Prosecuting a President Isn’t a ‘Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad’ Calamity

Recently I read an excellent opinion piece titled “What the rest of the world realizes about prosecuting former presidents.”

It helped solidify some nagging questions and fears I’ve had about our country — primarily, why in the world are we Americans so terrified of going after corrupt, criminal presidents? Why are we so horrified by that possibility?

Amazingly, the U.S. is almost alone among democratic or semi-democratic nations in never having brought a former president to trial for misdeeds or corruption — let alone sentencing an ex-president to prison. It’s never happened here. Ever.

And this is actually quite unusual, as democracies go. Extremely so. As this article points out, “Since 2000, in over 75 countries around the world, according to Axios research, heads of state who left office have been prosecuted or jailed — including in vibrant and strong democracies like Israel, France and South Korea.”

It’s happened in full public view — sometimes more than once — in countries as diverse as Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, Italy, and Argentina. In all these countries it’s considered a normal, if uncomfortable, part of life in a (semi)democracy, and it’s also considered a normal, necessary expression of the rule of law — as in, “no one is above the law.”

But not here. Not in the good ol’ U.S.A. Here, it seems that our presidents are above the law.

Here, prosecuting an ex-president, and — heaven forbid! — convicting him and sending him to prison is tantamount to trying to convict and imprison God himself (or herself — but so far, not coincidentally, every U.S. president has been a man. Patriarchy/misogyny, anyone?)

My big question is: Why? Why is America the only putative democracy that is utterly horrified at the prospect of indicting or especially convicting a former president — and basically refuses to ever do so?

Even in the egregious case of Donald Trump, an obviously corrupt and criminal ex-president, our nation and our legal system are having a devil of a time just trying to initiate indictments (let alone pursuing actual trials and potential convictions).

America’s an immature, adolescent nation

Inmusing on this question, a few different psychosocial realities come to mind. First, I think that most Americans are very immature, and thus see our president as a powerful, godlike father figure. Part of our immaturity is our deep ambivalence about such a potent father-figure; we simultaneously seem to want such a powerful person directing us and our nation … yet we also hate and resist the idea of being “controlled” and directed by such a figure.

It’s a very reactive, rebellious “adolescent” attitude which features a lot of “push-pull.” As in: Be here for me. Protect me. Help me. NO! Go away! Stop interfering! Let me be! Etc.

Yet oddly enough, in both cases … we still see our presidents as powerful, almost godlike figures — our American royalty — and give them vast legal leeway and license that we give to no one else (except perhaps a few billionaires). We let Big Daddy off the hook, every time — just as we’d let God (or our king) off the hook. Our public attitudes and actions are that childish.

And speaking of childish: We Americans just can’t seem to handle direct, public confrontation with powerful men, especially our presidents. We’re real wimps in that arena, and we avoid it like the plague … here in “the home of the brave.”

Perhaps the U.S. is more autocratic plutocracy than democracy

The second issue that came to mind is more … sinister: Perhaps America is much more an autocratic plutocracy than a democracy, and that’s why we put our presidents (and billionaires and multi-millionaires) on a pedestal, and revere and protect them.

We adore a powerful, imposing autocrat, yet we also want to uphold our illusion of being a “free” and “democratic” republic, so we slyly “go along [with autocracy] to get along.”

It’s an ideal ‘codependent reality.’ We go along with or tolerate all the corruption and blatant amorality — especially with Trump — fearing that if we confront our president head-on and fully “join the battle” to preserve the rule of law, then we and our nation will somehow be crushed or destroyed. (And that’s always a possibility, though a remote one, as Trump constantly and loudly keeps reminding us.)

Think about it: in an autocracy the ruthless strong-man leader is revered, uplifted, and protected, while in a plutocracy the uber-wealthy are revered, uplifted, and protected.

These two forms of “rulership” are exactly parallel and “in synch” with each other. And in today’s America, we’re mired in a distressing, revolting hybrid, a combination of both, wherein many, many Americans (not the majority, hopefully!) practically worship our president and the uber-rich as well.

Then, when you get a (ex)president — like Trump — who’s both a ruthless strong-man type and a self-described billionaire … why, that’s totally awesome, that’s the best of both worlds, and many of us (like his fanatical MAGA supporters) will defend him to the death.

In fact, that’s exactly what Trump is counting on right now. He’s made it crystal clear that he’s counting on his loyal supporters to protect him and save his ass from prosecution and possible conviction — and is publicly calling for them to protest, rise up, and literally prevent any indictments from being enacted.

This past weekend his words took on an even more threatening tone, as he insisted that mass destruction and death will result if he’s indicted.

That doesn’t sound much like democracy to me. It sounds much more like a violence-based, dictatorial, and cruel nation built around a cult of personality … like, say, our nemesis North Korea and its “dear leader” Kim Jong Un (who Trump “fell in love” with). It’s also much more like the amoral, corrupt hybrid autocracy/plutocracy I described above.

And it’s not at all like … a democracy, or a “land of the free.”

Americans’ weird, laughable sense of entitlement

Lastly, there’s Americans’ weird sense of entitlement and “above-it-all-ness.” That is, many Americans seem to have this bizarre idea that we’re “special” (oh-so-special!) and somehow “above” other nations, and thus shouldn’t have to deal with these mundane, criminal issues publicly — especially when they concern a current or former president. We somehow believe we’re “above” all that, and that prosecuting or (gasp!) convicting a president is tantamount to a mortal sin against nature and against the essential fabric of our nation.

That’s how bizarre and utterly unrealistic our thinking seems to be. Truly, it’s pure denial — and a bunch of total nonsense.

Because we’re not “above it all,” we’re not immune to the types of issues and problems other nations experience, we shouldn’t simply deny or cover up all presidential criminality and corruption — and we’re not protecting the fabric of our nation, but rather doing it great harm, when we adopt these entitled, flawed beliefs.

In essence, we’re saying that protecting one person, our current or former president — no matter what, and at any cost — is vastly more important than both the rule of law, and preserving our nation itself.

I’m sorry, but that’s just c-r-a-z-y (as well as deeply unpatriotic). It’s a very bad, destructive idea that has even worse down-the-road ramifications, and should have no place in our thinking or public discourse.

Yet … it does — very strongly — and continues to exert a powerful influence on Americans’ thinking and our continued unwillingness to ever prosecute and convict a president.

Sadly, until Americans learn this lesson, and accept the occasional, inevitable need to bring a corrupt or immoral president to justice … America will continue to be a glaringly immature, dysfunctional, and willfully blind nation.

Dear reader, if you read this far, please scroll a bit further until you reach the bottom of the page — or else Medium won’t register the time as a read. Thank you!

—

This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

***

You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project

Compliments Men Want to Hear More Often

Relationships Aren’t Easy, But They’re Worth It

The One Thing Men Want More Than Sex

..A Man’s Kiss Tells You Everything

—

Photo credit: iStock.com