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Two Dead Canaries in the Coal Mine
Two Dead Canaries in the Coal Mine
If you’re not worried about FBI Director James Comey getting fired, this man might change your mind.
Conor Friedersdorf | 7:12 AM ET
....
Long before Donald Trump decided to run for president, when Barack Obama had almost a full term left and Hillary Clinton seemed like his likeliest successor, I argued in “All the Infrastructure a Tyrant Would Need, Courtesy of Bush and Obama,” that “we're counting on having angels in office and making ourselves vulnerable to devils. Bush and Obama have built infrastructure any devil would lust after.” ... I listed the numerous policies and precedents that warranted great concern.
And yet, I wrote, “The American people have no idea who the president will be in 2017. Nor do we know who'll sit on key Senate oversight committees, who will head the various national-security agencies, or whether the moral character of the people doing so, individually or in aggregate, will more closely resemble George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, John Yoo, or Vladimir Putin.”
Today, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has expressed admiration for the strength of Vladimir Putin, the Chinese leaders behind the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and the strongman who runs the Philippines. After Trump’s rise, but before he was elected, I again urged Obama, and House and Senate Republicans who faced the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency, to “Tyrant Proof the White House––Before It’s Too Late.” Elected officials failed to take action.
....
Every so often, a canary in a coal mine must have died of natural causes. But circumstances being what they were, the prudent course was never to presume a benign explanation. Common sense and self-preservation called for presuming the worst. This is not a time that affords the luxury to wait and see what Trump does next, or who Trump appoints to be the next Director of the FBI. This is a time to act. ... It is a time for Congress to force a special prosecutor. ... It is a time for the Senate to use every tool at its disposable to investigate Trump and his associates, and to conduct zealous oversight of the agencies that he now leads. ... It is a time for citizens to tell their senators that guarding the rule of law against encroachments from this president should be their highest priority, and that they will be held responsible if they vote to confirm an FBI director who abuses his or her power. ... Ask any Trump ex-wife, creditor, or subcontractor if he deserves to be given the benefit of any doubts. His entire life suggests the answer is no. Americans should start acting like it.
If you’re not worried about FBI Director James Comey getting fired, this man might change your mind.
Conor Friedersdorf | 7:12 AM ET
....
Long before Donald Trump decided to run for president, when Barack Obama had almost a full term left and Hillary Clinton seemed like his likeliest successor, I argued in “All the Infrastructure a Tyrant Would Need, Courtesy of Bush and Obama,” that “we're counting on having angels in office and making ourselves vulnerable to devils. Bush and Obama have built infrastructure any devil would lust after.” ... I listed the numerous policies and precedents that warranted great concern.
And yet, I wrote, “The American people have no idea who the president will be in 2017. Nor do we know who'll sit on key Senate oversight committees, who will head the various national-security agencies, or whether the moral character of the people doing so, individually or in aggregate, will more closely resemble George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, John Yoo, or Vladimir Putin.”
Today, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has expressed admiration for the strength of Vladimir Putin, the Chinese leaders behind the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and the strongman who runs the Philippines. After Trump’s rise, but before he was elected, I again urged Obama, and House and Senate Republicans who faced the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidency, to “Tyrant Proof the White House––Before It’s Too Late.” Elected officials failed to take action.
....
Every so often, a canary in a coal mine must have died of natural causes. But circumstances being what they were, the prudent course was never to presume a benign explanation. Common sense and self-preservation called for presuming the worst. This is not a time that affords the luxury to wait and see what Trump does next, or who Trump appoints to be the next Director of the FBI. This is a time to act. ... It is a time for Congress to force a special prosecutor. ... It is a time for the Senate to use every tool at its disposable to investigate Trump and his associates, and to conduct zealous oversight of the agencies that he now leads. ... It is a time for citizens to tell their senators that guarding the rule of law against encroachments from this president should be their highest priority, and that they will be held responsible if they vote to confirm an FBI director who abuses his or her power. ... Ask any Trump ex-wife, creditor, or subcontractor if he deserves to be given the benefit of any doubts. His entire life suggests the answer is no. Americans should start acting like it.
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