I take it back. He does not.
"Say what, Diogenes? Have you lost your faith in the Framers' wisdom?"
Not at all. I've had to admit that the wisdom of the Framers has limitations. They were products of a society that had clearly drawn normative behaviors and social mores, which are reflected in the Constitution.
They were, however, wise enough to know that society evolves, and they wrote the means of amending the Constitution into the document itself.
But neither the Framers nor anyone between their time and ours could have conceived of a creature like Trump, and would have dismissed out of hand the idea that such a one could become president.
I have felt a change coming incrementally for a few weeks. The tipping point came as a triple whammy: the release of the Senate Judiciary Committee's detailed report on Trump's attacks on the electoral process; publication of Bob Woodward's most recent book Peril; and hearing Carl Bernstein and Anderson Cooper on CNN matter of factly discussing Trump as a sociopath and/or psychopath.
I have changed my mind about how Trump should be treated because his character, personality, and behavior are so far removed from and foreign to the norms on which our system of law is based that any attempt to deal with him in a traditional way would be fruitless.
For example, the very notion of a trial by jury presupposes that everyone involved will be truthful. Donald Trump is incapable of telling the truth, and he has no scruples about committing perjury. He does not believe the law applies to him.
He perjured himself on the first day of his term when he said the words of the presidential oath without meaning one of them. He never intended to protect the Constitution; he always meant to tear it down. So not only is he likely to lie under oath, he has already lied by falsely taking an oath. Swearing him to truthfulness would be a waste of words.
Empaneling a jury capable of reaching an impartial verdict is likely to be impossible, given the number of people who follow the Trump cult, who themselves would be likely to lie about their intentions so they could vote him not guilty. At the very least, prospective jurors should be given a polygraph test to uncover any undisclosed connection to or sympathy for Trump.
And of course the site of any trial would have to be heavily secured against Trump's zombie army.
Trump's criminality is obvious to anyone with eyes to see and yet he remains not only free, but unindicted. That terrifies and outrages me, as it should any loyal American.
Bringing Trump to justice will be a challenge for America, but we must rise to it. Can it be done within the constraints of the Constitution? Probably not. So what, then? He absolutely must not be made a martyr.
Donald Trump needs to be dropped into this nation's collective oubliette. There is no other option.
--- Diogenes, 10/11/2021