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action, blogging, decency, Donald Trump, ethics, humanity, immigrants, law, morality, oppression, politics, presidency, question, race relations, racism, reasoning, reflections, struggle, treason, white sumpremacy
I wrote about this last August, coon after the Charlottesville rally and the death of Heather Heyer, but it never seemed to catch on. Now with the government about to be shut down due, in part, to the showdown over the status of immigrants covered by the DACA act that “president” Trump rescinded and his “shithole” comments about countries that send us non-Norwegian immigrants, it’s time to revisit this topic.
The Robert Muller investigation is gaining momentum and witnesses as we reach the new year, but the investigation is a far from completed, and what many hope will lead to Trump’s impeachment is actually a long process that we are hardly in the beginning stages. Still people are so sick of this “president” even after only one year that they want him out fast. Yet when faced with a golden opportunity as the “president’s” shithole comment, the Congress is moving to censure him. Instead, Trump can be removed very quickly right now on grounds of treason, and his comments serve as evidence.
The legal definition of treason according to US Code Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 115, Section 2381 is “whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason.” (emphasis mine) As such those guilty of treason, among punishments like death, “shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.” The neo-Nazis, KKK, and alt-right are hate groups whose presence and numbers pose a dangerous threat to our democracy and Constitution that upholds it. The purpose of the Constitution is to “ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare..” among other things. While the Constitution was created by white male land and slave owners for said white male land and slave owners, the Constitution has been amended to include women, people of color, disabled, the poor, the young, and working class people among others. Neo-Nazi’s purpose is to bring the original intent of the Constitution back through “purging” the land of people of color, and other undesirables. This purge—threaten, murder, attack, etc.–is against the laws of the land as they stand and to the Constitution they claim to adhere to, and makes them enemies of the nation. This “president,” as all presidents before him, have taken an oath to uphold the laws of the Constitution. By not denouncing the alt-right Nazis and hate groups, by not helping Puerto Rico (American citizens) in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and with referring to brown skinned immigrants as coming from shithole countries–“President” Drumpf given comfort and aid to an enemy within the United States. Statements by alt-right figures as David Duke and Infowars supporting Trump after those remarks—and anything that puts down brown and black people—proves that these groups are not only comforted but emboldened by the “President’s” words and actions. And when Trump’s racism starts to become and/or affect American policy, he is now undermining the democracy we have and the Constitution that protects it. Trump has therefore met the criteria for treason and can (and should) be removed from office. And we need no special investigator to do this.
Sending him up for treason would be a healing move for this nation. It would show to Black and Brown Americans that we as a nation are serious about doing something about white supremacy and institutionalized racism. It would heal damage already done by Trump in the name of ignorance and racism. And while it is not a panacea for race relations and racism in itself, it will be a giant step to show the country is serious about tackling the issue.
James Baldwin said “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it has ben faced.” We have been faced with Trump’s racism every day for a year, and now is the time to face it head on, not with censure, not with reprimands, not with speeches and countermarches, but with justice swift and sure and is expressed in our Constitution. Our democracy demands it and so should we.
