Donald Trump has been indicted, and that is a good thing for America.
The indictment is another sign that in spite of the ongoing assault on the rule of law from the right, there is still life in the American legal system. The indictment follows in the footsteps of Donald Trump being impeached twice and being beaten from coast to coast by President Joe Biden.
Republicans have once again rallied to Trump and Fox News, the party’s media arm, devoted hours and hours to wailing and whining about Trump facing the music.
This is what the Republican Party deserves. They built this entire crooked house of cards and the party has earned its place in history as the home of the first former president to be indicted and the only president to be impeached twice. Trump was also the first sitting president in twenty-five years to lose his reelection bid (after losing the popular vote a second time).
He is a loser who backs losers and is widely despised and detested.
The right could have chosen a different path. They could have held on to their admittedly disproven and disastrous conservative values without making their standard bearer the tabloid-headlining host of The Apprentice. But his embrace of racist birther conspiracy theories, endless misogyny and vile bigotry against Latinos, LGBTQ people, Muslims and anyone who isn’t a rich white man who kisses his posterior was just too intoxicating. So they picked Trump and they still pick Trump.
One of the most stark divides in American politics came when the two major parties decided to indulge themselves and line up behind a nominee that best expressed the hopes and dreams of the party rank and file over the choice of the party establishment. The Democrats chose Barack Obama, the first Black president, and his unifying message of “hope and change.” Republicans chose Trump, who called for a ban on Muslims and a wall to defend against Mexican “rapists.”
I was wrong in believing Trump would never actually be indicted, and I still think the notion that he will ever go to jail for crimes is the stuff of fantasy. But the stain on the Republican Party should stay in place for all time to come.
It would be nice if the party’s other corrupt standard-bearers had faced this kind of public comeuppance. Ronald Reagan, laughing off AIDS deaths and referring to Black leaders as monkeys. George W. Bush, butchering innocent Iraqis while peddling WMD lies and allowing New Orleans to drown. But that won’t happen.
We have to take the bright spots when we can get them. Trump is the corrupt criminal racist the right has rallied behind and continues to support. There is no better reflection of the conservative movement’s perverse core than the elevated role of Donald J. Trump within its ranks.
Congratulations, you built this filth and failure.
If you like this newsletter, please consider becoming a paying subscriber by clicking here to join. I won’t be putting any of my regular columns behind a paywall and they will always be free. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed so far!
— Oliver
Follow me, Oliver Willis, on Twitter @owillis
Exclusive Kal-El Photo
Kal is a good boy who got doggie ice cream treats last night.
Couldn’t have put it better in hundred years of trying.
Raygun also had the lovely Iran-Contra crimes that he should have answered to.