Kill the King!

During the Middle Ages, a widely recognized truism had it that if you intend to kill the king, you had better kill the king.  Because if you didn’t, the king was unlikely be happy and would probably kill you.

Nowadays, liberal politicians and mainstream media want to destroy president Trump.  They openly declare that he is unworthy of office and should be impeached.  Nonetheless, if they do not succeed in unseating him, they are apt to be in jeopardy.

The major line of attack in recent months has been that Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the election from Clinton.  What is more, he has been accused of trying to cover up his misdeeds by engaging in obstruction of justice.

The would-be regicides had pinned their hopes on the ousted Director of the FBI, James Comey.  His investigations would, they assumed, reveal the alleged connections.  Afterwards, even terrified Republicans would pile on a disgraced chief executive.

Except that this did not happen.  There does not seem to be any there, there.  Even the smoke began to dissipate once Comey testified before a Senate committee.  Although this was a Rorschach test in which each side saw what it wanted, there was plainly no smoking gun.

But if none is found—if, for example, Mueller’s independent investigation finds nothing—the Democratic attack dogs will be in serious trouble.  Their credibility will be ruined and their political support may evaporate.

If the reactions pollsters found to Comey’s congressional appearance are to be believed, his cowardly statements horrified Republican and Independent voters.  Whether he lied regarding his meetings with the president, he had clearly not stood firm for justice.

Democratic observers, on the other hand, were more charitable.  While they did not get the damning evidence they desired, they were more inclined to believe Comey than Trump.

The trouble is that there are not enough Democratic voters to save Democratic candidates.  Elected officials, who assumed that taking down Trump would ensure reelection, should be quaking in their boots.  Especially if the President passes his signature legislation, they are apt to be perceived as feckless.

As for the mainstream media, they covered themselves in no glory.  Instead, they were exposed as dishonest scandalmongers.  When Comey categorized many of their stories as blatantly false, there was little place to hide.  Yet hide some did by doubling-down on unsubstantiated reports.

Hence the New York Times would not admit that the unnamed informants for a story about collusion between Trump advisors and Russian intelligence agents were wrong.  Instead, the editors lamely explained that they were not able to get in touch with these sources.  We may wonder why.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post put together a piece explaining why Trump was still guilty of obstruction of justice.  Eminent lawyers such as Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Turley opined otherwise, but these journalists knew better.

Given the gales of disinformation raging forth from the media, their reputation has been blown asunder.  Their joint standing is now lower than a snake’s belly.  It has actually gone subterranean in that they are struggling to escape a coffin of their own making.

No doubt Trump too has his troubles.  He is painfully inarticulate and frequently inconsistent.  He has also had difficulty passing a complex legislative agenda.  Thus, Republican legislators are divided about how to proceed, while some still have not forgiven him for his repellent behavior during the campaign.

That aside, he is not dead.  The man seems to be resilient despite the incessant assaults he has endured.  We may nevertheless suspect that he has become irritated with the ambushes.  What then if he counterattacks?

Politicians and journalists alike had better gird their loins.  If the king does not perish, they may find that he has sufficient ammunition to take them down.  They, in fact, are more vulnerable than he is.  To begin with Comey may have committed crimes.  His leaking might have been illegal.

But it is Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and their minions who are in real hot water.  Because they are no longer in office, but also because a discredited media is less able to protect them, their earlier transgressions could land them before a grand jury.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University