Getting the Government We Deserve
Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.
— Donald Trump, July 27, 2016
Occasionally I see suggestions that the 25th Amendment should be used to remove Donald Trump from office. This is a bad idea.
His temper and poor judgment are frequently cited as evidence of his unfitness for office. I agree those qualities render him unfit. But it doesn’t matter because these are qualities he exhibited during the election, and voters still chose him. Maybe some even chose him because of these objectionable traits.
If we want the succeeding government to retain legitimacy, we probably can’t remove him for any of the major character flaws that he exhibited before he was elected (and we do want the succeeding government to retain legitimacy).
Unfortunately this also includes his soft collusion with Russia that I quoted at the start. We voted for collusion, and collusion is what we get.
He’s the biggest, most useful idiot in a nation of useful idiots. We’re unbelievably useful! And also, not puppets!
Yeah, this is on us. We need a Constitutional convention to hash a few new things out, but frankly I’m not sure I trust any of you with my civil liberties.
Then my despair deepens because I realize my own useful idiocy. We’ve squandered our inheritance of social trust over many decades. It won’t be rebuilt over night. It will never be rebuilt if we don’t admit who is at fault.

It’s not just that we voted for collusion with Russia. It’s that we swallowed a poison pill — the idea that kleptocracy is OK. The idea that if choosing the lesser crook is all we can morally do, maybe the greater crook will bring us more spoils.
The Russians swallowed this too and suffer the same poison logic: If all governments are corrupt, then having a corrupt president is good because it means they are powerful enough to also protect your interests. Better to pick the openly corrupt man, because at least you can see how he is compromised. Better the man who makes no pretense at telling the truth, because we’re relieved of the burden of discerning his lies. As long as he keeps us safe, what more can we hope?
Trump knew that Russia was interfering in the election when he publicly invited them to help. And we knew when we voted him into office he wanted to collude.
Democracy requires a certain level of trust — in each other, and in the institutions that bind us — including media and judiciary that Trump attacks. If we don’t have enough trust that honest and accountable government is possible, the zero-sum politics of kleptocracy is that remains.
This trust starts with us, in our local communities and in every social media interaction. The threat of provocateurs gives us a patriotic duty to be skeptical of outrages committed by our political opponents, and to be critical of our allies’ misbehavior. It means trusting that most of our political opponents really care about the country and want what they think is best for all of us. Granting that trust makes great things possible.
The Russian campaign to divide us needs little help. They don’t even really need the fake antifa manual. This ride has crested and we’re starting to drop. Our leader is compromised, and we voted for it.
Would you answer the distress call of a ship lost to its own folly? Would you answer even knowing that the crew are too busy fighting themselves to put out the fire they started?

