The Border Patrol Agent wearing a protective ballistic vest was suddenly struck by a flying missile. The missile that hit the agent in the chest, allegedly putting a federal agent in danger, was a Subway style sandwich. After a brief foot chase, the unarmed assailant, a 37 year old Air Force veteran wearing shorts and sneakers, was arrested. Putting a federal agent in immediate danger is a federal crime, prompting the Trump administration, a vigorous proponent of law and order, to pursue a felony assault charge against the assailant.

A grand jury, much to the prosecution’s disappointment, declined to deliver an indictment. But surely, as the prosecutors claimed the assailant had “crossed the line” by throwing that sandwich, wouldn’t even jurors in “liberal Washington” find the assailant guilty of a lessor misdemeanor charge? 

During the trial, the victim of the sandwich attack, though unharmed, said that he could feel its impact through the ballistic vest he was wearing. It came apart and “kind of exploded” when it struck his chest, he testified.

The defendant’s attorney pointed out that the sandwich fell to the ground still in its wrapper. The victim wasn’t sure whether it was a turkey or ham sandwich, or of the condiments, but he could smell the onions and mustard. He was sure there were onions because one was left dangling on his antenna.

The jury returned a “not guilty” verdict. The saga of the sandwich toss affords some comic relief to this dark chapter in American history. More importantly, it starkly reveals the hypocrisy and corruption of a president who would prosecute the sandwich guy while pardoning the violent insurrection mob of January 9 that caused actual harm, including deaths of Capitol Police.

In contrast to the sandwich, a real wrecking ball taken to the East Wing of the White House is a physical metaphor of what is happening to our institutions intended to provide checks and balances to government. The White House is treasured as “The Peoples’ House. The East Wing is — was — considered a treasure of history and tradition. How could a president, any president, without consultation with the congress, historians, architects and design experts, just take a wrecking ball to The People’s House without the knowledge or consent of anyone except a handful of billionaire donors?

That’s Trump’s style — just do it.  He has followed that style his entire life, not only getting away with it, but being rewarded — twice — with landing the most powerful position in the world.  Just as you can’t un-ring a bell, once he gets away with wrecking a good part of the White House, it can’t be undone. He has plans to replace the East Wing with what in his mind is greater and more valuable than tradition and history. He plans a huge gold-gilded ballroom suited for grandiose events, no doubt after the fashion of his remodeled White House bathrooms.  

Even if more spacious rooms were useful for state dinners, a normal president would seek assistance of architects and designers of sophisticated taste, and the advice and consent of others, including the congress. 

The destruction of the Rose Garden and paving over its grounds to resemble what some critics have compared to a court yard of a cheap abandoned motel is prelude to what is to come. But Trump has long been praised by his admirers for ignoring rules and traditions. So why would he change. We’re stuck with him as no institution or people of power and influence are willing or able to stop him — at least till now, through arrogance and ignorance, possibly stopping himself.

We all know that the world is not fair.  But that does not exempt our collective responsibility for protecting victims from unfair treatment.  This goes especially for our government.  Who could have expected our federal government to unleash unidentified masked agents snatching people out of cars , day care centers, and federal buildings, slamming them to the turf, shackling them, and carting them away to unknown havens, preventing them from contacting family or legal consul, and even deporting them to foreign countries. The President’s response is that “Ice should get tougher.” And who could have predicted that an American present would one day be more comfortable with world strong men and dictators than with leaders of Canada and Western Europe.

In a democracy, the ultimate power is with its people. The recent “No Kings” turnout throughout the nation reveals serious discontent with the direction of the nation. As one wag put it, “If enough people step up, perhaps some politicians will find the courage to follow them.”

Indeed, the recent election results indicate people asserting power while our institutions capable of asserting power, at least for now, have surrendered. The Republican Party is held in low esteem. And as pundits and media nitwits have reminded us, the Democratic Party has been stuck with even lower esteem. Ignored was the fact that in spite of low esteem, Democrats had won scattered elections. 

Then, the recent elections. The New Jersey gubernatorial race was expected to be a nail biter.  The Democrat won handily. Democrats won in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and even in Georgia.  And a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist won the mayoral race in New York. While the Democratic Party is generally scoffed at for being in constant disarray, there are indications that it is, at least for now, in array. Clearly, much of the general public is fed up with the chaos, corruption, and just plain cruelty of the Trump administration.

President Trump, with the consent of Congress, has been usurping the power of the purse — withholding spending from programs authorized by congress, shifting spending from one program to another and sending money to countries like Argentina for specious reasons. He has sent troops to cities who don’t want them, daring anyone to stop him. 

He neglects traditions, norms, and laws, insisting that as president, he can ignore the law. That is, until he has the audacity to question whether the law permits him to spend money to feed low income recipients who are authorized to receive it. We have an American president practically begging the Supreme Court to permit him not to spend money that has been authorized to feed people in need of food.

From sandwiches to wrecking balls, to withholding food from children, Trump’s legacy in the making.

— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears monthly in the Monroe Times.