Facing the consequences

The inevitable has arrived. With the assassination of Iran’s Maj. Gen. Oassim Suleimani, our country faces an international crisis while dependent on a President who cannot or will not distinguish fact from fiction, or truth from lies. Our security now depends on an administration existentially compelled to support whatever version of reality the President thinks will make him look good in the moment. Ironically, our most trustworthy sources of accurate information are Administration leaks and investigative reporting.

Mr. Trump has filled many of the most critical positions the country relies on for global security with “B” and “C” team sycophants. He has blocked Congressional checks and balances, and disassembled processes for non-partisan participation in the nation’s leadership apparatus. We’ve stood by as he has removed capable, experienced, independent professionals and has taken sole control of our military and international diplomacy. He is in charge, and he is not competent or credible to lead a democracy.

We are facing a leadership crisis. He, who has demonstrated concern only for his personal image and wealth, whose negotiating strategy is to double down on threats that gamble with other people’s money and lives, who dismisses experts who disagree with him and who trusts and is trusted by no one, is in charge. He, whom more than half the country thinks should be impeached and removed from office, is at the helm of a country now facing the possibility of a new war in the Middle East; arguably, a crisis of his own making.

These are the consequences of temper tantrums—an angry electorate having elected a destructive president.  Voting to wreck the government on which so much of our way of life depends, that protects and defends us in countless ways, was childish. Treating this increasingly complex world as simple will not make it so. Perhaps we will survive this crisis without great harm, but the erosion of steady, ethical, and competent leadership will eventually cost this country the security and freedom we have enjoyed for most of our lifetimes.