Dear Progressive Reader,

Donald Trump’s legal jeopardy continues to grow, with another indictment expected soon, this time in the Georgia grand jury investigation into interference in the 2020 election. However, the combined weight of these four different cases seems to have had little effect on his standing among adherents and acolytes. If anything, his popularity has increased.

August 8 marked the forty-ninth anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation—the first and only time a U.S. President stepped down. Trump, although impeached twice, never willingly gave up his office (even after he lost the 2020 election by a majority in both the popular vote and the Electoral College) and is seeking to regain it in 2024 in order to continue and expand an agenda of anti-democracy.

As I noted in an article in July 2019 comparing the trajectory of Nixon and Trump, “[I]t will be a long and arduous journey. As [The Progressive] presciently wrote in July 1974, ‘The coming trial of Richard M. Nixon provides us with an opportunity to recognize these realities and to treat him not so much as an author of evil but as a willing instrument. We can begin to cope with the monster of corporate power that will endure when Nixon is gone. It is an opportunity that should not be lost in squabbles over subpoenas, transcripts, and executive privilege.’ ”

Following Nixon’s announcement of his departure on national television, the editorial staff of The Progressive wrote for the September 1974 issue: “The departure of Richard M. Nixon—for which we are indebted, first and foremost, to Richard M. Nixon—has bought, at best, a little time for America. We marched in five years to the brink of ruin, and at the last minute we drew back a step or two. This is the time, if ever there was a time, to change the nation’s direction. This is the time to end the nightmare by affirming the dream. If we cannot begin to rebuild America at this historic moment, knowing what we know now, we are likely to pay a very heavy price. Not having Richard Nixon as President is not enough.”

This week on our website, Zach D. Roberts provides a photographic glimpse of Trump’s supporters outside his Washington, D.C., arraignment on August 3. Plus, Mike Ervin wonders how so many people with disabilities chose to vote (against their own interests) for Trump in 2020, and what it could mean for 2024; Chris Edelson opines that Joe Biden should spend more time running for what he will accomplish, rather than against Trump; cartoonist Mark Fiore illustrates the ways that the presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis is going off the rails; and Jeff Abbott reports on efforts in Honduras to rein in corruption in that country’s political system. Also, Sam Stein takes a tour with Rabbi Arik Ascherman through destroyed Palestinian communities; Laura LeMoon analyzes the new film Sound of Freedom that has been embraced by rightwing conspiracy theorists and promoted by Senator Ted Cruz and presidential candidate Donald Trump; and V. Jo Hsu pens an op-ed on the double discrimination faced by transgender people facing the symptoms of “Long COVID” and an uninformed medical community.

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,

Norman Stockwell
Publisher

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