The scars of the Trump administration

There is a famous scene in Band of Brothers where the defeated German army is seen marching west in huge columns while the victorious allies drive eastward in their half-tracks and personnel carriers. When one of the Yanks realizes that about half of the German vehicles are actually horse-drawn, he feels compelled to shout out, “You have horses! What were you thinking?!”

Hillary Clinton was certainly not an ideal candidate, but Donald Trump lost me when he went all in on the great conspiracy about a Kenyan ascending to the Oval Office. His proof that this might have occurred? “People are saying.” His apology? Don’t hold your breath.

I will take absolutely no pleasure in seeing neighbors (and a handful of friends) who I know are Trumpsters once Trump is either thrown out of or voted out of office. Half of them will still think, no matter how much proof otherwise, that it was all a Deep State plot to get him. But what I will feel is tragic is the time we have lost to address global warming, the international relationships that have been broken, and the scars that have been left on the American public.

Our nation cannot afford a repeat of this mistake.

Despite months of criticism, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has played this pretty well. Reports indicate that it was only when she threatened the White House with an impeachment inquiry that Trump decided to release the transcript of his “perfect” phone call. If she had fired that last bullet months ago, one doubts it would have happened that quickly.

Pelosi said last year that she felt Trump would “self-impeach.” She was right. Pelosi reportedly said she would prefer to see him imprisoned, not impeached, and may realize that a future President Mike Pence could end up pardoning Trump.

At least Trump will probably be charged by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for tax evasion once he is a private citizen. Isn’t that how they finally got Al Capone?