Caffeinated Politics

I have long thought that Ron Ziegler, the press secretary to President Richard Nixon, had the toughest job in that role of any I have watched over the course of my life. Every day, there were questions galore about the latest news and rumors concerning Watergate and the linkage to the White House. That thought came to mind again as I watched Karoline Leavitt, while wearing a Christian cross on her necklace, inform reporters that Donald Trump does not want Democratic lawmakers executed.

Ron, you are no longer the press secretary who needed to make the most absurd statement in the briefing room.

What made this such an embarrassing day for the nation was due to Trump firing off several posts on social media falsely accusing six Democrats of sedition and saying that their behavior is “punishable by DEATH!” It was just another staggering example of utterly deplorable behavior.

When it comes to preposterous and outrageous comments from Trump, I tend not to write about them, as they are simply an attempt to deflect from the topics deserving the nation’s attention. But the threats that now will land on a swath of Democratic officeholders and the new, ugly low bar of this man and his administration demand a response.

Let me make it perfectly clear (channeling the RN era for the phrase), no president has ever spoken of executing elected officials for dissent. Even in eras of bitter division, such as the Civil War, the dangerousness of McCarthyism, or during violent Vietnam protests, leaders did not weaponize the language of treason against Congress itself. Trump’s rhetoric today is not politics as usual. Far from it. Rathe, his words are a direct assault on the legitimacy of opposition.

When Trump labels lawmakers as “traitors” and calls for their arrest and execution, he is reframing disagreement as criminality, and that shift is perilous. It runs counter to our democratic ideals. Rhetoric from the highest office carries consequences, emboldening rightwing extremists and eroding the line between debate and utter violence. Democracy depends on dissent, and to criminalize opposition voices is to dismantle the very foundation of our representative government.

I have no issue with a president having differing ideas and thoughts and expressing them. But with the use of words from the Oval Office comes great responsibility.

I am reminded of President Harry Truman, under very different circumstances, who let his words fly. In his case, via a letter to a critic of his daughter’s singing concert in Washington, comes a page of history that long lives.

Dec. 6, 1950

Mr. Hume:

I’ve just read your lousy review of Margaret’s concert. I’ve come to the conclusion that you are an “eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay.”

It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you’re off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.

Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you’ll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you’ll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.

H.S.T.

Hume never needed to pay for personal security. But the members of Congress threatened today by Trump are now under 24-hour protection.

The nation cannot shrug off Trump’s threats. There are too many of his deranged base with weapons and what they now think is a license from this White House. So, our collective response from the intelligent side of the divide must be firm and principled. We must reject Trump’s ugly and rancid rhetoric unequivocally. Democratic members of Congress must reaffirm protections for dissent and strengthen guardrails against executive overreach. Americans know that disagreement is not treason! IT IS OUR DEMOCRACY’S LIFEBLOOD.

Again, why I write about these words from Trump is that they are not just another headline in his cycle of white male outrages. What he said today is a direct assault on the principle that political opponents are legitimate participants in democracy, not enemies of the state. If America fails to respond with clarity and resolve, we risk sliding into a politics where violence replaces debate, and fear replaces freedom. The line must be drawn here. Now. Tonight.

Trump cannot threaten Congress with death and remain in the White House.