I hear a lot of whining from the MAGA crowd that Trump is being singled out for all kinds of lawsuits and criminal prosecutions like no other president before him. Unfair? He has brought it on himself. This is a unique situation in many ways, but primarily, it has to do with the character of Donald Trump that made him the person he is. His character influenced and enabled his political acts that no one before him successfully attempted. The result: the backlash we are experiencing now is taking place in the courts even more than in the court of public opinion. He has a lifetime of being a scofflaw in the private and personal sectors, and he was never forced to be held responsible outside of losing lawsuits until he entered the public arena.
He is the only candidate from a major party I recall who has ever planned to violate laws and wants immunity from doing so if he gets elected again.
He was the first to tout the advantages of a dictatorship over democracy, attack the form of government we have had for 250 years, the rule of law, checks, and balances, and try to take away selected civil rights by tearing up and rewriting the Constitution.
He was the first to challenge the results of a presidential election and then try to change the outcome, even after courts ruled against him.. All others before him abided by the results and the process outlined in the Constitution and laws if they had disputes.
He was the first to be impeached twice but the first to tolerate, welcome, or worse, to let a foreign power try to interfere with an election outcome.
He was the first to attempt a political coup, much less a coup with violence. He was the first to be told by those around him that he had lost the 2020 election but to ignore the evidence and lie about the results to try to justify his actions.
He was the first to fully benefit from the culmination of years of nearly total gerrymandering. He controlled the primary process to favor his supporters by making the primary the determining winner in the general election, a loyalist and a supporter. This enabled him to use his favorite tool, threats of fear of loss of power, in a campaign at even a primary level.
He was the first to endorse the use of violence to oppress opposition to him or to advocate the use of active military instead of the national guard to put down civil unrest. (added later thanks to a reader: since the posse comitatus act of 1878). A fact: Trump refused and delayed even calling in the national guard until the riotous , violent acts on January 6 played out for hours.
How does his character have anything to do with this?
Aside from even professionals tagging him as a narcissistic sociopath (not the first successful politician to have that profile), he has a unique personality profile of some traits above and beyond that.
He is unique in many ways, but a candidate unfit for a political office as high and as consequential as the presidency in our times has usually been winnowed out after going through any number of candidacies in local, state, or House or Senate. If there is one rule for those in high-profile offices, it is to ensure there are no skeletons in your closet. Instead, he was mostly a TV star based on his business acumen in the private sector. Unlike most others before him who entered the Oval Office, Trump had no political governance of a complex enterprise nor military training afforded to high officers. His management experience was a family business run on the Queens model of a mafia boss. Even those in the New York real estate sector not known for great ethical standards, had a low opinion of him. Apparently, while he had diplomas, he had no education about history or law that "took." Those around him see him as unable to focus for a long time without moving on to another subject or plan or unable to easily comprehend the written word. Briefings had to be short bullet points, for example. He is a visual and auditory learner. Learning from the mistakes of historical leaders has no relevance in his mind.
With clever use of the legal system, he could skirt and abuse laws or rules that stood in his way his whole life until now. In his mind, he was never wrong and innocent of any crime. When asked if he ever asked God for forgiveness, he said he had done nothing to apologize for. At all times, loyalty to him was essential, and criticism of him was always unjustified and unfair. He was always the victim of unfair treatment. Others were always at fault. Fear of his wrath beat down any desire to be disloyal. Only those who tell him how great he is or will carry out his wishes are allowed as staff these days. I have known people with some of those same characteristics, but he is a complete package and certainly, like none who rose to be President in my long lifetime.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-on-god-i-dont-like-to-have-to-ask-for-forgiveness-2016-1
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