Victim-in-Chief

Battered Tweet Syndrome

President Trump plays a variety of roles in American life.  He is the “Bully-in-Chief” especially when it comes to his use of Twitter.  It’s his most effective tool, one that allows him to communicate to his base, unfettered by the restraints of the law, staff, media, or anyone else.  With the “big stick” of his Twitter account, he keeps his political allies in line, and his opponents at bay.  

It seems silly, that “grown ass” men and women are intimidated by a “tweet”.  These are the most powerful folks in our nation, Congressmen, Senators, and Cabinet Secretaries.  But they will say and do almost anything to avoid the “twitter beating” of their leader.  It is fear that the Trump base will receive 240 characters of marching orders, directing them to march right over the target.

Devil on Your Shoulder

And Trump plays the “dark” model for many.  He can say and do almost anything.  His is that secret voice in some people’s minds, the voice that no one lets be heard for fear of offending or looking ignorant.  But the President has no such inhibitions.  He says whatever comes to his tongue, regardless of how inappropriate or hateful it might be.  And many admire that freedom.  It’s part of the “secret” Trump base, the “un-pollable” dark support that the Trump Campaign depends upon.  

Victim

But his greatest super-power, the “card” he plays over and over again, is Trump as Victim-in-Chief.  He is always the victim:  of the media, Democrats, the Courts, and the “Deep State”.  In fact, the Trump machine created the concept of the “Deep State”.  They needed a “dark force” to fight against, someone to blame for all of Trump’s failures.  What better enemy than some amorphous agglomerations of letters: NSA, CIA, FBI, DIA, and NSC.  The intelligence agencies are secret and silent, doing their jobs in the shadows.  They are unable to defend themselves in the public square, unwilling to reveal themselves to parry the tweets and accusations.

And so the President can rail against them without response, claiming bias and prejudice against his “outsider” insurgency.  It gives him an excuse for failure.

Defender of the Presidency

And the President as Victim has found an even greater role, that as the poor, abused defender of Article II of the Constitution against the Pelosi-led Congress.  He’s managed to turn a straightforward impeachment process into “the Salem Witch Trials”, with Mr. Trump himself starring as one of the witches.  

In the beginnings of a normal Court proceeding, the suspect has few rights.  The prosecution investigates, presents to a Grand Jury, and returns indictments without the defense given any chance to make a stand.  It is only after the indictment is filed, and the Court begins proceedings, that the Defense is allowed to demand recognition and make their case.  That’s when they get their “day in court”.

Grand Jury

The Impeachment process is similar, the bringing of charges against a President for trial in the Senate.  The trial phase allows for the President to make a case and be represented by counsel and witnesses of his choosing.  But in the Impeachment phase, much like the Grand Jury phase, there is no “right” to representation.

Not that this President didn’t have fierce defenders.  The Republicans in the House stood up against the process and for Mr. Trump over and over again.  From the beginning of the Intelligence Committee investigation, everyone from Minority Leader McCarthy to Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan screamed about the “unfairness of the process”.  But, of course, the process was exactly fair:  the Intelligence Committee did the investigation, serving the role of the “prosecution”, then presented their findings to the Judiciary Committee, who served as a Grand Jury.  

The Judiciary Committee than presented their recommendations to the full House of Representatives.  And the President’s men protested every step of the way, from Jordan’s litany of four points, to Doug Collins “clock and a calendar”.  The President had representation that a defendant in a criminal case could only dream of.  

But the President was portrayed as a poor victim of Democratic abuse.  They claimed he was denied “due process” and lack of representation, when in fact Republicans fiercely represented him. They never made a serious claim against the facts that the Committees put forth, only against the “process”.

Day in Court

The President has every right to his “day in court”.  It’s coming, if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow it.  The “due process” and factual presentations can and should be made on the floor of the US Senate, in a trial of Presidential removal.  Now is the appropriate time for a full airing of the case, and for the President to defend himself.

But it’s not likely to happen.  Mr. Trump, and the Republicans in the Senate don’t want due process, fairness, or the truth. They want to be victims, to claim persecution.  That way they don’t have to defend the indefensible:  the President’s actions.