Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Cabinet Resignations Too Little, Too Late
Some of the rats in Donald Trump's cabinet (and they are all rats) have decided the ship is sinking, so they are now resigning from their posts with a newly discovered consciences. Elaine Chao, the Transportation Secretary and wife of Senator Mitch McConnell, as well as Betsy DeVos, the illiterate Secretary of Education, have both resigned over the terrorist attack on the Capitol on Wednesday. Normally, this journal approves of such decisions, but this really is too little, too late. They should have stayed to vote Yes on removing Mr. Trump from the presidency under Amendment XXV.
Since the very beginning of the Trump presidency, people have justified staying in office by deluding themselves into thinking they could save the boss from himself. Anyone who spent anytime in New York real estate in the 1980s or who watched TV in the 1990s knew Donald Trump was an unstable, cretin who should not be given control of a lemonade stand. There is no preventing him from emotional, imbecilic actions. Resignations in the first year or three could be justified. This late in the game, quitting is self-indulgent and an attempt to whitewash the record.
The first resignations, which this journal can support, came from the Melania Trump's chief of staff, a deputy press secretary and the White House social secretary. These people had no power to affect events, and their departure will not be noticed by those outside the White House. They will have to purge their reputations of having served at all, but they can note they quite hours after they saw what had happened.
Ms. Chao and Ms DeVos are in a different situation. First off, they are both culpable for the policies of the administration. They are guilty of the administration's ineptitude and cruelty. Second, their departure with 12 days to go is not quitting over principle, which bears a price. They are getting a two-week paid vacation. Third, and most importantly, though, they had a better, more noble course of action.
Under Amendment XXV to the Constitution, the vice-president and a majority of the cabinet can remove the powers of the presidency from Mr. Trump. If the two ladies who have left were really upset and were willing to do what they could to protect the Republic, they would have begun agitating within the cabinet for such a vote. While Mr. Pence is not on-board with this yet, having cabinet secretaries pressuring him might change his mind.
Even if they could not bring him along, going quietly in the night, separately, was not the way to go. They should have held a press conference, along with any other department secretaries so inclined, to demand the Veep act. No doubt the president would fire them in a fit of pique, but that would be a huge badge of honor. Moreover, such firings could possibly sway the waverers.
The House of Representatives is considering a second impeachment of Donald Trump. That is not enough. Vice President Pence and every member of the cabinet must also be impeached. They have not done their duty to remove a man who is clearly a danger to the Republic. It is rapidly becoming too late for just about everything.
© Copyright 2021 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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