Trumpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

[Tru]mpty Dumpty sat on a wall
[Tru]mpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the kings’ horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put [Tru]mpty together again
—Mother Goose

Donald Trump’s “wall” has begun to crack; he’s headed for impeachment, due for “a great fall.” The question is: Will all the king’s men (Mike Pompeo, Rudy Giuliani, Bill Barr, Vladimir Putin) be able to put “[Tru]mpty together again”?

It is illegal for any person to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election. Our president confessed twice in public to doing just that. He released a summary of his call with the President of Ukraine during which, in response to a request to buy more weapons, he asks President Zelensky for a favor: “dirt” on Joe Biden, a 2020 political rival. Then, on the White House lawn, he repeated the solicitation, this time inviting China to join in a Biden investigation.

He will be impeached for this! Three of his men will not be able to put him back together again. The fourth, focused on the electoral college might. 

Attorney General Barr and Rudy Giuliani are identified in the call as being part of this illegal act. Barr has been traveling around the world to enlist foreign governments (Australia and Italy) in Trump’s conspiracy theories. Giuliani, not a government official, met with Ukrainian officials, and convicted felon Paul Manafort in jail to do the same. Pompeo, after first denying it, confessed to having been on the phone call. These men have been disqualified from putting Trumpty back together again. Putin has not.

Putin told us on television that he intends again to interfere in Trump’s favor in 2020; he was not joking. These two men have adopted the technique of telling the world what they are going to do regardless of the legality. In Trump’s case, he obviously doesn’t understand either the Constitution or the law (or doesn’t care). Putin has no such constraints. But make no mistake, Trump’s reference to “CrowdStrike” in the call with Zelensky and his attempts to convince the world, without proof, that it was Ukraine not Russia that meddled in the 2016 election would help Putin.

CrowdStrike, a California-based cybersecurity company, helps organizations protect their systems against hacking. It worked for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in 2016 (it also worked for the Republican National Committee) and determined that Russians hacked into the DNC’s server. CrowdStrike’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election has been substantiated by all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. Nevertheless, Trump brought this up to Zelensky during the call: “They say CrowdStrike … the server, they say Ukraine has it.”

The Ukraine scandal is not just about Joe Biden. It is also about Trump trying to benefit Russia. He’s trying to create a false narrative where Russia can keep the Crimea, annex Eastern Ukraine, and have U.S. sanctions against Russia dropped for invading Crimea. This abuse of power by an American president should  be included as an Article of Impeachment!

Here’s the really scary part: 40 percent of Republicans say they don’t know about Trump pressuring Ukraine about Biden, much less CrowdStrike and the Russians. Despite Ambassador Kurt Volker’s release of emails confirming that Trump pressured Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election, if this number holds, it’s likely that Trump will be acquitted in the Senate. On the other hand, it is a certainty that Putin will attempt to influence the 2020 election in Trump’s favor.

So, what do we do about it? Vote for the Democratic nominee who shows that she or he can take on Trump and deal with his lying and bullying; and then contribute money and time to that campaign regardless of whether you like that candidate. The alternative: “Trumpty Dumpty” is put together again.