Last week my wife and I had the good fortune  (in both the serendipitous sense as well as enough money in our bank account) to see the American musical Hamilton that was playing in Omaha.  Like everyone I left the theater overwhelmed by its genius.  But there were many people, I would have to believe, that were also left with the nagging thought of how shocked the historical figures represented on that stage would be to see  how the corruptive influence of the Trump administration has laid bare the fragility of the form of government they so painstakingly strove to establish.

Certainly there are instances of our founding father’s own moral missteps.  Hamilton had an affair with a married woman that he tried to cover up.  That episode essentially ended his political career. Franklin was a renowned womanizer and had a bastard child. The national shame of slavery was in common practice during their time.  But all took very seriously the business of governing, and in constructing the Constitution they were as careful as they imagined possible and necessary in setting up a framework that would deter presidential corruption and insure qualified people assumed the office.  Sadly we have found the Constitution is not sufficient to restrain a lawless president.  You would have to assume it was inconceivable to those who wrote it that such a dishonest man would rise to the office.

Trump has punctured the guardrails intended to constrain presidential power and behavior. Our founding fathers sought to create a government dedicated to the common good.  Trump has conducted his entire adult life with little concern for anything but his own profit or protection.  He is a proven cheat and he lies with impunity. With him, the only thing that matters is what you can make people believe.  Facts are not absolute- they have alternatives.

And from my viewpoint,, taking all his corruptive conduct and all that is morally and ethically objectionable about this president into consideration, what is most troubling about him is his unbridled propensity to lie.  It is the defining character flaw that makes him totally unfit to hold office.  My personal definitive test to determine if I can have a logical, informed conversation with a Trump supporter, (and yes, I have actually had a few  of those that have been mutually productive) is that fact.   If you firmly believe Trump does not lie, there is no point involving me in any kind of discussion with you.

If we are unable to confront the truth, we are pretty much in a hopeless situation.  If we are governed by a man with such disregard for the truth, a man that is supposed to provide direction and leadership, it is inevitable that people will start believing his lies, whether the man promoting them believes them or not.  And I actually believe that a lot of the fabrication that goes on in Trumps mind are things he somehow twists into his own private reality.

And this is what is so dangerous and what is starting to play out right now.  Trump is starting to spiral downward into a world where he desperately wants wild conspiracy theories to become real.  He is so used to making things up he is potentially placing people and the country in peril.  Our laws that are meant to keep people safe are being disregarded by the very man who is supposed to make sure they are enforced.  Anyone who disagrees with him is potentially a traitor.  Civil war will erupt should he be removed from office.  His recent twitter tirades are gaslighting rampages that reinforce his narcissism and unfortunately  in many instances potentially plant the seeds of violent thought in marginally rational people.   You can easily make the argument that Trump’s distorted view of things  are manufactured in a disturbed mind.  As difficult and objectionable as impeachment seems to be, congress has no choice but to proceed with it to prevent more executive abuse of power and make it clear it will not be tolerated, now or by future presidents.

I am certain of three things about Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Monroe, Madison, Franklin, et al.  First, the chances of a President Trump ever happening in their time would have been extremely remote.  Second, If by some weird happenstance it did, articles of impeachment would have been initiated within a year of his inauguration.  And third, again if such an anomaly had occurred,  those men would have been shocked that all the drafts and revisions they made during the four months it took to finalize the Constitution somehow failed to check the abuse of power of the executive branch.  They would have summoned everyone for an emergency session of congress to patch, tweak, revise, and amend that document so that there would never again be such corruption and exploitation by a president of the United States.  Let us hope that at some point in the very near future congress will see to it that new constitutional and regulatory safeguards are established that clarify the intentions of our founding fathers.

Fun Fact:  Benjamin Franklin was the county’s first whistle blower