Building a Museum of Betrayal - An Editorial by Don Holladay, founding church member
Let the ballroom be built.
Let it become our symbolic reminder of when America’s nearly 240-year-old form of government was bulldozed to the point of near collapse, where the soul of our nation became shriveled because of citizen distrust, and where bedrock constitutional values were ransacked as good men and women who could have done something chose instead to do nothing.
Let the gigantic ballroom become history’s reminder of how easily a nation’s institutions can be manipulated and corrupted by unchecked authoritarian leadership.
After President Donald Trump leaves office, make the thing a museum. At the entrance, put a plaque with the breathtaking words he posted on social media: “He who saves the country violates no law.”
The quote captures the spirit of an authoritarian regime, one supported by a dysfunctional Congress and enforced by the presence of troops in the streets. Inside the cavernous room — an area one-and-a-half times larger than a football field — create a post-Trump atmosphere of sobering reflection. Remove whatever gaudy gold-leaf decorations remain, store the banquet tables and dim the lighting. Let plain walls become spaces for quotes, photographs and film clips. Don’t waste effort or space on the goofy stuff, such as the exaggerations. Don’t bother with the constant mistruths.
The voters already knew he was taking America to a post-truth world, the type that demagogues use to exploit free speech. Maybe even omit referencing his crude, misogynistic Access America comments.
Instead, stick with the big theme — the betrayal of America. That is what the world should remember about this period in our country’s history.
Begin with his declared war on the Constitution, the rule of law, our federal courts, and our government watchdogs.
Remind visitors of his invention of false emergencies to seize powers that he otherwise did not have. Recite examples of how he has abused the power of the presidency by using it as an instrument of retribution. Display the overreaching executive orders, representing unchecked assertions of power.
Highlight those clearly in conflict with the Constitution, such as the one purporting to restrict birthright citizenship.
Let a film clip show arrests and deportments of undocumented immigrants, the many carried out without any semblance of due process. Recount how he usurped the powers of a nonfunctioning Congress, thereby eroding the Constitution’s system of checks and balances.
Run the film clip of his televised press conference where he discussed the use of troops for domestic law enforcement, the one where he said he had “the right to anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States.” Remind visitors of his attempt to interfere in America’s free elections, and his unfounded claims of voter fraud. Give the deniers the recognition they deserve. Let visitors hear an audio of Mr. Trump proudly calling himself a wartime president.
At the back of the former ballroom, on a large screen, chronicle Mr. Trump’s inexplicable attraction to cruel dictators. Let viewers see his startling assertion that it was Ukraine and not Russia that started the ongoing war. Let another clip show viewers the chummy welcome on American soil given by Trump to ruthless Russian dictator Putin, laughing and joking on a day used by the Russian dictator to allow more atrocities to occur against noncombatants in Ukraine.
On another back wall, address the consequences of a democratic government slipping into a breeding ground of authoritarian leadership, decision-making freed from the rule of law and the checks and balances created by our nation’s founders, and the improper use of the military. Let future generations learn about the cruelty, meanness and shamelessness that happens when minorities are attacked without cause, about the aftermath for America’s most vulnerable when health and food assistance programs are denied, and about what happens when cultural institutions such as the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts, created and funded by Congress, are placed on a president’s kill list.
Show the television news accounts of how this president watched and did nothing as our nation’s Capitol was under siege by rioters, and how he stalled before acting, even when the rioters searched for our government’s leaders, including the vice president. Remind the public of the president’s shocking praise of those rioters, calling them “patriots” and then pardoning them from convictions they received in courts of law.
Near the exit of the new Museum of Betrayal, present a final narrative to spotlight our dysfunctional Congress, sabotaged by members who decided to do nothing while our oncefunctioning democracy was being gutted by the excesses of an out-of-control presidency.
Once the nightmare of this presidency is over, let this new edifice be where we come to pay penance to future generations, those who will be called on to clean up a once-great America.
Don Holladay is a retired attorney and former trial lawyer who was the lead attorney in the federal lawsuit that successfully challenged Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Don Holladay
GUEST COLUMNIST-The Norman Transcript