It was all there from the beginning. The bottomless narcissism, the serial abuse, the attraction to violence, the pathological lying, the potential for disaster.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” Maya Angelou said.
Too many Americans refused to believe Donald Trump when he showed us who he was in October 2016, before the first election, when the Access Hollywood tape came out:
“I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
He was already convinced of his invincibility earlier that year in January:
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible.”
That invincibility was reinforced on July 1, 2024, before the second election, by the Supreme Court supermajority’s immunity ruling:
[By] criminally prosecuting a President for official conduct…the President would be chilled from taking the ‘bold and unhesitating action’ required of an independent Executive…the threat of trial, judgment, and imprisonment is a far greater deterrent and plainly more likely to distort Presidential decisionmaking.
On that same day, Justice Sonia Sotomayor explained the danger in her dissent:
The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now ‘lies about like a loaded weapon’ for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation.
In January this year, after attacking Venezuela and threatening Greenland but before launching a war of choice against Iran, New York Times reporters asked him if there were any limits on his global powers. Trump said:
“Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
Now, on Wednesday in the Oval Office, he responded to a question about whether he expects that Democrats will try to impeach him if they take back the House and Senate:
“I could’ve done very bad things to Hillary Clinton. I could’ve done very, very bad things to Joe Biden. I could’ve done very bad things to Barack Hussein Obama…I can do whatever I want, if I want.”
We’ve seen how that goes.
We are a country at war, led by an immoral, narcissistic, sociopathic and corrupt criminal who’s been told that he can count on immunity for nearly anything that he does. He has surrounded himself with a cabinet of sycophants. He has been enabled by a political party that has bowed down to his every demand.
We have every reason to expect that his recklessness will get worse. He told us that he can do whatever he wants. He is untethered from reality. His cognitive decline is accelerating. He is convinced of his own godlike greatness, ready to go farther and farther if he’s not stopped now.
Americans are already casting their ballots for the midterms. Election day is coming in 24 days. This is our last chance to save our republic from this unfettered danger who refuses to face facts.
We should not be afraid of this loser. We should be uplifted by this final opportunity to do the right thing and reassert sanity by overwhelmingly defeating the Republicans who have chosen loyalty to a madman over the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people.
Donald Trump has showed us who he is again and again. We—and I mean an overwhelming number of American voters—better believe him this time.
As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and confront the Trump regime’s corruption. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.
Early voting has begun in Ohio. When I voted, the line snaked outside. There were about 100 people. When someone finished voting, someone else took their place. It was very encouraging to see!
“Remember your humanity, and forget the rest.” - Bertrand Russell
Start here.