After proving his innocence, Trump shouldn’t have to be humble
Michael Goodwin
nypost.com
Soon after news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller found no Russia collusion, media types began offering their idea of an olive branch to President Trump. It generally came in the form of advice that he try to “heal” the nation.
One writer encouraged the president to give an Oval Office address in which he is “contrite, humble and authentic in tone” and use it to ask the public “for a new opportunity to be president of all Americans.”
Allow me to go out on a limb with a prediction: Hell will freeze over first. There might be an Oval Office speech, but it won’t be contrite and humble, nor should it be.
Trump is an innocent man who was outrageously framed by political enemies, including some in the Obama White House, the FBI and the Justice Department. Instead of begging forgiveness, he is entitled to feel just as Bill Clinton did after his many brushes with political death, that “whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”
Democrats and the media tried to kill Trump, and because they failed, he is in a stronger position than ever.
Not that he was a shrinking violet, but as a result we can expect to see an even more dominating, freewheeling Trump. His fiery, profanity-laced appearance at a raucous rally in Michigan illustrates that he views Mueller’s report as complete exoneration and that he is free to be even more Trumpian.
No surprise, he’s not inclined to follow the adage that revenge is a dish best served cold. He wants it now, even if it’s just rhetorical.
Who can blame him?
Try a test. Imagine that Mueller found Trump had indeed conspired with Russia to meddle in the 2016 election and obstructed the investigation. It would be a political bombshell and the move to impeach would be unstoppable.
Rep. Adam Schiff would be able to crow, “I told you so” and Hillary Clinton would claim to be the rightful president and maybe mount another run. Rachel Maddow would rule cable land and The New York Times would celebrate itself. Republicans would offer no resistance.
The stock market would take a deep dive, China, Russia, North Korea and Iran would exploit the chaos with new aggression and Washington would otherwise grind to a halt.
Facing the ignominy of being convicted by Congress and removed, Trump would be counseled to resign instead of putting the nation and his family through the meat grinder.
If he did resign, then what? A pardon from a President Pence would be unthinkable for such heinous fouls. Trump, out of the White House, would likely face a criminal trial, maybe more than one as prosecutors, federal and state, piled on like jackals to tear at his carcass.
Branded as a traitor, he might spend the rest of his life in prison.
Poof — back to reality. Mueller’s finding that there was no collusion and Attorney General Bill Barr’s finding that there was no obstruction ends the left’s fantasy and delivers its worst nightmare.
A liberated Trump already is scourging Schiff as “pencil-necked” while emboldened Republicans demand he resign as head of the intelligence panel.
Clinton is hiding and Maddow looks to be in shock as her ratings tumble. The Times has pivoted from Russia, Russia, Russia to rooting for an economic slump as it searches for another way to destroy Trump.
Some bitter clingers still hope that somewhere in the Mueller report there is a nugget that will change the outcome. They are making noise, but theirs is a lost cause.
For one thing, the odds that Mueller and Barr overlooked something big enough to change the bottom line are nil. For another, the public always wanted a fair, quick resolution to the probe and sensible people outside political hothouses will not want to revisit 2016 or the last two years. Enough of all that.
So it’s on to 2020, with Trump stronger and holding more political capital. There is now no question about his legitimacy, and assuming that Sen. Lindsey Graham and Barr keep their promise to get to the bottom of how Clinton’s dirty-trick dossier led to a corrupted FBI investigation, each new revelation will add power to the president’s punch.
The best thing Trump can do is give them space and time to expose the guilty. If there is any healing in America, it will come after clear evidence that he was the victim of a conspiracy that aimed to elect Clinton and then, after he won, to remove him on phony charges.
As for Trump’s political capital, there will be temptations to go on a spending spree, but he and the country would best be served if he devoted himself anew to keeping his first campaign promise: fixing the broken border.
Unless the courts stop him, his emergency declaration gives the president money and freedom to make major improvements in security, including building more and better barriers. And the fixes couldn’t come at a better time, with the record surge of illegal crossers and amnesty claimants untenable. If the influx isn’t stopped, the nation will be roiled by the issue for another generation.
Consider that as many as 1.5 million illegals will enter America this year, driven by violence in Central America, our great economy and our lax laws and open spaces.
Not long ago, it was believed there were about 10 million illegal immigrants here. At this rate, it will soon be 20 million — and growing.
Trump, freed from the greatest possible distraction, can cement his legacy by delivering on the key issue in his election. Everything else on his to-do list should be second to securing the border.
If he does that, it is impossible to imagine he won’t win broader support — and four more years. In that case, he’ll have time to finish driving the left completely nuts.
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