{"id":6453,"date":"2020-01-03T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T17:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/?p=6453"},"modified":"2020-01-04T17:47:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-04T23:47:44","slug":"thats-what-he-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2020\/01\/thats-what-he-is\/","title":{"rendered":"That’s What He Is, All Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Official<\/a>
Official White House photos of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, to Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, neither spoken nor written have I ever used the phrase President Trump or any variation. That is I did not adjoin the word “president” and the word “Trump.” Or “president” and “Donald J. Trump,” etc. I called the man by his names, and I liked DJT. Also said “the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why haven’t I called Trump president? It’s not because he didn’t win the office. I think he did. He, the Republican Party in general and his campaign managers figured out how to game the Electoral Collage, which states to focus on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t win a big competition just by being the best campaigner. It’s more key to slam any rivals. Somehow negativity sticks with us humans better than positivity. Turns out that creating doubt isn’t hard. Making it stick takes more strategic effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans figured out how to slander the Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton so effectively that even most of her supporters said something to the effect of, “Yeah, maybe she is (whatever), but she’s best we’ve got for 2016 and better than him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GOP got there first and hit hardest. The more Democrats stamped and hollered about Trump, oddly, the more firmly his followers back him. Why? He owned most of the allegations, turned them around by bragging. That’s why calling Trump a liar is weird. At the least expected times, the habitual liar tells the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not that the Trump Republicans practiced “you can fool some of the people some of the time,” but engaged in “you can fool enough<\/em> of the people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Voters, enough of them in the right states, weren’t conned by Trump or his people. They knew what he was, had to at some level. A majority of his key voters wanted to be seduced, wanted an enemy with convenience, one that could be vanquished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all the well-paid experts in campaigning on board that if or when the United States amends its Constitution to drop the Electoral College and we move to a coast-to-coast popular vote, that they would focus their candidate to speak and shake hands just in key population centers. This would still game the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small and medium burgs and most of the middle of the country would be neglected. Not unlike now with the Electoral College. Trump still would have won votes tallied that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russians did interfere in the 2016 election. Trump would have won without them, without counterfeit websites and hoax social media accounts. We do those well enough on our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in November 2016, I acknowledged that Trump was elected president. What I conscientiously believed, even before he was sworn in, was that he would never<\/em> act like a president, with natural dignity and also with patriotic regard for the principles of a constitutional democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 18, the House voted to impeach President Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he is not president, he cannot be impeached. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, he is President Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he is not president his indictment cannot be brought to the Senate where he will be tried, with the Chief Justice of the United States presiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eh, he’s president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only the top officials of the executive and judicial branches can be impeached, while members of either house of Congress can be expelled, different constitutional processes, with particulars detailed by Congress. Civilians face conventional law enforcement and the criminal court system. For offenses outside codes of law, we commoners have lawsuits and civil courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s move on the Senate trial in January or February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country is not in limbo, it’s too big to ever just float around. Trump is cornering a snarling America, from climate change denial to an about-to-burst economy and now to moves against a sovereign if hostile nation that begs for recourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This President Trump who is not a legitimate leader of the three-branch United States is creating diversions from an impeachment trial, from wildfires and floods, and from that eventual recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real America leads the world by resilience, cleverness and compassion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, to Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, neither spoken nor written have I ever used the phrase President Trump or any variation. That is I did not adjoin the word “president” and the word “Trump.” Or “president” and “Donald J. Trump,” etc. I called the man by his names, and I liked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-spin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8126,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2025\/08\/deconstruction-era\/","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":0},"title":"The Deconstruction Era","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An Editor's Note It's incredible that no wag by now has given our era a name that sticks, goes viral. The announcements and actions coming out of Washington this year \u2014 with no sign of slowing \u2014 qualify for uniqueness. We came close in 2017-2021 to a singular name, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. He did not touch the Bibles held for him by his wife.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5277,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2015\/12\/barbershop\/","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":1},"title":"At the Barbershop","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"December 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Shy of a Load It's December, and for a month\u00a0I've avoided writing about the state of national politics. Other blog-columnists\u00a0are doing a good\u00a0job. I'd do fine, but I have nothing to add that's different. Until today? Yes, as it's not me opining. This is reporting. I was at my barber's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shy of a Load"","block_context":{"text":"Shy of a Load","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/items\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Illustration of traditional barber pole","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/barber-pole-246x800-92x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5700,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2017\/06\/trump-djt-digit-emollient-clause\/","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":2},"title":"DJT (Say Digit) Smooths on Emollient Clause","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Being acrimonious about acronyms is a worthy goal. Presidents used to be known by abbreviations. Now there are calls for the new president's term to be abbreviated by impeachment or the 25th Amendment. My suggestion as a longtime editor would be shorten by language. Now having worked\u00a0a year in academia,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shy of a Load"","block_context":{"text":"Shy of a Load","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/items\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Graphic of lotion pump bottle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/lotion-open-clip-art-800px.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5259,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2015\/11\/meta-trump\/","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":3},"title":"Never Meta Trump Like This","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Shy of a Load The Nov. 8 Saturday Night Live, hosted by magnate Donald Trump, was more significant than hilarious, although it was lots funnier than most\u00a0weekend pundits claim. A scan of\u00a0website headlines shows mine\u00a0is a minority view. I have not read their texts yet to prevent their influencing mine.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shy of a Load"","block_context":{"text":"Shy of a Load","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/items\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\"Saturday Night Live\" logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Saturday-Night-Live-logo-459x309-300x202.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6265,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2019\/01\/2000-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":4},"title":"2,000 Words","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"January 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Main photo NBC News,\u00a0inset photo Snopes.com \"A picture is worth a thousand words.\" This is my Facebook profile photo and cover photo for Sunday. Can't stomach it for more than that nor wish others to deal with it longer either. \"Revulsion\" is not an impeachable offense for Donald J. Trump,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photos of Trump about to welcome Clemson football team with silver, candles and prepackaged fast food, and a photo from Snopes of Roger Stone's Nixon tattoo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/facebook-page-012719.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/facebook-page-012719.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/facebook-page-012719.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/facebook-page-012719.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5514,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2016\/11\/ajar-letter\/","url_meta":{"origin":6453,"position":5},"title":"An Ajar Letter to Arkansas Electors","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"November 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"To the Honorable (Arkansas elector) Dear M-. _______, I am a native of our state, now living in Northwest Arkansas. This letter is to request you vote for any presidential candidate besides Donald J. Trump when the state's electors meet Monday, Dec. 19. This request does not come from partisanship\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Graphic of hand dropping ballot into slot","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/ballot-800px-295x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6453"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6465,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6453\/revisions\/6465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}