act, bringing out the troops and martial law, it will tarnish, no, severely damage, the Republican Party and its chances of regaining the White House. Maybe, maybe between now and Jan. 6 GOP leaders will speak out against Trump’s folly.

… Now that Jan. 6 is behind us, what can we conclude?

The Trump insurrection to produce a coup has failed. Trump’s incitement, telling his supporters to march to the Capitol and be “strong” in a speech favoring eighthgrade language, was a jaw-dropping embarrassment. The attack and breaching the halls of Congress played very well around the world and further cemented Trump’s legacy and the ridicule of America. More than one commentator and politician used the word “mad” in describing the president. Few congressional Republicans supported the effort to overturn the Arizona and Pennsylvania vote, but the charade played out to everyone’s dismay.

The question now is: What is to be done? There are many, including The Capital, calling for using the 25th Amendment allowing the cabinet to remove Trump. Others want an instant impeachment. I disagree. There is a better way to both condemn the insurrection and our mad president, one more subtle and effective in repudiation. Invoking the 25th Amendment and repeating impeachment will force Republicans in the cabinet, Congress, and elsewhere to act. Whether they decide to condemn or support Trump, the effect will be a mix of prolonged conflict, humiliation, hatred and the delay in healing the government and the country.

The Biden administration will have a huge policy agenda: vaccinations and the pandemic, economic recovery of families, businesses, and nation, immigration reform, restoration of relations with allies and concerted action to meet the world’s many conflicts, and so on. Biden rightly plans to restore a functioning government; Republicans will be needed, cooperative ones.

Yes, loud voices and stark journalism should continue to attack Trump’s unconstitutional and criminal behavior. Referring to him as a “sore loser” should be the mildest judgment. But as a major political actor he should be sidelined, out of the policy picture, divorced from his radical supporters, and off the front pages and evening news. He is political poison. He is not expected at Biden’s inauguration, which would give the lie to his lie that he was not elected. Let him fade away. This will double his humiliation as an already-impeached presidential failure, a political nobody, and a dark page in all the history books.

Trump has less than two weeks left to huddle down in the White House with nothing but ridicule and being laughed at to look forward to. Of course, he will continue to rant and rave about being cheated out of a second term by a fraudulent election. But is that news? Does that have one iota of credibility? Will that maintain his devoted and adoring political base of support?

Good riddance to a dreadful has-been!