The Office: The Lack and the Lackeys

Jan 11, 2021 by Andrew Symes

By Stephen Noll:

Two days ago, I posted a piece urging that Donald Trump should be removed from office as President of the United States (in a postscript, I deferred to the view that the time may be too short for a proper impeachment process and that his resignation or confinement would be preferable). I got some blowback to my essay. There were two main charges, so far as I can see.

One charge was that I was angry at Donald Trump. Sure, who wouldn’t be angry and grieved over the damage he has caused over the past two months? But the point of my essay was just the contrary, that Donald Trump abused the office of the Presidency, to which he had ascended in our constitutional republic, and that this same Constitution provided a remedy for such abuse, namely impeachment and removal from office.

The second charge was that I had unfairly accused Donald Trump with inciting the crowd which had proceeded from the Ellipse and attacked the Capitol, and, rather, that every violator was personally responsible for his or her own actions.

These charges of guilt are not incompatible. True, the prophet Ezekiel said: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezek 18:20), but he also pours contempt on the leadership of a faithless nation – the princes, priests and prophets – who have corrupted the land and provoked God’s wrath (Ezek 22:23-31). And surely Donald Trump had orchestrated the event as his own personal vindication. The crowd was waving American flags (plus a Confederate flag or two) and Trump banners (and Jesus banner or two) as if they were interchangeable. They just knew in their hearts that Trump had won by a landslide, that the election had been stolen, and that the Electoral College was bogus – all this with or without evidence. Where did they get that idea?

[…]

Like a lot of people these days, my wife and I have been quarantining by watching shows in the evening. Some friends recently recommended “The Office,” so we tried out the UK version – once and only once. What a pathetic exhibit of snarky nihilism! If you must watch this kind of humor, try reruns of “Yes, Minister.” In any case, it has nothing to do with “the Office” I am referring to. We have also been watching “The Crown.” Whatever one thinks of the producer’s take on individual persons and events of Elizabeth II’s reign, the idea behind the Crown and the persona of the Queen as one who bears the burden of her office is compelling.

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See also: Trump must go, says Southern Baptist theologian Russell Moore, from Christian Today