Maeve Reston of CNN –
President Donald Trump survived impeachment, but in the midst of a pandemic, he is still exacting his revenge.
Trump’s late Friday night firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick — at a time when America is preoccupied by coronavirus — once again had echoes of President Richard Nixon’s Saturday night massacre more than four decades ago when he tried to thwart the investigation into his involvement in the Watergate break in.
But Trump’s attempt to systematically dismantle the checks and balances that are the bedrock of America’s democracy has arguably taken a far heavier toll.
He is showing that he can bend the levers of government to suit his whims, by simply disposing of respected, career government employees whom he perceives as having criticized him, crossed him or refused to carry out his bidding.
