Someday, Trump will not be president. The majority of Americans pray that will happen in 2020. Observing the contrast between Trump and Biden informs us there will once again be a real man in the White House who understands science, cares about the lives of people even if they won’t vote for him, respects women, is honest and transparent, and defends the Constitution instead of trying to diminish it.
This blog and many movements led by Republicans and Democrats are fighting to educate the public about the dangers of a president who secretly talks to adversaries, hides taxes which could reveal a conflict of interests compromising to national security, breaks laws, is impulsive and vindictive, hires cronies, and attacks the foundations of our democratic, including the free press.
The president loves Twitter because it allows him to bully, threaten, lie, and abuse individuals, laws, establishments, Congress, the press, countries, etc. He loves HIS freedom of speech and the freedom of speech for HIS base, but his thin-skinned whining comes out strong when people strike back. In his pathological narcissism and grandiosity, he believes rules do not apply to him, norms due not apply to him, and that he is above all responsibility or consequences for his words and actions. Anyone who would walk into a therapist’s office declaring these thoughts would be referred for further psychiatric testing. Only a small percentage of the population thinks or talks that way. That is not being unique in a positive way, it is alarming, and especially if that person happens to be the leader of the free world.
The defiant behavior of thousands of Americans this Memorial Day weekend was a direct reflection of Trump’s pathological rebellion against COVID-19 protocol. He needed to see crowds following his rebellion against the CDC protocol for fighting the still spreading coronavirus. Thousands listened to his words, blindly trusting him out of a need to believe they are in good hands with his judgment. People risked their own health and the potential health of those they love and others they will never meet, to “party” with their president. His pubescent vanity, concerns about what the press might say if he wore a mask, his need to look tough and strong, and the effective bullying of Republicans were his concerns. The veterans who gave their lives for this country got a few obligatory minutes from his canned speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He conveyed no emotional sign of respect or mourning for the almost 100 000 Americans who lost their lives due to his delayed response to the COVID-19 rapid spread throughout the country. His re-election campaign is underway, and he has clearly decided to talk about going to restaurants, hotels, meatpacking jobs, retail stores, etc., instead of developing a cohesive federal plan to protect the public health of Americans from the virus. Trump has always chosen “preferred tasks” like small children do. If it is fun or makes him feel good, that is what will get his attention and allegiance. We can anticipate more talk about golfing, the Space Force, the stock market, and not much about controlling the current or future pandemics.
The Republican Governor from Arkansas Asa Hutchinson appeared on MSNBC today and spoke about opening up the economy with caution and intelligence. He communicated a sincere concern for the health of his constituents and acknowledged the importance of addressing economic concerns. He sounded like a leader, not someone whose sole focus is to do or say what people want to hear so he can get re-elected. For Trump. it is all about votes and winning, and when that is the main focus of any president, the country and the people will suffer. Trump is too stunted in his emotional development to act like other presidents who take responsibility for the results of their actions or inactions. Never will we hear Trump utter the words of President Teddy Roosevelt, “The buck stops here.” Only a patriotic grown-up would be willing to say those words and mean them. Presidential historian John Meecham appeared on MSNBC recently and was asked if he could think of a past President who would have spoken out on Twitter in the crude, bullying, dishonest way Trump does. His response was, “I am sure many of them might have been tempted, but in my opinion, none of them, even Richard Nixon would have gone to the level that Trump has gone to bully and demean the country and the presidency.
There is a need to shift the focus away from Trump’s daily presidential soap opera to targeting Republican congressmen who are cowering in their offices. Their jobs got complicated once Trump took office and turned the Congress into his puppets, but that’s too bad, they elected him. Democracy is at stake, their reputations are already shattered, so it is time the media and their constituents hold them accountable for allowing this rogue president’s assault on democracy and decency to continue.
