These days, it seems like everyone is trying to figure out a way to unseat President Donald Trump.
There have been protests around the country since his election. People have been scrutinizing every detail in his past and present to find that silver bullet — the one scandal that is actually bad enough to force an impeachment of Trump — that will finally bring him down.
Last week, Rachel Maddow obtained Trump’s 2005 tax returns from a journalist who obtained the returns from his mailbox. Maddow took to Twitter to hype up her show that night, where she intended to reveal his tax returns to the national public.
As public attention goes, there was a lot of anticipation to see what was actually in these tax returns. There was a giddiness about the possibility of something uber scandalous coming out. Since Maddow was releasing them to the public on her national show, there had to be something scandalous hidden in the details beneath the mountain of numbers.
But when show time came, Maddow used her platform to give a long-winded monologue that ultimately ended in a dud: All the tax returns show is that Trump made $150 million and then paid $38 million in taxes. If anything, it was a big win for Trump, since he paid about 28 percent in taxes of what he made.
There is nothing wrong with the returns; nothing illegal was uncovered.
This seems to be happening around the country — people are actively trying to find and a reason to remove Trump from office. And there is an active anticipation of this; people want the president removed, even though he’s done nothing, as of now, illegal.
(Reminder: The Russia ties are still under investigation. Using that as grounds for removal doesn’t make any sense; there’s no definitive or clear idea of what actually transpired. If something comes out, then sure, use that. But until then, stop.)
This persistence on a way to destroy Trump ultimately just hurts the same people who are trying to remove him. Silver bullets are always difficult to find, so as the continuous false flags and just flat-out-lies pile up, people begin to shut off and stop listening. It only serves to hurt the people who are searching.
There’s a reason there aren’t as many high-profile protests happening. There’s a reason why the media stopped covering every protest. People became numb to all the protests. If something keeps happening over and over again with no actual payoff, people will ultimately stop paying attention.
In December, I wrote a column addressing those who felt like they had lost the election; basically, the left of the aisle. In that column, I addressed how the left had contributed to Trump winning after about 20 years of increase in social authoritarianism. There had been a growing trend where a lot of labeling of opposition was occurring, and this was one of the main factors to Trump’s ascension. People grew numb to all the claims of racism, sexism, etc.
People grew really annoyed and then voted for Trump.
The exact same principle applies to bringing down Trump. Don’t unnecessarily yell about everything little thing Trump has done, is doing and will do. People are going to get really annoyed for the next four years.
Here’s a hint to everyone who is trying to find a way to bring down Trump: stop it now, or you will get a Trump victory in 2020. If all you do is yell for the next four years, the same people who were tired of you last year will be even more tired of you in 2020 and will make it a point to vote for Trump.
Now, if he actually does something illegal, call him out on it. This doesn’t mean he should get a free pass on everything — just don’t go crazy. The cards are ultimately in the hands of the people yelling; they get to choose their own destiny.
But it doesn’t seem like people have toned down on the rhetoric, and I highly doubt they’ll tone down for this.
Assistant opinion editor Jorden Smith is a political science and creative writing junior and can be reached at [email protected].
