Trump Firing Comey Is an Action That Deserves Consequences

By Catie Middleton

There is a consequence for every action taken. It’s simple common sense that most mothers and fathers have drilled into us since we were born. Whether it’s stealing someone’s sandwich at lunch, or rear-ending someone on the highway, or, as in President Donald Trump’s case, allegedly obstructing justice, all actions have consequences.

This isn’t a matter of a sandwich being stolen or being rear-ended; this is a matter of someone in the highest of positions, the President of the United States, allegedly obstructing an investigation into something that hinders and hurts the United States democracy as a whole; in a word, it’s privilege. There is absolutely nothing morally right about a sitting president impeding an active investigation like that of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Already Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey, and faced opposition from both sides of the aisle, as well as vehement denial of Russian communication, even though the evidence suggests otherwise.

Some reports said Special Counsel Robert Mueller has begun to investigate President Trump for obstruction of justice because of the firing of James Comey in early May (Trump’s attorney adamantly denies this, but Trump appeared to acknowledge it on Twitter).

Even though Comey’s testimony denied that the president was being investigated as to possible ties with Russia, this newest FBI leak about Mueller’s actions paints a picture of a very unstable administration, not even six months into the presidency.

Now all of this feels like it is some horrible House of Cards plotline without the strong, terrifying Claire Underwood. Unfortunately this isn’t a television show to binge watch and then go about daily life; it is daily life. And it is completely unacceptable.

A President doing something as heinous and morally unfounded as obstructing a federal investigation feels so far from the truth, and yet wherever we look, the Russia probe is all that’s being talked about, and for good reason.

An interference of that caliber from a country that we’re on pretty rocky ground with otherwise is unacceptable, and Trump, by firing Comey, going on Twitter rampages, and ultimately harming the justice system is not helping the matter.

We’re instilled with this idea that we are all “created equal.” Thomas Jefferson wrote it in the Declaration of Independence, and for the most part, it’s a statement that people tend to believe. That even a child can be equal to a king, that’s what America is founded on. And now, we’re faced with a president who doesn’t believe that. We all are law abiding citizens for the most part, and now it seems that the common man or woman is setting a better example than our own president.

There’s nothing that makes him any better than the citizens that he promised to tend to, no amount of money or hair product could do it, and yet he’s acting higher and mightier than he should be. He’s hindering the processes that have been in place since the idea of a United States was a glint in the Founding Fathers’ eyes. It’s unfair and selfish on the most basic level, and yet there are those that defend him. Those that can look you in the eye and say that it doesn’t bother them, and that Trump is still going to “Make America Great Again,” are wrong. He’s making it so much worse.

It’s one thing to take away people’s healthcare, or alter existing laws because that’s politics, but it’s a whole other issue if all of a sudden the legal system that keeps us all safe is being attacked and torn apart. It’s wrong, and the fact that Trump is getting away with it, is wrong. The investigation that Mueller has reportedly started, is a step in the right direction, but the actions that Trump has taken deserve real consequences. Those same people who turn a blind eye to what he’s doing, are the same ones who would be raising pitchforks and angry mobs if the same had been done by President Obama or Hillary Clinton, had she won.

This goes far beyond party lines; this is a human issue. The difference between right and wrong, the action and the consequence, this is the root of what is happening in our government right now. And, really, standing by and watching all of this happen is just as bad as doing the wrong in the first place. Standing up and using what voice the common person has is so vital to fighting what is going on in our government. Because our mothers and fathers were right, there are consequences for actions. And it’s time we show Trump what that means.