The status quo has lost its status

“I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in either the Legislative Branch or the Executive Branch of our Government… I speak as a Republican, I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American…

“Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and suspicions that

...spread like cancerous tentacles of ‘know nothing, suspect everything’ attitudes. I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calamity – Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry and Smear…Surely we Republicans aren’t that desperate for victory…While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican Party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people.”

“I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some soul searching — for us to weigh our consciences — on the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America… I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution.”

Amazing. How did Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine) know, when she made her Declaration of Conscience speech before the U.S. Senate in 1950, that Trump would become president?

The Republicans in the Senate now, except for Mitt Romney (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Susan Collins (Maine), defend Trump no matter how outrageous or ridiculous his tweets or utterings. For example, last week, he tweeted, “Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?” No, and Gugino was hospitalized after hitting his head on the sidewalk.

But now, even Trump-friendly conservative columnist Rich Lowry warns that Trump is destroying his chances of being reelected. “The president has worsened his position with his profligate tweeting, unpresidential conduct, and refusal or inability to step up to the magisterial aspect of his office. Sounding sober and factual from the presidential podium at a time of crisis should be easy – any halfway accomplished conventional politician could do a pretty good job at it.” Instead, Trump “thinks he should be winning in a huge way. He refuses to acknowledge his own weaknesses.” Trump’s expected to run on a booming stock market, rising wages, and continued job growth, even though he’s lost ground since the start of the year with one crisis after another.

Trump receives negative marks for his handling of the protests that have taken place since the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. According to a Washington Post/Schar School poll, 61 percent say they disapprove, with 35 percent saying they approve. Americans overwhelmingly support the nationwide protests and they say police forces have not done enough to ensure that blacks are treated equally to whites; even half of the Republicans polled support the protests. I find that surprising, although encouraging.

The latest CNN/SSRS poll shows that most Americans finally see Trump for the thin-skinned bully he is. Trump is trailing the former vice president Joe Biden by 14 points, 55%-41%, among registered voters. It also finds the President’s approval rating at 38 percent, and his disapproval rating at 57 percent, his worst marks since January 2019, and roughly on par with approval ratings for one-term Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush at this point in their reelection years. In Pennsylvania, even Fox News’ poll shows Biden leading Trump 50%-42%. A Hill/Harris poll found 47 percent of voters favor Biden, and just 37 percent say they’d vote for Trump.

Trump and the Republican National Committee claim that the large amount of money they’ve raised for the campaign against Biden is a major advantage. Nevertheless, there’s little evidence that money picks presidents; consider Mike Bloomberg. As columnist David Von Drehle wrote in The Washington Post, “Biden’s task of defining and attacking Trump is already done; much of it, the president has done to himself. It’s difficult to imagine a voter in America who is not thoroughly familiar with the subject, and data suggest that most people settled on their conclusions some time ago and aren’t budging. Biden is less familiar but only by comparison to the most-watched person in the world. He will have plenty of money to do all the advertising he needs.”

Maybe, just maybe, the Trump autocracy is coming to an end, and soon.

Mark Berg is a community activist in Adams County and a proud Liberal. His email address is MABerg175@Comcast.net.

GovernmentMark Berg