It is becoming increasingly
clear that President Trump will be impeached. Irrespective of its merits, the
president’s impeachment will most certainly divide this nation even further. Hard-core
adherents on the left and right will not change their votes, but serious-minded
independents will be forced to take sides when the 2020 elections come around.
No matter who is their nominee, Democrats will not persuade the electorate on a
platform of destructive leftist policies or promises of a better economy (Trump
has already won this argument). Democrats will have no choice but to put all
their chips on a single number at the political roulette table: the fitness of
Donald Trump to serve another term. The odds are not great, but they are
getting better all the time. If Donald Trump continues launching insults at
every real and imagined opponent, a majority of Americans may very well decide
they’ve had enough of his abusive behavior.
A case in point is Trump’s treatment
of career diplomats. A president needs ambassadors who will implement his
policies abroad and he has the perfect right to replace them when they don’t.
When the president got word that Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch did
not agree with his attempt to force Ukraine to investigate corruption involving
the Bidens, he removed her. That was his right. But when she testified at the
impeachment hearings on this point, Trump did not even wait until the end of
her testimony to vilify her. His tweet was nasty, mean, and profoundly
disrespectful of a woman with a distinguished and selfless career in some of
the most remote outposts in the world. Kyrgystan, anyone?
Self-confidence is an essential
quality in a president. But so is a modicum of humility. To be effective, a
president must rely on his experience and judgment to make sound decisions;
but, a president must also recognize that he is not infallible or omniscient,
and that he must rely on the advice of others who may not always agree with
him. From what we’ve witnessed in the White House’s revolving door, the
president is seriously lacking in this respect. Tillerson, Mattis, Kelly, and
Bolton are just four superbly qualified people no longer advising Trump because
he lacked the humility to accept their sometimes contrary opinions. Even in the
face of near-universal disagreement, as in the case of his abandonment of the
Kurds in northern Syria, President Trump cannot accept even the possibility
that he could have been wrong.
With his record of accomplishment,
Donald Trump should be a shoo-in next November. But if he persists in his
intemperate behavior, he will make many of those independent voters ask
themselves if it’s time for a president with a bit less hubris and a bit more
humility. Even, heaven help us, a Democrat.
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