A swimming lesson about Donald Trump
And why we need the atomic bomb of rebukes
Last month I swam laps at a public health club in my underwear. I forgot my bathing suit and was damned if I was going to spend an hour walking home and back to get it. As I approached the pool, I was humiliated by the horrified stares from two older women in the whirlpool. But as a litigator, I’ve learned to watch my case circle the drain and not flinch. And so I shot the women a look that said, “You perverts, haven’t you ever seen a man in a Fruit of the Loom bathing suit?”
With each lap, I expected a pool skimmer to hit me on the head before security dragged me out. But it never happened. And so instead of making a beeline to the locker room when I was done, I smiled at those ladies and joined them in the whirlpool. By then, their shock had subsided and their expectations recalibrated. They didn’t raise an eyebrow as they shared a hot bath with a stranger in his underwear.
As I walked home it occurred to me: That’s how President Donald Trump gets away with it.
Democrats resist, but Trump has desensitized his political base to his corruption by serving them more corruption. Something can only remain shocking for so long. Eventually the “unprecedented” becomes routine. But it’s more than that. Legitimate allegations against the president are met with staged indignation and counterattacks that are, according to first lady Melania Trump, 10 times worse than the original allegation.
To undermine the FBI’s Russia investigation, Trump ordered a probe to “investigate the investigators.” Since a whistleblower disclosed his efforts to bribe Ukraine into manufacturing dirt on potential rival Joe Biden, Trump has all but placed a bounty on the head of that civil servant. And his attacks on John McCain lasted beyond the grave. Seven months after the senator’s death, Trump falsely claimed McCain had peddled “fake” news and was “last in his class” at his military academy.
‘You are not fit to serve’
Whether it is intuitive self-preservation or narcissistic calculation, it works. Roughly 40% of the public accepts Trump’s explanation for the horrors he has wrought on U.S. politics.
Fiona Hill, a former top Trump adviser on national security, described his misinformation campaign as a “fictional narrative.” White House adviser Kellyanne Conway has called it “alternative facts.” Whatever euphemism applies best, Trump has perfected the art of the lie in a way that aims his supporters’ outrage at the witnesses and evidence that establish his misdeeds, rather than at him.
Former law-and-order Republicans now routinely smear law enforcement efforts and witnesses. American intelligence agencies have been branded public enemies not to be believed. The president and complicit Republican henchmen have trashed Hill, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and virtually every other witness who has testified in the face of personal threats.
The insidiousness of Trump’s desensitizing us to a train off the rails must be stopped. That’s where impeachment comes in. For too long, we have relied on pundit babble and impotent congressional subpoenas as a response to pieces of the sky falling. Impeachment is the atomic bomb of formal rebukes. It is a concrete line in the sand — a historic borderline that says, “You are not fit to serve.”
Though Trump told “Fox & Friends” recently that he does not expect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to go through with an impeachment vote, impeachment by the House — essentially an indictment — is a virtual certainty. Then there will be an impeachment trial in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will steer Republicans to a quick acquittal despite overwhelming evidence that Trump leveraged his position for personal gain.
A tragic presidency
Even so, a Senate refusal to remove Trump from office will not mean impeachment has failed. If we stand a hope of reclaiming a democracy in which we can place our faith, it will be through the trail of institutional bread crumbs leading home from the back alley we’ve been in for three years.
Reams of evidence that would have remained buried are now available to the public, which can assess whether presidential bribery and its GOP coverup matter. If those who supported Trump in 2016 continue to do so, it won’t be for lack of information. And when time puts the tragedy of Trump’s presidency into perspective, impeachment will be the mark that distinguishes Democrats from Republicans.
For Democrats, impeachment is also a strategic necessity. Nothing breeds apathy quicker than feeling like your leaders are doing nothing in the face of a disaster. The 2020 platform must be built around: “We’ve done all we can. If you’re unhappy with Trump and the Republican Senate, vote us into power.”
Finally, however slim, impeachment brings a hope for deterrence. Last month was not the first time I forgot my bathing suit and swam in my underwear. Perhaps if security had hit me on the head with a skimmer and dragged me out of the pool the first time, I’d make sure I packed my bathing suit before heading to the gym.
Michael J. Stern, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors, was a federal prosecutor for 25 years in Detroit and Los Angeles. WANT TO COMMENT? Have Your Say at letters@usatoday.com, @usatodayopinion on Twitter and facebook.com/usatodayopinion. Comments are edited for length and clarity. Content submitted to USA TODAY may appear in print, digital or other forms. For letters, include name, address and phone number. Letters may be mailed to 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA, 22108.