After Trump’s conviction, Democrats are in a triumphant mood. They shouldn’t be – POLITICO

In 2016, before Trump’s election, British businessman Richard Branson was surprised by his first meeting with the future president. He noted that even before the starters arrived, “he started telling me that he had asked a number of people for help after his last bankruptcy and that five of them were not willing to help him. He told me he was going to spend the rest of his life destroying these five people.

“I found it very strange. I told him I didn’t think that was the best way to live your life. I said it was going to eat away at him and do more damage to him than to them… What concerns me most, based on my personal experiences with Donald Trump, is his vindictive side, which could be so dangerous… he entered the White House. ”Branson wrote. So today, new recriminations and new chaos are likely ahead.

Part of the moral of the story is that if you’re going to go after Trump, you better be sure to nail him — a slight injury isn’t enough. Does this mean he should be given a free pass for his wrongdoing, thereby guaranteeing him impunity? No. But it’s better to let voters decide in November, otherwise we’re headed for a never-ending cycle of revenge.

So what will ultimately bring the United States out of this turmoil? Republicans and Democrats seem to view everything as a zero-sum game, where the art of compromise is avoided – and Trump, of course, has taken this to an unparalleled and horrifying level. As soon as a president is elected, there is now talk of impeachment. Can’t win at the polls? Use the courts or attract a crowd. Democrats are as guilty of all this as Republicans – admittedly de-escalation is not an easy thing when your opponent is Donald Trump.

In 1974, President Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon the disgraced Nixon sparked outrage as critics said it was not good for America, creating a dual system of justice – one for ordinary Americans and another for the president. But Ford defended his decision, saying: “I was absolutely convinced then as I am today that if we had had (an) indictment, a trial, a conviction and all that is produced after this, the attention of the President, the Congress and the American people would have been diverted from the problems we need to solve.

Ford was a man who knew when it was best to leave things alone. We should take note of this.