Face Trump’s unfitness for office sooner, not later
Let’s not mumble or whisper about the central issue facing our country: What is this democratic nation to do when the man serving as president plainly has no business being president?
The Michael Flynn fiasco was the entirely predictable product of the indiscipline, deceit, incompetence and moral indifference that characterize Donald Trump’s approach to leadership.
Even worse, Trump’s loyalties are now in doubt. Questions about his relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia will not go away, even if congressional Republicans try to slow-walk a transparent investigation into what ties Trump has with Putin’s Russia.
Party leaders should listen to those Republicans who are already pondering how history will judge their actions. Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham seem to know it is only a matter of time before the GOP will have to confront Trump’s unfitness. They also sense that Flynn’s resignation as national security adviser for lying about the nature of his contacts with Russia’s ambassador raises fundamental concerns about Trump himself.
The immediate political controversy is over how Congress should investigate this. Republican leaders say attention from Congress’ intelligence committees is sufficient. Democrats (with some GOP support) argue it would be better to form a bipartisan select committee.
In fact, those pushing for the select committee are right to fear that keeping things under wraps in the intelligence panels could be a way to buy Trump time. Letting Americans in on what went on here, and quickly, is the only way to bolster trust in this administration, if that is even possible. And let’s face the reality here: It could also hasten the end of a presidency that could do immense damage to the United States.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in the meantime, must immediately recuse himself from all decisions about all aspects of the Russia investigation by the FBI and the intelligence services. Sessions should step back, not simply because he is an appointee of the president but more importantly, because he was a central figure in the Trump campaign. He cannot possibly be a neutral arbiter.
In this dark moment, we can celebrate the vitality of the institutions of a free society that are pushing back against a president offering the country a remarkable combination of authoritarian inclinations and ineptitude. The courts, civil servants, citizens — collectively and individually — and, yes, an unfettered media have all checked Trump and forced inconvenient facts into the sunlight.
It is a sign of how beleaguered Trump is that his Twitter response on Wednesday morning was not to take responsibility but to assign blame. His villains are leakers and the press: “Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @ washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?). Just like Russia.”
In acknowledging that the news reports are based on “information,” Trump effectively confirmed them.
It will be said that Trump was elected and thus deserves some benefit of the doubt. Isn’t it rash to declare him unfit after so little time?
The answer is no, because the Trump we are seeing now is fully consistent with the vindictive, self-involved and scattered man we saw during the 17 months of his campaign. His obligation was to earn the trust of the 60 percent of Americans who viewed him unfavorably. Instead, he has ratified their fears.
As a country, we now need to face the truth, however awkward and difficult it might be.