The Forms of Abuse

Abuse is the improper use and treatment of a thing, a person, or an office.  The abuse typically seeks to gain (unfairly and improperly) some form of benefits.  Abuse has many forms:  physical, verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, unjust practices, crimes, or other types of aggression.  Abuse (in all its many forms) has no regard for the worth and value of the human person.

We are hearing a lot about the “abuse of power” these days. Abuse of power has many forms.  Malfeasance in office and official misconduct is the commission of an unlawful act while acting in an official  capacity. The impeachment hearings allege malfeasance in office and official misconduct by the 45th President of the United States.  Such abuse of power must be challenged and if proven true, punished.

If the Ukraine issue doesn’t seem to be an abuse of power to you, allow me to suggest other abuses by the 45th president. These abuses are well documented and we have all witnessed them.

I would suggest that the president is guilty of the abuse of discretion.  This is the failure to take into consideration the facts and laws in a given matter.  Mr. Trump’s recent arbitrary and unreasonable departure from the precedent and established judicial customs of the Department of Defense is an abuse of discretion.

I would suggest that he is also guilty of the abuse of authority. He has used his position and his power for illegitimate private and political gain.  He abuses his authority every time he singles out parties, groups, or persons, and ridicules them publicly.

The abuse of authority is also seen as an abuse of rank.  The president holds the highest office in the land—he holds the highest rank in our government.  The abuse of rank is treating people of a lower rank in an abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative way.  Mr. Trump does this every day, in almost every tweet, and in almost every news conference!  It is sometimes called “Ad hominem abuse” (personal abuse) in which the president insults and belittles his opponents. 

If these abuses are not enough, I would add the following: “character assassination,” “defamation,” discriminatory abuse, bullying, and manipulation abuse.  From my perspective, all of these abuses, when inflicted upon others by the president of the United States make him unfit for office and fall under the rubric of “Abuse of Power.”