We are dealing with a sociopathic narcissist who wants nothing more than to divide the nation over himself.
ROBERT REICH
on robertreich.substack.com
On
September 15, Donald Trump threatened that if he is indicted on
a charge of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House,
there would be "problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we've
never seen before," adding "I don't think the people of the United
States would stand for it."
By Ed Hall
These
words followed on last month's threat by
Senator Lindsey Graham that if Trump is prosecuted, there would be "riots
in the street." Trump appeared to endorse Graham's threat, sharing a
video link on his Truth Social platform.
Trump's
latest threat requires four responses:
1. Trump is daring the Justice Department to prosecute him, in effect asserting he is above the law.
He is not above the law. The Justice Department is
methodically and carefully sifting through evidence and presenting it to a
grand jury.
Neither
the Department nor the grand jury should be intimidated by Trump's latest
threat.
2. Trump's rhetoric is dangerous.
We have already seen the consequences of what
happens when Trump invites a mob to the streets. Five people died on January 6,
2021. Many more—including members of Congress and the former Vice
President—could have been killed on that day. Since the FBI search of
Mar-a-Lago, Trump's incendiary words have fueled death threats to numerous
federal officials, judges, and lawmakers.
All
Americans should condemn Trump's latest threat and incitement to violence.
3. We are dealing with a sociopathic narcissist who wants nothing more than to divide the nation over himself.
This is not a matter of left versus
right, liberal versus conservative, Democrat versus Republican. It is a
question of the Constitution and the rule of law versus authoritarianism and
tyranny. If Trump prevails—if he intimidates law-enforcement officials from
doing their jobs over his attempted coup or his theft from the White House of
secret documents—we lose our democracy.
The
media must stop covering this as if there are two sides to this story. There
are not.
4. The time has come for Republican lawmakers, candidates, and rightwing media owners and personalities to show some backbone and vigorously repudiate Trump.
Their
failure to do so before now has created a monster that threatens to consume
this country. It is up to them to tell their constituents, followers, readers
and viewers that there is no place in America for Trump's threats to law enforcement
and his incitements to violence.
Mitch
McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Lindsey Graham, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rupert
Murdoch, and others must say it loudly and clearly: We repudiate Trump and his
threats. No person is above the law.
©
2021 robertreich.substack.com
Robert Reich, is
the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California,
Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He
served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time
magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the
twentieth century. His book include: "Aftershock"
(2011), "The Work of Nations" (1992), "Beyond Outrage"
(2012) and, "Saving Capitalism" (2016). He is also a founding
editor of The American Prospect magazine, former chairman of Common Cause, a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the
award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book
is "The Common Good"
(2019). He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving
Capitalism," which is streaming now.