POTUS is Corrupt

The Ukraine Scandal Is a Fitting Symbol of Trump’s Entire Presidency

The US president is corrupt, will Americans have the willpower to divest themselves of him?

A great piece by the New Yorker, here are a few quotes, it is worth reading the whole article.

History books will record Donald Trump as the first president of the United States to assume office without any previous experience in government. This is not a mere biographical detail but a skeleton key for understanding his methods of wielding power. Trump has never recognized any distinction between his public and private life. Extraordinarily, he didn’t divest from his businesses even while serving as president. Even worse, he treated the government as if it were his property. The Ukraine scandal is another case of Trump treating the executive branch as though it had been acquired by the Trump Organization. It may or may not be the worst of his many offenses, but it would be perfectly fitting if, as now seems possible, it is ultimately the instrument of his demise.

Allowing his behaviour to represent the new normal would be an appalling mistake.

Trump thrives on cynicism, excusing his misconduct with the assumption everybody does it – simultaneously condoning his own failings while dragging his antagonists down to his level.

The cynical and historically correct assumption is that Republicans will rally around the president who boasted he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue without losing any support.

This cynicism has done unbelievable harm and the effect has been international.

Yet there is at least some reason to suspect this episode might play differently. The customary phalanx of Republicans has failed to materialize.

A few piped up.

“I want to say to the president, ‘This is not okay,’ " scolded Ohio Republican Mike Turner. “I think it’s disappointing to the American public when they read the transcript.”

Mitt Romney said he was “deeply troubled” by Trump’s behavior.

Ben Sasse, who has curried Trump’s favor, said his party “ought not just circle the wagons.”

However I do not expect the bulk of Republicans to display any honesty over this.