On December 30, 2019, I checked out from the library the DVD set of Designated Survivor, a TV series about a cabinet member, Tom Kirkman, played by Kiefer Sutherland, who survives an attack on the Capitol that kills the President, the rest of his Cabinet, the Supreme Court and members of Congress. As the show starts, Kirkman is watching the President gives his State of the Union Address on TV. His wife walks in, talking on the phone to her daughter. She says, “This is not a quid pro quo.” My ears perk up at this phrase from the Trump impeachment debate. Less than two minutes later, the TV screen turns to static. Bombs explode in the Capitol and Kirkman becomes President. No real explosion occurred on February 4 during Trump’s State of the Union Address. But it does seem that on that date any remaining unity this country had was blown apart.
