We panic too easily. The release of Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury” is adding fuel to the fire which seeks to impeach our president because of his mental health. This is happening right after the DOW hits 25,000 for the first time, and after the fastest 1000 point gain in history. The USA is the country of the “biggest and best”, but that is built on a foundation of checks and balances. Our strength is in moving slowly and being able to handle craziness.
Let’s suppose for a moment that the worst that can happen comes true and Donald Trump is incompetent. What does that mean for our nation and the rest of the world? Can the most powerful man in politics do that much damage? What is the worst case scenario? In order to properly evaluate the present, I would like to call upon the past. History can put this in perspective.
Our constitutional form of government was designed to protect us from demagogues. Europe was full of them. We fought a war against King George and against Hitler. For most of the history of the world, powerful kings could do what they wanted. Some were good; some were bad; most were unpredictable. Powerful kings still rule in many countries around the world. The potential evil that can be perpetuated by men with unrestrained power is the danger that should really make us shake in our boots. Take North Korea, for instance. Although it has mock elections, everyone knows that Kim Jong-un has unlimited power. If anyone is crazy, he is. He has declared his intention to start an international nuclear war. Besides that, he answers to no congress, senate, judge, or people. Luckily, that is not the case for us.
At our last presidential election, some people felt that if Trump were elected that it would be disastrous. Others felt that if Clinton were elected that it would be disastrous. The truth is that one man or woman cannot make significant changes alone, even the president. The president is really the reflection of the health of our society.
Our government is based on the belief that we are all “sinners”. The main purpose of our constitution is limitation of power, not entitlement. Each branch limits the others, and the government as a whole limits what could be accomplished by a pure democracy. That’s because the majority is not always right, and at any one point in time, it could be severely wrong.
Rather than worrying about the damage one president might do, I worry about the damage a majority of the people might do in dismantling our constitution. Craziness is escalating. If the majority is crazy, you can’t impeach it.