Happy Indicatment of the Very Model of a Modern Stable Genius

I’m old enough, as the youth of today say, to remember when the pardoning of Nixon in Watergate was a disillusioning moment. Nixon destroyed the dignity, integrity, and unassailability of the office and forced us to admit that we had presidents — we already knew about the corruption in lesser offices — who would put their own interests above those of the country. By being so corrupt and ham-handed about it, Nixon set the new norm of reporters investigating presidential behavior and the media publishing it.

PRE-NIXON, as I recall, many aspects of the presidency were off limits to reporters and publication.

POST-NIXON, it was find and publish what you could before some other bastard did. but it was the deal of getting Nixon out of office with the promise of a pardon that destroyed our trust in the probity, sincerity, and morality of our government.

It was the cynicism borne of Watergate, the fear of “putting the country through that” — like the country was some tender snowflake that couldn’t take seeing a former president indicted and tried for criminal behavior — that enabled the modern Republican Party to successfully defend all of the Republican presidents since then from impeachment even though they all thoroughly deserved it. Additionally, it allowed Republicans to bring trumped up impeachment charges based on a politically driven fishing expedition against Bill Clinton, and a thirty year smear campaign against Hillary Clinton.

Had we faced up to reality and prosecuted Nixon, impeached the increasingly senile Reagan for Iran-Contra, impeached Poppy for covering up Iran-Contra, impeached W for war crimes and allowed him to be prosecuted for them, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.

But — there’s always a butt, isn’t there? — we didn’t. Instead we allowed ourselves to lulled into a fast food fueled somnambulance and maintained by MTV, fast fashion, and, now, the Interwebs.

However, with the indicatement of one Donald “Jenius” Trump by the district attorney’s office in New York City, we are slowly beginning to right the wrongs that REPUBLICANS have inflicted upon us over the past fifty years. We’ve allowed them to cover their shitty selves with a thin veneer cheap gold paint by claiming patriotism and family-values when instead all they were doing was transferring the wealth of nation to global corporations and skimming off of the top.

To all those who say that this isn’t a moment for the nation to celebrate, I say they’re wrong. I say this is a watershed moment. It is another step in turning back the tide of fascism and authoritarianism and classism and racism in our country. It is punching the dark tetrad personality characteristics infused Republican Party in the face. It is a moment we need to remember no matter what happens next.

Image Attribution

“Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Alterations were made by me using Outlook PowerPoint.