Just after noon next Monday, Donald Trump will take an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution despite his "unprecedented criminal campaign to retain power and overturn the lawful results of an election" four years ago. "
That's the conclusion of former special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's interference with the legal transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. Smith also found that Trump encouraged "violence against his perceived opponents" from Election Day 2020 until January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, injuring more than 140 police officers .
The evidence Smith collected against Trump was overwhelming; any fair reader of the 137-page report would understand why Smith concluded: "If Mr. Trump had not been elected and would To return to the Presidency...Admissible evidence is sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial." (Department of Justice policy prohibits prosecution of sitting presidents.)
But the fact that the incoming president is accused of constituting the most serious assault on American democracy by a chief executive in our history may not be the most noteworthy thing about this story. Most notably, more and more Americans seem to be discussing the Los Angeles fires, baby girland the nomination of Peter Hegseth as Secretary of Defense was more important than Smith's report. Within a few days, the little-read report would be more or less forgotten.
I understand why. Trump's central role in the effort to violently overturn the election has been known for four years, so the core findings of the special counsel's report are hardly news. Moreover, much of the public has been exhausted by the relentless intensity of the Trump era. The MAGA world can draw energy and meaning from ongoing conflict; the rest of us don't. After a particularly rough and ugly campaign, most people want to take a break from politics, including those who have made it their career.
Nor are most Americans, including Trump’s fierce critics, particularly interested in re-litigating the past. Trump is a commodity known to voters. His malicious and corrupt character is on display almost daily. Yet Trump won the popular vote — the first Republican to do so in two decades — and he easily won the Electoral College. Trump’s morality represents America’s morality, at least for now.
Americans are unlikely to get rid of Trump in the next four years, but few of us want him to take up more unnecessary mental and emotional space. To the extent that we pay attention to him, it should be more about what he does than what he does. At the same time, there are countless things worthy of our attention and love, things that are beautiful, interesting, and inspiring.
Samuel Johnson wrote: “How little the human heart bears, what part a law or a king can make or cure. / In every appointed place remains our own, / A blessing of our own making or discovery. "
Still. Columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote that politics matters "because it allows everything around it to flourish when it's good and wither when it's evil." He added, "The task of simply maintaining the strong and solid fabric of the constitutional order is never-ending and is the ongoing work of every generation."
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, Jack Smith's reporting demonstrates that the fabric of our constitutional order is under attack by a man about to be elected president for a second term. Trump, a convicted felon, called the Capitol attack "a day full of love." He used the attack to his political advantage. He said those in Congress investigating his crimes should "go to jail." He promised to pardon the rioters in the first hour of his second term, calling them "hostages" and "incredible patriots." Few people seem to care anymore. Since Trump’s victory two months ago, we have witnessed near-total capitulation to Trump in one institution after another. Broken men approach the throne on their knees.
In his 1993 article "Defining Bias," Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned that society tends to respond to destructive and deviant behavior by lowering standards. Crimes that once shocked the nation at another time attracted little attention. "We have become accustomed to a lot of behavior that works against us," Moynihan wrote.
That includes returning to power a president who, in the words of the special counsel's report, "engaged in a series of criminal acts to stay in power." Americans are fed up with this, and it's a sign of boredom. But beware: disregard for truth, honor, and the rule of law has the potential to overtake a nation.