James D. Zirin: "Why Trump Must Drop Out"

I tend to think it would be better for the nation were Trump to drop out. I read this hoping to find a good statement of the anti-Trump case. In actual fact, it kind of made me less sympathetic to that position.

   The main points seem to be:

• Trump has been indicted, so he should drop out.
• If Trump drops out, Biden is more likely to drop out, and then Democrats are likely to win.
• Republicans think that the indictments are politically-motivated har har.

Responding in reverse order:

• At least almost all of the indictments are politically-motivated.
• The Democrats winning is the worst outcome.
• An indictment is not a conviction.

What we have here is a man--whatever his faults--who came out of nowhere (politically speaking) to tell us that the establishment is partisan and corrupt and will do whatever it takes to prevent us from taking back the government and the nation. Events since 2016 have, I believe, shown that he is substantially right. Among those events: the liberal/progressive/leftist elites are now using lawfare--one of their favorite despicable tactics--in a blatantly political attempt to imprison the man who blew the whistle on them. Imprison him for the rest of his life, in point of fact. Or, failing that, to misuse the 14th Amendment to prevent him from running for President again.

   I believe Trump to be personally unfit for the office. On the other hand, I tend to believe that he has been substantially right about some of the most important issues facing the nation. Elites on the insane PC/progressive left now seem to be in an alliance with the liberal establishment. They are used to getting their way. They have shown--in Russiagate, Laptopgate, cancel culture, and many other ways--that they are willing to do virtually anything to maintain control of the government and the culture. In short: they have shown and continue to show that Trump is substantially right.

   Now they are misusing the DoJ and the courts to undermine democracy and deny Americans the right to vote on the question of whether he should be President again.

   Crucially: the appalling and despicable political indictments are not merely making Trump more popular among conservatives--they are confirming his theory of an antidemocratic, out-of-control elite establishment. They are not merely making him irrationally popular--they are showing that he is right.

   I don't want President Trump again. But it's becoming more and more difficult to ignore the fact that the alternative is worse.

   And: it's not just Trump. The same kinds of tactics are being used against ordinary Americans who cross the liberal/progressive elites--we are declared racists, white supremacists, insurrectionists, terrorists...

The sad and horrifying fact of the matter is that this goddamned meme is right: