We increasingly are
living in a one-dimensional, sound-bite world. We consume "quick
bites" on the news and our devices. It’s a very real danger, as life does
not exist in one dimension. It exists in a multi-dimensional context, which is
more than often complex.
Consider, Donald Trump
says his impeachment was a "hoax" and that his phone call with
President Zelensky was
"perfect." However, the context for his impeachment includes:
the crime of withholding Congressionally appropriated defense funds, needed for
the Ukrainians to defend themselves from Russia's invasion; encouraging the
propaganda that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016
election; and our president again asking a foreign government to interfere, in
his favor, in a presidential election by investigating his leading opponent.
The dangers in this context included:
Ukrainian soldiers dying because their country was not able to purchase the
weapons needed for their defense; Russia being able to say it was Ukraine not
Russia who interfered in the 2016 election; and the perversion of our democracy
by having a foreign government damage the credibility of Trump's leading
political opponent.
Donald Trump is a one-dimensional person who
fits perfectly in this sound-bite world. His single dimension only focuses on
what is good for him, and it is constructed on lies. In Citizen Trump, this was
either boring or entertaining depending on your perspective. In President Trump,
it is extraordinarily dangerous.
As we begin to watch President Trump's impeachment
trial, it's important to understand that while we will hear evidence explaining
the context that supports why the president should be removed from office, his
defense will be based on his alternate reality wherein the impeachment was a
"hoax" and his call with President Zelensky was "perfect."
Make no mistake, Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr are
partisans. They will not, however, use the president's terminology of
"hoax" and "perfect call" in defending him. They will use
synonyms that nevertheless support his one-dimensional view of reality.
I understand that Trump will not be convicted
by a Republican-controlled Senate. Indeed, we the public may not even get to
hear testimony from the likes of John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and Lev Parnas. What we will see, however, is
unconverted evidence that Republican Senators, like their House of
Representative counterparts, have chosen to live in Trump's dangerous one-dimensional
world.
Trump's impeachment trial will not exist in a
vacuum. It will exist in the context of the 2020 elections which will determine
which party controls the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. What
is at stake is whether during a Trump administration we will continue to be
infected by an alternate reality based on a simplistic dimension of one man's
mind. Trump's acquittal by the Senate will mean that the Republicans have
unequivocally subscribed to his fabricated view of reality, and that for
the rest of
the time he is in office, Trumpism will have replaced reality, the rule of law,
and our democratic process.