The Sound of Silence

The 1964 Simon and Garfunkle song, The Sound of Silence, is one of my favorites. That it was featured in one of my favorite movies of all time, The Graduate from 1967 (my graduation year), is but a nice bonus. I always found the lyrics poignant. It is within those lyrics that I found an answer to a current issue. Is Donald J. Trump guilty of treason and should he be allowed to lead this nation once again?

Movie The Graduate, 1967

What I have heard in discussions on this topic has mostly dealt with intent. What did he intend to do? This is the quandary where we are trying to get inside someone’s head while analyzing something they said or did. At what point in the 65 days between November 3, 2020, and January 6, 2021, was the criminal act of treason and insurrection committed?

Analyzing what Donald Trump says always presents a problem. Often it is meaningless rhetoric and bluster. We also have a problem with the fact that most of it is in English. In English, almost every word has multiple meanings. How often do you look up a word and find only one meaning listed? Even when the words are clear enough, what was the intent of the speaker, and what resulted when interpreted by another?

What did the former president mean when he said on January 6th, "We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore?" Certainly, his lawyers can provide other interpretations. What did Trump mean when he said, "What I want to do is this. I just want to find, uh, 11,780 votes?” Did he mean that he wanted Raffensperger to see if he somehow misplaced over ten thousand votes? What was his intent?

Trump speaks at the Ellypse on January 6, 2021
 "We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell,
you're not going to have a country anymore?"

How do we get inside the head of anyone, let alone that head, to ferret out intent. I know, send in the ferrets. (Ferret, another word with two meanings) I say we don’t. I say he committed 187 acts of treason between 1:25 p.m. on January 6, 2021, and 4:03 p.m. on that date. Every minute of his silence was an act of insurrection. Every minute of silence was an act of treason. Every minute of inaction by the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces was a criminal act. He had the power and the authority, more than anyone else in the country, to quell the violence of the ongoing insurrection that was attempting to overthrow our democracy. He could have ended the whole thing at any time during those 187 minutes and all we heard was, The Sound of Silence.

Trump watched the insurrection on TV

Donald John Trump spent that time watching the glow of his television. Watching the violence on live TV.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening.

No one dared, Disturb the sound of silence.

Only they did. Many people pleaded with him to stop the violence during this time. His response, “silence” in the form of inaction. The silence was deafening.

The next line from the song:

"Fools" said I, "You do not know

Silence like a cancer grows.

And further along:

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon god they made

And the sign flashed out its warning

In the words that it was forming

And the sign said, "The words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls

And whispered in the sounds of silence."

This, I submit, is all we need to disqualify the former president from running for office in 2024. His inactivity during those 187 minutes was tacit approval for and participation in the insurrection and rebellion against the United States. I say, invoke Section 3 of our Constitution’s 14th Amendment which says that a public official is not eligible to assume public office if they, "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against" the United States, or had "given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof," unless they are granted amnesty by a two-thirds vote of Congress.

This brings me to one of my favorite scenes in The Graduate where Ben (Dustin Hoffman) announces that he is going to marry Elaine to the delight of his parents. When questioned further Ben admits that Elaine knows none of his plans. They are in the kitchen of Ben’s home and Mr. Braddock then states, “Ben, this whole idea sounds pretty half-baked.” Ben answers, “No, it’s not, Dad. It’s completely baked.” At that point, Ben leaves and the toast pops up from the toaster.

It's completely baked, Scene The Graduate, 1967

In my analogy of this scene, Trump is “completely baked.” He is one with the toast.