The way forward for America after Trump
President DonaldTrump’s decision to skip President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony disrupts yet another tradition in this country’s historic, peaceful transition of power. In this case, it is a traditionworth breaking to avoid the distraction and potential security riskTrump represents.
ConsiderTrump’s absence fromthe transition-ofpower formality one more defining moment in an unprecedented era of definingmoments for the country. The outgoing president, supported for reelection by some 74 million voters, is reduced to an intrusion. He is a public safety hazard. Acannon so loose he cannot be trusted with basic ceremonial duties.
by his decision to stay away on Jan. 20. The country is in a collective state of shock and exhaustion following a week of alarming upheaval and violence inside the Capitol. The news of another death attributed to Wednesday’s siege, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who allegedlywas smacked with a fire extinguisher, adds to the anger and bewilderment— and continues to narrowthe target of responsibility. For more than an hour preceding the violence, Trump goaded his rallying supporters directly, repeating his “stolen election” claims and encouraging them to fight and to go to the Capitol:
“All of us here today do notwant to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical left Democrats, which is what they’re doing, and stolen by the
Even his supporters might be relieved
fake news media. That’s what they’ve done and what they’re doing. We will never give up. We will never concede, it doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.”
We considerTrump’s actionsWednesday to be nullifying to his right to serve as president and commander in chief, even in his final days. He should be removed fromoffice, aswe wrote, whether via the 25th Amendment or impeachment. Or he should resign. Whenever his term of office concludes on the calendar, the result is infamy.
SoTrump will leave the WhiteHouse. But what then? Is it possible to shape this moment as a lesson against political extremism and intolerance? Can Trump supporters continue their activism by supporting candidates— bold outsiders, yes, with conservative views on government, the courts, immigration— but reject incendiary rhetoric? Is it possible for the far left of the Democratic Party to apply this moment as a coolant too?
This jolt to democracy doesn’t have to be the end
of the “Trump era” in theway his supporters fear it will. Trumpmay still seek to be a political force. But this could be the start of a newmovement with new leadership for theRepublican Party, new appreciation for the power of language, and new respect for returning to greater diplomacy on all sides. That includes elected officials, the media, the pundits and the ratings-obsessed cable news networks. It includes the special interest groups, organized labor leaders, rankand-file citizens, social media users.
It includes us all. What has become acceptable commentary and behavior— harassing political opponents at home and at restaurants, engaging militias at local protest marches andmore— would have been considered unthinkable and obscene by most standards and norms not too long ago. We need a reset button.
than Biden to glue together what is possible, to navigate ideological splits in his own party and to convinceTrump voters he is their president too. Ushering outTrump is the assured part. Dealing with deep divisions and distrust among the American people is the more formidable mission. The anger that led to violence at the Capitolwill not disappear with the inauguration of a new president.
What can happen, we hope, is a meaningful lowering of arms in this nation’s culturewars and its politics. Arenewed effort at finding common ground in theway previous administrations did it— the sweeping policy changes of government entitlement programs enacted by President Bill Clinton, then-House SpeakerNewt Gingrich, a Democratic administration and aGOP-controlled Congress, for example.
Because what is clear iswe cannot proceed further on this trajectory of political outrage and thrashing. Our safety and security as a country, and our sacred democratic traditions, depend on taking a smarter path.
No one will be in a tougher position