A month ago, Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shook hands for the first time since 2020 (see below). Afterwards, McConnell said, "We had a really positive meeting. He and I got a chance to talk. It was an entirely positive meeting."
I wonder how the longtime GOP lawmaker feels now? I'm asking because despite Trump's recent answers to friendly TV hosts and pod casters about revenge and retribution, here is the essence of what he has posted on his Truth Social media website:
He is vowing to prosecute his political opponents. He wants to televise "military tribunals” and imprison President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer and former Vice President Mike Pence, among other high-profile politicians.
Of particular interest is Trump's message that former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney be found “guilty of treason.” If I had to guess, I'd say that is the former president's position when it comes to every member of the House Select Committee who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. (This would include my high school classmate and fellow congressional staff assistant Rep. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose.)
I was raised in a political household headed by my father who was a delegate to the 1952, '56, and '60 Democratic National Conventions, and an older brother who really was a federal elector in 2000 and 2008. As such, there were two lessons I learned at my family's dinner table: First, I must vote; and second, be tolerant of others' political views. Why? Because both are lynch pins that bind together America's great, democratic experiment.
If Donald Trump wins in November, and makes good on his plan to prosecute his political enemies, then be prepared to call him Your Majesty, not Mr. President. Wait. What's that I hear? Oh, just the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves.
-DF
j