US Citizens' Acceptance of Donald Trump's Behavior Will Be The Most Heinous Legacy
Most of the 74,222,957 US citizens who re-elected US President Donald Trump did not hold them accountable.
That number or the equivalent of 46.8% of the vote will not respond to what he has done to America.
Their acceptance of Trump's behavior is judged to be his most heinous legacy, as reported by The Guardian, Sunday (27/12/2020).
Nearly forty years ago, political scientist James Q Wilson and criminologist George Kelling observed broken windows that were simply left in society.
That means no one cares if a window breaks in there.
Thus, a broken window is an invitation to throw more stones and break more windows.
the impression is, do whatever you want here because other people have done it and get away with it.
The broken window theory has led to arbitrary law enforcement in poor communities.
But America's most privileged and powerful have broken the big window with impunity.
In 2008, Wall Street almost destroyed its economy.
The Street got bail when millions of Americans lost their jobs, savings, and homes.
But no major Wall Street executive has ever been to jail.
In recent years, the top executives of Purdue Pharmaceuticals, along with the Sackler family, learned about OxyContin but did nothing.
Executives at Wells Fargo Bank encourage bank employees to defraud customers.
Boeing executives hid test results that showed its 737 Max Jetliner was unsafe.
Chiefs of police across America looked the other way as police under their command repeatedly killed innocent black Americans.
Here, too, they got away.
This window remains broken.
Trump has brought impunity to the highest office in the country.
Using the crushing ball to the window pane is the most valuable of all, American democracy.
The message is that a president could get in the way of a special advisor's investigation of his mistakes.
Encourage foreign officials to dig up the dirt on their political rivals.
Firefighters discovering corruption, ordering the entire executive branch to reject congressional subpoenas.
In fact, it flooded the internet with false information about its opponents.
Refuses to release the SPT, accuses the press of being a "fake media" and "enemy of the people", and makes money from his presidency.
And he can just get away with it.
Nearly half of voters will even vote for re-election.
A president can also lie about election results without the slightest bit of evidence.
Trump's recent pardon has broken double pane windows.
Not only has it destroyed the norm for presidential pardons, it is usually awarded due to the applicant's good behavior after sentencing and sentencing service.
But Trump also pardons those who broke the windows themselves.
By forgiving them, he had held them accountable for their actions.
They include aides convicted of lying to the FBI and threatening potential witnesses to protect them.
Her son-in-law's father, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion, tampering with witnesses, illegal campaign contributions and lying to the Federal Election Commission.
Blackwater security guards were convicted of killing Iraqi civilians, including women and children.
Border Patrol agent convicted of assaulting or shooting an unarmed suspect.
Republican lawmakers and aides were found guilty of fraud, obstruction of justice and campaign finance offenses.
It's not just broken window size that breaks the bar, according to Wilson and Kelling.
It is people's desire to look the other way.
If no one is held accountable, norms collapse.
Trump may face a series of lawsuits when he leaves office, possibly including criminal charges.
But it looks like he won't go to jail.
Presidential immunity or self-pardon will protect him.
The prosecutor's policy will almost certainly refute the charges, in any case.
No former president has ever been convicted of a crime.
It is likely that Trump's criminal trial will spark partisan brawls across the country.
Congress may try to limit the powers of future presidents.
By strengthening congressional oversight, strengthening the independence of the inspector general and demanding more financial disclosures.
Also increase the punishment of aides to the president who break the law, limit the pardon process, and so on.
But Congress, the equivalent branch of government under the Constitution, cannot control a rogue president.
And the courts don't want to consider political questions.
The chilling reality is that Trump might just get away with it.
And if he gets through, he will change and lower the norms that govern American presidents.
The giant window he broke was a call for future presidents to solve more problems.
Nothing will fix this unless or until a majority of Americans acknowledge and condemn what happened.
