[View here as a Twitter thread]
Tony Schwartz wants to know why nobody is paying attention to the NYT Trump tax fraud story. https://twitter.com/tonyschwartz/status/1047591440681975813 … I can think of a few reasons
By now Trump’s critics know he was never a “successful businessman” and that he committed a boatload of crimes.
1/ What’s more important, the GOP doesn’t care. [If any MAGA people pop in and say, “What crimes?” click here: russia-investigation-summary.com The drafters of the Constitution considered the possibility that a president would be elected who was guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.
2/ That’s why they included a remedy in the Constitution: Congress acts as a check on presidential power. At the first sign of fraud or foreign influence, Congress SHOULD have stopped everything and conducted a meaningful investigation.
3/ Aside: The drafters of the constitution expected a president who committed crimes to be first removed from office, and then tried in criminal court. If Congress did its constitutional duty, we wouldn’t have to worry about whether a sitting president can be subpoenaed, etc.
4/ Instead of conducting a meaningful investigation, the GOP congressional majority is undermining any serious investigations. Meanwhile, they’re pushing through their agenda as quickly as possible. Why would they do that? Because the GOP is no longer a conservative party . ..
5/ . . . the GOP is now a full on right-wing authoritarian party. (What do I mean? See 👇twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield… Instead of acting as a check on presidential power, the Congressional GOP is gleefully reaping the rewards of having allied themselves with Trump.
6/ This is one reason historian Christopher Browning predicts that when future historians look back on this moment, they will see Mitch McConnell as a “gravedigger of Democracy.”
7/ A senate majority headed by a “gravedigger of democracy” isn’t likely to care about a few more federal felonies, like tax fraud. Before you despair, remember the Constitution also contains a remedy for Congress refusing to act as a check on presidential power: Vote them out.
8/ Another reason nobody’s paying attention: The Kavanaugh debacle is sapping everyone’s energy. It’s more than just distraction. Trump is insisting on Kavanaugh, despite credible allegations of sexual assault, because he wants to stir up a cultural war.
9/ Trump is counting on his followers being so thrilled by what he’s promising—a return to America of the 1920s—that they’ll overlook a few more federal felonies.
10/ Trump does outrageous things like mock Dr. Ford and tell audiences that the “me too” movement endangers men and boys . . . vanityfair.com/news/2018/09/d… Because it gets everyone spinning into an emotional tizzy.
11/ MAGA people are elated! Trump is sticking it to their enemies, the Liberals. Everyone else is outraged. We’re all caught up in a cycle of crisis and spectacle. (For more on the fascist method of governing by crisis and spectacle, see Timothy Snyder.)
12/ It’s hard to engage in rational analysis of facts when trapped in a cycle of outrage and spectacle. This is what enables Trump to get away with everything he’s doing: cruelty at the border, tax cuts for the top 1% to increase the income divide & push us into oligarchy, etc.
13/ And there, Tony, are a few reasons nobody is paying attention to the tax fraud story.
