Trump dares call it treason
How better to top off a series of racist dog whistles than to accuse — without evidence — America’s only black President of treason? At least we finally know what the “it” is, when the Washington Post’s Philip Rucker asked Trump “… what crime exactly are you accusing President Obama of committing?” Trump replied, “Obamagate, it’s been going on for a long time, it’s been going since before I got elected.”
Before the Republicans in my audience google under what federal statute “Obamagate” falls, I can assure them there isn’t one. Even Trump (yes, even Donald Trump) finally realised this. “Obamagate” he now defines as “Treason.” And what is treason? Trump answered that question in a recent interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network’s interviewer and professional suckup David Brody: “When I came out a long time ago and said ‘they’ve been spying on my campaign, … turned out I was right. Let’s see what happens.’”
Let’s not dignify Trump’s point with too much explaining. If you’re not smart enough to figure out that doing opposition research on a presidential campaign isn’t treason then you’re bullet proof against logic anyway. We won’t be buying any pencils from your cup and you can go home and play with your Hitler doll. The adults in the room that are left must now consider what it means when a president of the United States accuses his predecessor of treason. To the best of my knowledge this is another Trump first.
Treason is a touchy word anyway. Only 15 people in American history have ever been convicted of treason, the last being Tomoya Kawakitain in 1952, and each was convicted of “levying war against the state, ‘adhering to the enemies’ of the state, or aiding the enemies of the state.” (Wikipedia, “Treason laws in the United States.”) Again, doing ordinary oppo research during a presidential campaign doesn’t qualify as treason.
But, as long as we’re in the neighborhood, you may have noticed that Donald Trump has a funny habit of accusing others of doing what he does. As long as he’s bringing it up, there may in fact be a case for charging Trump himself with treason once he leaves office. Colluding with multiple foreign powers and soliciting the collusion of foreign powers against the interest of the ordinary democratic processes of the United States sounds suspiciously like treason to me. In Trump’s own words, “let’s see what happens.”
Be that as it may, it will not be up to the next president of the United States, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr, to decide whether or not Donald Trump has committed treason, it will be up to his Attorney General, whoever he or she may be. The central question before us is, what does it mean now that this sweaty-faced, enfeebled, short-fingered vulgarian has stooped to accusing the greatest President in my lifetime of an unthinkable crime like treason? It means he’s getting desperate. It means the light at the end of the tunnel for Trump is an express train. It means his campaign is unraveling and he’s running out of hyperboles to hurl at that oncoming express train rushing down the tunnel to crush him in November.
This is what happens when you corner a desperate, malignant narcissist who suspects he may not be in for an easy retirement when he leaves office. However offensive they may seem, Trump’s tactics these days are largely defensive. He’s preparing a lifeboat for his inevitable November humiliation, a lifeboat constructed of accusations of voter fraud, accusations without evidence of “fake news,” and accusations of treasonous collaborations with the previous administration. It’s a metric for demonstrating how truly frightened Trump is becoming. Expect his pronouncements in the coming weeks to become more and more unhinged and more and more wretched and pathetic. This is what a dying monster looks like.
We must never forget that this child-raping murderer is evil and must be stopped. Unity is our best recourse. They call us snowflakes. Let’s show them the kind of avalanche we can create when enough of us unite in the common cause against tyranny and injustice in November. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.