Forget about "moving on" from Trump -- the nation can't heal without accountability

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

This is a serious mistake. Words like "unity" and "forgiveness" sound great in the abstract, but are utterly meaningless in the current political context for one reason: The sole responsibility for all this healing is being foisted, once again, on the backs of liberals. Conservatives can't be bothered. They're too busy working on their next moves to undermine democracy, sow division and create chaos.

This pattern — Republicans screw everything up and are allowed to get away with it in the name of "unity," and take that as permission to go even further the next time — has been playing out since Richard Nixon first snagged his post-Watergate pardon. In a recent feature in the New York Times Magazine, Jonathan Mahler laid out the frustrating pattern in teeth-grinding detail:
snip---
But can a wound really heal when one party is busy applying bandages, while the other lurks in waiting, ready to stab the victim again? Of course not. And that's the problem we're facing. The "unity" isn't unity at all. It's a fake unity in which one side — the side that did not cause the damage wrought by Trump or Bush or Reagan or Nixon — does all the work, while the other side keeps looking for new opportunities to cause trouble. If anything, conservatives grows ever bolder in their corruption, realizing they will never face consequences for their actions, and in fact can count on the left to clean up all their messes for them.
snip---
It's time to stop coddling the easily hurt feelings of conservatives and instead turn our attention toward the nearly 80 million people who turned out — despite extensive efforts at disenfranchisement — to bring the Trump presidency to an end. What do we owe those Americans, the ones who actually did their part to save this country? Instead of demanding that they do more to pander to conservatives' injured feelings, why not, for once, repay them for their hard work with justice? After all Trump has put this country through, that's the least those who stood up and resisted him deserve.

https://www.salon.com/2020/11/29/forget-about-moving-on-from-trump--the-nation-cant-heal-without-accountability/

This article speaks for me. The only unity I'm interested is the only unity that is possible in the real world - the unity of Democrats and all others dedicated to preventing the forces of fascism, primarily the Republican party and their rapidly growing lunatic RW extremist branch, QAnon, from destroying democracy, the rule of law, and the United States of America.

We are the people who saved democracy in America from the brink of dictatorship. We so righteously deserve to see justice carried out, for our efforts, and because it is the right thing to do.

Coddling fascists for decades is exactly how we got to where we are today - exhausted from fighting to just barely save our democracy from a fascist lunatic fringe, during a deadly plague caused by a virus, which Trump, the wannabe dictator and leader of the lunatic fascist fringe, was instrumental in deliberately spreading throughout the US population for his own selfish gain.

These fascist termites cannot be allowed to get away with continually eating away and weakening the foundation of our democracy, our institutions. and our government itself, or they will soon succeed in toppling our house, leaving us, and future generations of Americans, with a brutal fascist dictatorship, and no possibility of changing anything through democratic processes.

We must all stand united against fascism, and remain so. To do otherwise will result in the death of the democratic United States of America.

[Atticus]

1. THIS! So much---! nt

[Mystery sage]

2. Agreed with this so hard

[thucythucy]

3. Whole heartedly agree, plus

there need to be reforms put in place to make it more difficult for wannabe authoritarians to again seize power:

legislation requiring every candidate for national office to release ten years worth of their most recent tax forms;

statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico;

adoption of the "Wyoming rule" to correct for the rural/conservative bias in Congressional representation and the Electoral College (repealing the Electoral College would be ideal but it would require a constitutional amendment which will never happen);

strict enforcement of the Hatch Act;

among other greatly needed reforms.

[BComplex]

49. That would definitely be a good start.

[Cosmocat]

4. We are not going to "heal" either way

they have increasingly reacted negatively toward any accountability toward their scumbaggery since Nixon was forced out of office.

They just get meaner and more tribal.

Now, I do agree that we are well past the point of being skittish about holding them to account like we were with Bush II for Iraq, but the simple reality is that IF 45 and his spawn face lady justice they are going to lose their minds even more than they are now.

Again, though, they lost their minds because we simply had the temerity to have another democratic president who happened to be black.

I mean ... It just is not going to end well, either way unless a serious majority of this country WTF up to the fact that these people are fucking crazy and stops with all the both siderism bullshit.

[tecelote]

5. Yes. People need to know it was wrong.

The Iraq War is a footnote at best for young people today. They know little about it. If people were held accountable, they would know we were misled by those in power and that, in the name of justice, we held them accountable.

I like your statement Roisin Ni Fiachra... "We are the people who saved democracy in America from the brink of dictatorship. We so righteously deserve to see justice carried out, for our efforts, and because it is the right thing to do."

Another strong point for justice over perceived unity. I believe we can get justice, I doubt we will accomplish unity without a reckoning.

[theaocp]

6. Fake unity is already cooked and on the table.

We don’t HAVE to take a bite. Remember, FUCK REPUBLICANS.

[lastlib]

7. K & R!

As long as the current GOPee exists, fascism has not been banished. We cannot afford to let these crimes against our cherished institutions go unpunished, or they WILL be repeated! Punishment begins with REAL investigation, to put in the public eye exactly HOW the perpetrators conducted their criminal deeds, and how they eviscerate and demean the institutions we have built to protect and strengthen our democracy. These investigations must leave no Stone unturned! (I'm looking at YOU, Roger!) Presidential commissions, Congressional committes, and prosecutorial probes must be undertaken, with FULL subpoena powers.

New protections for our institutions must be built, and old ones must be RE-built and strengthened. That is how we start the healing process we need. The work isn't done until the Citizens United decision is overturned and big dark money is removed from our politics. The work isn't done until the right of EVERY citizen to vote, and to have his vote COUNTED EQUALLY with others', is enshrined in our Constitution.

Much hard work ahead. The forces of corporatism, fascism and tyranny will fight us every step of the way. But we must start today.

[onetexan]

20. exactly. The future GOP tinpot dictators will be smarter and more fascistic. There can be no moving

on till the Con & enablers are charged & tried & locked up.

[Dustlawyer]

42. +1! This!

Also, restore the Fairness Act (assuming we can get both Georgia Senators) so that the Trump Party hears what he and his cronies really did. If we are going to prosecute they need to hear the evidence which they would not otherwise from their RW media. We need to remove their information bubble so they can see what is really happening.

We must attack these two root problems, money in our politics and dishonest media (propaganda). Without justice for all of this we are surely destined to repeat this year going forward.

[BComplex]

50. And to start the process, we need to state the obvious:corporations ARE NOT people.

That's where the rights under the constitution don't apply to them....like free speech with all the money in the world behind them.

[AlexSFCA]

8. we need open trial - subpoena for congress testimony under oath

it might be the only way to combat disinformation and have many conservative voters see the facts.

[mollie8]

16. Open trial and testimony under oath required

And Jail Time for anyone who doesn't comply with subpoena

[PatrickforO]

9. Very good post. The article speaks for me as well.

After the horrors of children ripped cruelly from their parents, the utter failure to contain the pandemic, and so many other crimes, it is time to clean house. Biden can surely stay above it, but the DoJ, IRS, and state Attorneys General should surely take steps.

These people, particularly this latest batch in the Trump administration, are guilty of serious crime.

[RVN VET71]

10. Mostly agree, but

there are non-politicians who, though deranged by 40 years of white-supremacist, proto-fascist, plutocracy-advancing Republican actions, are nevertheless citizens we have to live with. 71,000,000 of them. I won't reach out a hand to welcome them back -- but neither do I feel inclined to punch them in the face (unless they're wearing swastikas or white hoods, of course. If they want to be out-and-out Nazis or KKK buttwads, then they're fair game. Nazis tried to kill my Dad, and KKK buttwads belittled my fellow basic trainees to their faces back in the day, so yeah, punch, kick, scratch and gouge any and all of them until they cry like the President or just stop breathing altogether).

Where was I" Oh, yeah: other than those guys, I'll live and let live -- or try to.

On the other hand, we must give nothing to the GOP. No negotiations over Democratic principles unless we cannot advance our own agenda without doing so. Push all Republican politicians into a corner where the best they can do is grumble and squeak like trapped rats. And campaign, campaign, campaign, to keep the fires of enthusiasm burning in voters guts -- the only antacid is to vote, dammit!

Always GOTV!

[bringthePaine]

11. revel in majority and demand just reckoning for beyond-simply-criminal fuckery; financial crime

penalties should be increased to include lifetime limits on holdings and ban from all finance-related businesses in any capacity; public service labor should be required of all white-collar convicts;
zero tax exemptions for any and all religions; also maybe a pony and ice cream...

[Jon King]

12. I agree, isolate and destroy Trumpism...

Enough already about the 74 million Trump votes, half of them are people who automatically think any Repub is better for their 401ks. Many are old and dying off and not being replaced. The future is the young and progressives, the rapidly growing metro areas of GA, TX, AZ, NC. Prosecute everything Trump at every level, hold everyone of them accountable. Let them have their districts and red states. Joe needs to start off moderately to stabilize things, then get more aggressive and progressive later in his term.

The game plan is to stabilize the base, bring in whoever possible from the moderate Repubs, then give the young and progressives more to be excited about into 2023-2024.

[Ferrets are Cool]

13. "We must all stand united against fascism"

[Richard D]

14. Couldn't agree more.

[niyad]

15. Yes!!!

[ewagner]

17. Great article..

It is the second I've seen proposing the same remedies.

We keep asking ourselves, "How do we prevent this from ever happening again?"

We certainly won't stop it by applying a forgive-and-forget policy.

I think most of us reading this blog can relate this most easily to raising a child. If the child exhibits anti-social behavior or breaks the "rules" we make the accountable for their actions in order to discourage them from doing it again. Failure to do so; ignoring the bad behavior, only encourages them to not only repeat the action but also to escalated the behavior again and again. It creates, in the long-run a sociopath!

That's where the Republican Party is today. They are (politically at least) sociopaths who have learned that they can be anti-social, unconstitutional, lawless and suffer NO consequences for it.

It's time for some discipline...meted out by the adults in the room.

[brooklynite]

18. What - exactly - is your accountability effort going to achieve?

[CaptainTruth]

19. THIS! ALL OF THIS!!!

I'm tired of being the one who has to repeatedly defend our Constitution & our country against people who don't give a shit about either one. I'm tired of repeatedly cleaning up their messes (with no thanks whatsoever) only to have them fuck things up again.

I will NOT "unify" with fascist racists who want to destroy our democracy, period.

[FrankTC]

21. Great post, excellent Salon article.

It would be hard to lay out the case for accountability any more succinctly. There are posts on
DU arguing that discussing (and disagreeing) among ourselves about how to respond to Trump and the Republicans means that we are blaming ourselves — blaming the victim — by implicitly locating responsibility for the problem on our failure to formulate slogans, policies, and actions that would have won more elections and kept Republicans further away from their goal of a thousand-year theocratic white-power reich. But of course Trump and the Republicans retain responsibility for their crimes even if decent people need to think through tactics and strategies in order to develop an effective response. And it’s clear that conciliation has not not cooled the right-wing fever swamps or promoted honest compromise — instead the Republicans are measurably crazier than ever. Time to make it worthwhile for them to just say no to lunacy, time for them to pay a price for their chaos binge.

[JoeOtterbein]

22. K n R ! Thanks for posting! nt

[judesedit]

23. Amen x 1000

We have to take the Senate or Harris has to rule it, put more honest judges on the Supreme Court and insist the Justice Dept do it's job of investigating all of the blatant crimes against the Constitution by all who perpetrated it. No choice if we want this country to be livable for all of us. And the environmental catastrophe has to be dealt with asap or nothing else matters.

[oldsoftie]

24. I'm ALREADY healing. And it'll go even faster after january.

Trump gets his rewards by being forever known as a LOSER. By being hounded by business failings, lawsuits, his name being removed from buildings, net worth falling, etc etc

[Hotler]

25. You do not let the leader and henchmen of an attempted fascist coup walk.

Especially if the leader is the so called president. Nothing short of the full weight of the DOJ is acceptable.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. Let's not forget that tRump milked prosecuting Obama & Hillary for all it was worth

Of course, there was no there there, so it was just empty words for his stupefied base to gobble up, but you can be sure that if there had been, he would have gotten yuuge satisfaction out of prosecuting them to the max.

[housecat]

27. Better let Biden know

The predator and prey will not unify; they're not meant to. Co-exist is the best we can hope for. It will happen again, because Democrats believe in making nice, and they cannot admit that different is different. We must first recognize evil's disguises, and stop being played. All humans might look alike, but they are different species. We must overcome the temptation to invite them into our house. Again.

[leanforward]

28. Yes, accountability.

We have to start at the top. First, think of the families separated. If, that doesn't get your blood boiling then you may not be human.

You don't sit quietly by when children are involved. Period.

Family, family, family. Take care of the family unit.

[skydive forever]

29. I wish that I could rec this more than once.

[PirateRo]

30. Agreed

There must be prosecution. It starts with tRump and then the republicans that kept that monster in office.

[Baclava]

31. How about banning all talk of this moron completely? Expunge his name from all news, all articles

Completely just stop fucking talking about him!

He wants fucking attention and all this shit does is give it to him. BAN his name, even the mention of his name from ALL discussion.

Do we real!y need 100 Trump stories a fucking hour around here?

[northoftheborder]

32. Agree with this article's position.

You can't prosecute for selfishness, incompetence, racism, which are bad enough. But willful unlawfulness, and willful ignorance are another thing. And there is AMPLE evidence of these.

[ananda]

33. You are right regarding the savior complex.

We are responsible for our democracy and what our
nation looks like.

No one person or party can "save" us. This is a
government that must be held accountable by its
citizens.

[bucolic_frolic]

34. We need to make 'fascism' an expletive the same way they did to 'liberal'

[BlancheSplanchnik]

35. We need justice! NO to letting that scum go. Actions must bring consequences!

[BusyBeingBest]

36. I agree. Investigate and prosecute EVERY CRIME these fuckers committed in office.

They're the ones who started the "lock her up" bullshit. Make them eat it. Let them get away with Trump family crimes, and the next GOP President will be worse, and that's very hard to imagine after the last four years.

[Martin Eden]

37. It's pretty straightforward. Uphold the rule of law.

Expose the damage done by the Trump administration. Investigate crimes and prosecute without bias.

Tell the truth. Reach out to all, but do not coddle or make excuses for those who slap away a hand honestly offered.

The bitter polarization weakens America. What Abraham Lincoln said a century and a half ago is true today:

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

We must reject the demagoguery and hate and petulant juvenile insults which further divided the American people over the last four years.

We need to be the mature adults in the room, and smarter than those who will try to sabotage the Biden administration from the outset. Never lose sight of long term goals. Focus our intelligence and passion on charting the best course to get there. Be committed and energetic, but patient when necessary.

Let's remember who we just elected president and do our best to help him to achieve Joe Biden's vision of a more united America working together in common cause.

We all know a large percentage of Trump voters will slap away the hand honestly offered. Perhaps most, but not all.

There is nothing to be gained by channeling our energy and passion into insults and retribution. Stoking the flames of uncivil war may provide momentary satisfaction, but it undermines our new president.

Upholding the rule of law is not retribution. It is essential. So is doing our part in helping to heal this nation. We need not compromise our core values or the truth. Efforts to understand our political opponents and their voters is not surrender; it is one of the keys to victory.

[MyNameGoesHere]

38. Since Nixon we have let them off the hook.

Time to hold them accountable. The crimes and treasonous behavior must be stopped.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

39. Abso-fuckig-lutely!

Justice for ALL means Rs must pay for their crimes, damnit!

[Joinfortmill]

40. Yes, yes, and yes, again.

[panfluteman]

41. Any Intelligent Person Can See the Pattern That Has Been Happening and Escalating Since Nixon

The Republicans have been like spoiled, unruly children, always pushing the envelope a little bit farther each time, seeing what new things they can get away with. If you analyze things, you can see that many, if not most of the violations of democratic laws, rules and norms that were so flagrant and egregious under the Trump administration were pioneered, albeit in a more limited and restrained form, by the previous Bush administration. So if you go by the underlying trends, the next Republican administration will only be worse than the Trump administration. And guess what - it seems that, with the Trump administration, they have finally figured out that the bigger and more egregious and flagrant the crime or violation, the stronger will be the knee jerk reaction by the decency and democracy loving Democrats to sweep it all under the rug. Imagine that - the bigger the violation, the less they will be held to account. That's not the way justice is supposed to work.

To really get to the bottom of the problem, and then to heal it, is to bring all the Trump criminals to justice - prosecute and convict them. This will be the most practical, meaningful form of education for Republicans to reform their corrupt, law breaking behavior. Only when they see the Trump gang going to jail or paying legal penalties for their crimes will they realize that their corrupt, criminal behavior is not acceptable, and has definite negative consequences. Over the longer term, we must strengthen our public education system - believe me, as a former substitute teacher, I know that all too well. We need to especially strengthen our public education system in teaching children critical thinking skills, so they are less vulnerable to the specious arguments and promises of would be dictators, and less vulnerable to all the disinformation that is out there on the internet. Also, we need to vamp up our education in Civics and American government. Students and future citizens need to thoroughly understand and appreciate not only HOW our government works, but also WHY the constitutional checks and balances are the way they are.

But above all, the most valuable and necessary form of education for all the would be political criminals out there is to see Trump and his gang brought to justice.

[Eyeball_Kid]

44. Nixon walked. Reagan walked. GW Bush walked.

If Trumpy-Boy walks, we're in deep trouble. All of Trump's accomplices, AND Trump, must be prosecuted. The crimes are nearly impossible to list. Biden has to clean up the nation and put down the fascist movement. He cannot permit fascism to compete with and challenge the Constitution. It is his biggest task, IMO. Oh, yes, there are plenty of others, all of which should be aimed at providing a stable foundation for continued prosperity. No, not for a strengthening oligarchy, but for continued prosperity for all citizens.

Trump DOES command a fascist movement. His followers, now given a true option of leaving Trump behind, but nonetheless sticking with Trump, are fascists. Fascism is the enemy of the Constitution. We've known this for ninety years and we must alway remember.

[Upthevibe]

43. Roisin Ni Fiachra....

Thank you for this post.

Personally, I am NOT letting this go! Even though Kamala is my Senator (forget friggin' Feinstein - OMG - what a mess
), I'm still going to call her office and my Rep., Ted Lieu's office tomorrow. I'm sending an email to my friends asking them to call their Reps and Senators.

The message will be - WE CAN NOT LET THIS GO! We MUST hold them accountable for every crime committed!

[Kaleva]

45. Most of the nation has already moved on.

The only people left fighting over this are the die-hards who are a small minority.

And as diverse as this nation is, unity is unachievable except maybe in wartime.

[NBachers]

46. How about starting by putting zero tolerance teeth in subpoenas?

[JudyM]

47. Unfortunate that doing so will take much political COURAGE. Is leadership willing to take them down?

They have us so afraid to be bold about this. Until we do we will remain boxed in. And worse.

[BComplex]

48. This article speaks for me, too, Roisin.

This has gone on way too long in this country, and it has to stop. If not now, when?

[Blue Owl]

51. Lock the fat piece of shit and his enablers up

[jalan48]

52. Exposing the Trump cabal's crimes will do way more to heal the nation than reaching out

to the enabling Republicans. Fear of prosecution will whip them into line quicker than playing kissy face.

[TigressDem]

53. ONLY forgiveness for fellow Americans who were lied to and were dumb enough to believe it.

THOSE who DID the damage.

Forget about it. Take them to court. Lock them up AND THEN MOVE ON.

Those who have been moving in this direction on purpose.

Forget about it. KKK and the like should be treated as the cancer they are and labeled traitors and terrorists, rounded up put on trial for hate crimes, locked up or if treason can be proved put out of America's misery with a death penalty and sooner rather than later.

BUT if anyone wants to truly get away from the stink of tRump and join Democracy again, fine.

Stand up. Dust yourself off and get to work fixing the mess of a party that fat helalump left on the front lawn of the White House.

IF you can GET someone out of this brainwashing cult, then do.

IF NOT, let them suffer the consequences of their stupidity.