Into our town the Hangman came, smelling of gold and blood and flame. And he paced our bricks with a diffident air. And built his frame on the courthouse square...
And we wondered, whenever we had the time, who the criminal, what the crime...
And innocent though we were, with dread we passed those eyes of buckshot lead; till one cried: "Hangman, who is he for whom you raise the gallows-tree."
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye, and he gave us a riddle instead of reply: "He who serves me best," said he, "Shall earn the rope on the gallows-tree."
The golden coiffed president along with his friends and family have taken over our nation. Like Maurice Ogden’s soulless hangman, his work can only be accomplished with help because of the intricacies of our government’s checks and balances. The administration has been populated with a bevy of willing henchmen and abetted by a willing, if cautious, Republican Congress. It is as if a fog has enveloped our political landscape covering over more than two centuries of evolving freedoms.
This past week we witnessed the ascendancy of someone called “The Mooch” as WH communications director and the resultant resignation of “lyin’” Sean Spicer. The newly appointed leak arrestor, Mr. Scaramucci, has immediately placed WH chief of staff Reince Priebus on notice. Meanwhile his boss, “Fat Donny” Trump, began his water torture of AG Jeff Sessions while unilaterally banning transgender citizens from serving in the military. In the recent past, other loyalists, those who had served him best in the past, folks like Michael Flynn, Rudy Giuliani, and Chris Christie have been cast aside. The president, now smelling of gold and blood, employs his newly minted minions in an attempt to take over our Republic.
After recovering from our initial shock, most of us have grown aware of his danger and his heartlessness. His regime’s tenure has been all about “messaging.” Muslims were the first to get the message — you not welcome. They were an easy target and their ouster represents the first misstep on the slippery slope. No need to wonder who is next because the targets have already been identified and messaged. In Trump’s America, those who are “other” to the white, hetero, Christian, male world are all in the crosshairs. And like the narrator in Maurice Ogden’s “The Hangman”, those of us who comply because we are not affected by the current pogroms are especially at risk because we have become complicit by our continued inaction. Others, who comply because they expect and hope to receive the fruits of this administration’s theft of other’s rights, will someday succumb to the regime’s relentless abuse of power. Whether they hope to find jobs more plentiful, or think their financial holdings will prosper at the expense of others, their day will come. Their cowardice is only exacerbated by their own greed and naivete:
Hangman, have you not done, yesterday, with the alien one?” Then we fell silent, and stood amazed: “Oh, not for him was the gallows raised.”
He laughed a laugh as he looked at us: “Did you think I’d gone to all this fuss to hang one man? That’s a thing I do to stretch the rope when the rope is new.”
After the rope has been stretched by Flynn, Christie, Giuliani, Sessions, and Spicer, we can look no further than those currently at his side for the next purge. In his bid for a “win” on Trumpcare, a message was sent to Senator Dean Heller. Heller, who was threatened in feigned jest being seated next to the president at a recent luncheon,
“…This was the one we were worried about. You weren't there. But you're gonna be. You're gonna be. Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he? “
capitulated to Trump’s demand.
Even John McCain’s whose recent return to the Senate to cast his unfortunate vote to move forward a cynical and harmful health care bill could be seen capitulating to the needs of his Republican colleagues in the Senate. Their need for a “win” was tied to Trump’s need for their submission. His poignant speech to colleagues only heightened the concern. This is a bill that has been batted about between the House and Senate by Republicans, whose twisted arms manifest the twisted provisions of the bill. It promises health care that offers neither health nor care, but does provide a large tax cut to the wealthy. The insincerity and cruelty seemed both noted and lost in McCain’s return. They were noted in his words but lost in his actions. In a moment in which he could have burnished his place in history as a hero, he chose to employ forceful words made meaningless by his vote. McCain’s loyalty to country has, and should never be, in question; but, at this time, it appears to be misplaced. Neither Mitch McConnell, Republican senators, nor by extension, Donald J. Trump, deserve it.
Let’s not forget Donald Trump’s assessment of McCain in July 2015 before he became the party’s nominee: “He’s not a war hero… He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” Trump, the “chicken hawk” had the temerity to question a true hero’s service and sacrifice. The man who trades in loyalty like the condo’s he sells, demands blind loyalty in return. McCain deserved better—Trump has incurred a debt he will never repay.
Now is the time for heroes. Heroes in the mold of John McCain. The protesters in the streets are generally young, vulnerable, and powerless. Among them are the first wave of victims, the “others,” for whom those who disagree but are not yet victims, can empathize with from afar. The regime’s fondest hope is that their bravery and public displays will gradually, as time goes on, lead the rest of us to wish the protests will end. They bet that we will hope the riff raff will just go away as their plight becomes an inconvenience. The regime is counting on our need for comfort and order.
But sometimes heroic acts are discomfiting and threaten the current order. Sometimes, heroes must choose between to forego small “L” loyalties to friends and colleagues for a higher cause. This nation requires real heroism from Republicans with conscience. They are the first in line since Trump and his regime misrepresent them. While Democrats can be expected to serve as the “loyal opposition”, the regime will sell this as partisan politics. While Bob Mueller is poised to exact justice, even his status depends on others. Prime candidates for true patriot status could arise from the current acknowledged Republican leaders like McCain, Lindsey Graham, the Bush family; from Rand Paul, and John Kasich. Others, like the gelded Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and Mario Rubio, can only swell the tide, their moral authority stolen long ago by Trump’s deft manipulation. Mueller requires Republican courage.
The assault on our democracy is very real and extremely dangerous. It is waged on our courts, on the rule of law, and on our perceptions of tolerance. It attacks our very soul. It is not unlike previous perversions of our constitution. Most are born of fear and distrust, of a contrived sense of weakness. Trump’s regime has not written this book, but has followed its well worn script. McCarthyism, the Klan, and the paranoia of Nixon’s Watergate are all precursors. Each has a plot that includes constructing false crises. McCarthy built his on the fear of communism — the “red scare”; the Klan depended on a hatred of blacks. Richard Nixon was confronted by war protesters and his own demons. His straw dog was a war waged as much to save face as to prevent the fall of dominoes. The Trump populist regime borrows from them all. Like Nixon and McCarthy there is a real question of sanity and sobriety intermixed with Trump’s vacuous mindlessness and lack of intellectual curiosity. Both are now visibly on display for all to see. When the fog clears, and it will, it will be replaced by regret and awe-filled recognition.
The hangman’s response to his final victim who wanted to know “why me?” and “why now?” is prophetic:
“...You tricked me, Hangman!” I shouted then. “That your scaffold was built for other men. And I no henchman of yours,” I cried, “You lied to me, Hangman, foully lied!”
Then a twinkle grew in his buckshot eye: “Lied to you? Tricked you?” he said, “Not I. For I answered straight and I told you true: The scaffold was raised for none but you.”
While Trump tosses aside his closest and most loyal aides his sycophants and erstwhile followers, the hangman speaks most eloquently to his impenetrable base—the so-called 36% of voters who prop him up. Donald Trump has told us what he intends. He has demonstrated his lack of loyalty and principle. If his base expects to survive and prosper his maniacal rule, they are his fool at best, his next victim at worst.
As for the rest of us, if we plan to do nothing and hope to survive, we become his enablers. Our only course is to resist and become the inconvenient reminder of what truly has made America great and continues to keep it that way. His promise to make us “great again” is a perversion of the truth. He could no more make America great than he could deny the fact that America made him rich.
This is a time for American heroes. Will we wait until the hangman’s noose is placed around our necks or will we choose to step up? Will we choose to be bullied and lied to, or to speak out? At long last, Donald Trump has neither pride, nor shame. His soul is dark and godless. He is counting on us to be more like him. Let’s show him that we are not.