Originally posted by Juvenal
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I supported Nixon (going so far as advocating burning those tapes on the White House lawn). I'm happy that he was pardoned, but glad we still have the tapes.
He was a deeply flawed president, but a highly accomplished statesman.
Trump is half of that.
I liked Trump as the brash buffoon from the Bronx, but have yet to hear any defense of that kind of behavior from a president, and it's that behavior which makes him unfit. He has never stepped up to the challenges of his oath, to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and ... to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Buffoons, oaths.
In defense of liberal democracy, the presidency of the United States needs the authority to call out political purges by Xi in Hong Kong and the mullahs in Iran. Trump is openly targeting anyone who has ever supported his political opponents or refused to support him.
China is already the world's largest emitter, projections show they will have the largest economy within the next decade, and Erdogan has a free rein. Trump is withdrawing from the Paris agreement, has withdrawn from the TPP, and is inciting crowds against journalists covering his rallies.
In the wider picture, the details, no matter how compelling, are almost irrelevant.
Because America is the world's guarantor of liberal democracy, and our president is its speaker.
Individual actions can be countered. What can't be countered is the ongoing erosion of the authority of the presidency. Every world leader outside the liberal democracies will be pointing at him, from here forward, whenever it's convenient.
He was a deeply flawed president, but a highly accomplished statesman.
Trump is half of that.
I liked Trump as the brash buffoon from the Bronx, but have yet to hear any defense of that kind of behavior from a president, and it's that behavior which makes him unfit. He has never stepped up to the challenges of his oath, to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and ... to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Buffoons, oaths.
In defense of liberal democracy, the presidency of the United States needs the authority to call out political purges by Xi in Hong Kong and the mullahs in Iran. Trump is openly targeting anyone who has ever supported his political opponents or refused to support him.
China is already the world's largest emitter, projections show they will have the largest economy within the next decade, and Erdogan has a free rein. Trump is withdrawing from the Paris agreement, has withdrawn from the TPP, and is inciting crowds against journalists covering his rallies.
In the wider picture, the details, no matter how compelling, are almost irrelevant.
Because America is the world's guarantor of liberal democracy, and our president is its speaker.
Individual actions can be countered. What can't be countered is the ongoing erosion of the authority of the presidency. Every world leader outside the liberal democracies will be pointing at him, from here forward, whenever it's convenient.
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