Donald Trump wants to do what?

There is a new blog post entitled, “Why ‘being reasonable’ doesn’t work and why violence is sometimes unavoidable.”


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I started hearing about this on Saturday in social media but saw not a word in the mainstream media, until, suddenly, the following day:

Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday [December 3] in a continuation of his election denialism and pushing of fringe conspiracy theories.

“Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social and accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”[1]

Donald Trump’s suggestion this weekend that the U.S. Constitution should be terminated in response to his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen drew a largely muted response from Republicans, the latest sign that many GOP officials remain reluctant to take on the former president even as he challenges the country’s founding precepts.[2]

I have to admit, I was inclined to ignore Donald Trump’s latest outrage, in large part because I doubt he’s a viable candidate,[3] and in large part because I can only take so much madness.

Although [Laurence H.] Tribe acknowledged that Trump has said many outrageous things that should not always command attention, he does not believe this latest statement should be brushed off, particularly after Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election led to a pro-Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.

“It’s a distinctive statement. It sort of says the quiet part out loud — that he has no reverence for the country, for anything other than himself,” Tribe said. “This is like saying, ‘You want to see an insurrection? I’ll show you an insurrection. I’ll just tear the whole thing up.’”[4]

Why on earth aren’t Trump and Kanye West in padded cells pending frontal lobotomies, along with all the rest of their followers? You can’t tell me this shit is sane and I can’t tell you Laurence Tribe is wrong to suggest this is a call for another violent uprising.[5]

“With the former President calling to throw aside the constitution, not a single conservative can legitimately support him, and not a single supporter can be called a conservative,” [Adam] Kinzinger tweeted Sunday, while tagging in his message the Twitter handles of [Kevin] McCarthy, as well as Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “This is insane. Trump hates the constitution.”[6]

I regret to say that Adam Kinzinger’s understanding of conservatism was never precisely true[7] and is now seriously and woefully outdated.[8]

Spencer S. Hsu, Tom Jackman, and Rachel Weiner, “Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy,” Washington Post, November 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/29/rhodes-oathkeepers-sedition-verdict-jan6/

Tina Nguyen, “Has Trump Already Lost ’24?” Puck News, November 30, 2022, https://puck.news/has-trump-already-lost-24/

Tierney Sneed, “Appeals court halts special master review of documents seized at Mar-a-Lago in major defeat for Trump,” CNN, December 1, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/politics/mar-a-lago-special-master/index.html

Kristen Holmes, “Trump expresses support for Capitol rioters as he continues to embrace extremist groups,” CNN, December 2, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/02/politics/donald-trump-january-6-rioters-support/index.html

Karoun Demirjian and Toluse Olorunnipa, “White House rebukes Trump’s suggestion to suspend Constitution over 2020 election,” Washington Post, December 3, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/03/trump-constitution-truth-social/

Kristen Holmes, “Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post,” CNN, December 4, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/03/politics/trump-constitution-truth-social/index.html

Martin Pengelly, “Biden rebukes Trump for saying constitution should be ‘terminated’” Guardian, December 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/04/biden-trump-us-constitution-terminated-election-fraud

Amy B. Wang, “GOP lawmakers largely silent after Trump suggests ‘termination’ of Constitution,” Washington Post, December 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/04/trump-constitution-republicans/


Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[9] fair use.

Alluding to past assessments that [Vladimir] Putin’s advisers could be shielding him from bad news, [Avril] Haines said he was “becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces”.

“But it’s still not clear to us that he has a full picture of at this stage of just how challenged they are,” she said, addressing an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California.[10]

So Vladimir Putin is still delusional. Just maybe not as delusional.[11] That’s kind of a large grey area.

Peter Beaumont, “Vladimir Putin better informed now about Ukraine war, says US,” Guardian, December 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/04/vladimir-putin-better-informed-now-about-ukraine-war-says-us


  1. [1]Kristen Holmes, “Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post,” CNN, December 4, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/03/politics/trump-constitution-truth-social/index.html
  2. [2]Amy B. Wang, “GOP lawmakers largely silent after Trump suggests ‘termination’ of Constitution,” Washington Post, December 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/04/trump-constitution-republicans/
  3. [3]David Benfell, “More questions than answers as Donald Trump flags come down,” Not Housebroken, December 3, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/28/more-questions-than-answers-as-donald-trump-flags-come-down/
  4. [4]Amy B. Wang, “GOP lawmakers largely silent after Trump suggests ‘termination’ of Constitution,” Washington Post, December 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/04/trump-constitution-republicans/
  5. [5]Amy B. Wang, “GOP lawmakers largely silent after Trump suggests ‘termination’ of Constitution,” Washington Post, December 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/04/trump-constitution-republicans/
  6. [6]Amy B. Wang, “GOP lawmakers largely silent after Trump suggests ‘termination’ of Constitution,” Washington Post, December 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/04/trump-constitution-republicans/
  7. [7]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126).
  8. [8]David Benfell, “My 2024 forecast,” Not Housebroken, August 17, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/10/my-2024-forecast/
  9. [9]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q
  10. [10]Peter Beaumont, “Vladimir Putin better informed now about Ukraine war, says US,” Guardian, December 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/04/vladimir-putin-better-informed-now-about-ukraine-war-says-us
  11. [11]Peter Beaumont, “Vladimir Putin better informed now about Ukraine war, says US,” Guardian, December 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/04/vladimir-putin-better-informed-now-about-ukraine-war-says-us

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.