August 16, 2022
Many people in this country need to take a good hard look at themselves with regards to why they continue to blindly follow Donald Trump no matter how wrong, inappropriate, undemocratic, or dangerous his statements and actions are. We’ve seen this pattern continuing for years now, and it’s beyond disturbing. It’s dangerous. I say dangerous because history has shown that when people blindly follow an authoritarian leader, dictatorship often is the result. Yet despite this, millions of Americans (in this case Republicans) continue down this dark path.
Let’s consider the fact that the FBI, using a legal search warrant, removed 11 sets of classified documents from Trump’s possession at Mar-A-Lago. 3 of these were Confidential (which is the lowest level of classified). 3 were rated as Secret (which is the next step up), and 4 sets were Top Secret. The 11th set of documents was Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI). TS/SCI documents are so secret that they are supposed to only be accessed in specific, secured locations. Yet all of these documents were at Mar-A-Lago after Trump had left office. Why would he have documents such as these at his home. No former president is supposed to have such classified materials in their personal residences. What’s even more disturbing is that the federal government had been trying for months to get Trump to turn over classified materials he was not supposed to have, yet clearly Trump had not returned all of them. As to why he had these documents, Trump’s story has changed multiple times, which is suspicious in itself.
According to the Presidential Records Act, when a president leaves office, documents (that “includes any documentary materials relating to the political activities of the President or members of the President’s staff, but only if such activities relate to or have a direct effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President,”) must be turned over to the National Archives because they belong to the United States government. Officials at the National Archives go through the documents to see what can be made public and what is classified. If a former president wants to display some records in their library, they must get permission from the National Archives to do so.
Remember that the US government had been trying for months to get materials from Trump that he wasn’t supposed to have. The Department of Justice is still investigating the situation, so we don’t have all the answers at this time. But I find it extremely troubling that Trump had these classified documents (documents that it sure sounds like he was not supposed to have). There are reports that at least one of the document sets may have been in regards to nuclear weapons, and while this has not been confirmed, if true, would be beyond troubling. Because why would a former president have deeply classified documents with regards to nuclear weapons? Hopefully the DOJ’s investigation will supply us with some answers. And what makes the situation so much worse is how it’s just the latest in a long history of Trump’s lies, exaggerations, and inappropriate comments, actions, and behavior.
Trump lost the 2020 election. The evidence for this is beyond overwhelming, yet Trump continues to spew out his outrageous claims and lies about it. It’s also clear that his false claims instigated the assault on the United States Capitol Building that occurred on January 6th, 2021. He repeatedly insulted our allies during his presidency, seriously weakened the NATO alliance, and even questioned the necessity for the alliance to exist at all. He mocked people with physical disabilities and grossly mishandled the COVID pandemic. And these are just a few examples of Trump’s inappropriate behavior.
Yet despite all of this, millions of Americans continue to blindly follow Trump no matter what. They won’t admit when he is out of line and totally wrong. Blindly following a leader no matter what is exceedingly dangerous and undermines democracy. It’s the sort of behavior that dictators use to seize and hold power. History is full of examples. Yet millions of Republicans keep right on doing this.
It’s scary.
People need to open their minds and quit being blind followers. They need to get news and information from a variety of independent sources and learn different points of view. They need to think critically and independently.
But will they do it?
That’s the big question.
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