Trump is No Comic Relief

 

Trump is No Comic Relief

It is tough to take one’s eyes off what may be Trump’s worst flaw—his character—as reflected in two recent events.  Let us reflect on his retweet of a so-called comedic insinuation linking the Clintons’ to the death of accused child sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.  Besides the utter absurdity of the accusation, its sheer viciousness demonstrates an amoral emptiness of an obsessed, conspiratorial mind-set honed through years of association with scandal sheets like the National Enquirer and shock jock personalities like Howard Stern. 

It would be one thing if that were simply the ravings of a media-obsessed TV reality star, but, sadly, that is no longer the case.  In reflecting the mind of the President of the United States—in all of its official and moral significance—Trump’s embrace of this particular conspiracy is truly appalling.  It is one that should evoke a sense of horror throughout the public that the “we the people” enabled this person to attain the highest office in the land.  If it were only so, the joke would be on us, but played by the Joker-in-Chief, this is no laughing matter.

  Consider, too, the “thumbs-up photo” taken in El Paso, TX, with the president’s wife holding a now orphaned baby due to the horrendous murder of twenty-two people, mostly Mexican, or of Mexican descent, in which the shooter specifically targeted this ethnic group.  No one other than the shooter is directly responsible for this slaughter. That said, it is difficult not to miss the close affinity between the shooter’s reference to “the heavy Hispanic population in Texas [that] will make us a Democrat stronghold” and the rhetoric espoused by Trump and his political allies on Capitol Hill and devotees on Fox News in their perpetual reference to invaders, infestations, gangs, criminals and the like. 

While the shooter contends that his position “predate[s] Trump,” it is difficult not to view the right-wing rhetoric on undocumented immigrants from Central America as a verbal accelerant that fosters an emotional climate that draws out such extremists as the killer. 

In going to El Paso, Trump could have taken a presidential approach in truly seeking to heal the nation over this gun-soaked racist disease that—at least at the uttermost radical edge—makes such tragedies—and this was not the first white supremist  attack—possible.  Instead, the president offers us a “thumbs-up,” to signify what, one can only wonder, and brags about his crowd size at a previous rally compared to that of Beto O’Rourke.

I realize that focusing on such personal behavior may be viewed as a distraction in light of a range of domestic and foreign policy issues that require much more scrutiny than I have given them—which, over a period of time, I hope to rectify on these pages.  I am thinking particularly of comprehensive immigration reform, a viable response to climate change in light of the existential challenge it poses, a reasonable, common sense gun regulations policy, the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor and struggling middle class.  I can also envision a more engaged and intelligent approach to international relations in strengthening bonds with allies and adapting a more critically worked out stance in response to our adversaries, including a more nuanced foreign trade policy than reflected in the current trade wars with China and other nations.

I believe that, on the whole, the Democratic Party offers a range of practical responses to these challenges that merit our most thoughtful consideration, which, in my view, holds the potential of enabling “we the people” to make reasonable progress in mitigating them, even in the acknowledgement of far from completely solving them.  This is especially so, when contrasted to the current DC-based reality, even as my modestly progressive incrementalism would need to be to intelligently defended, and even modified through  thoughtful critical engagement with conservative perspectives as well as among those who hold more radical progressive perspectives.

In terms of my current emphasis, if character is foundational to underlying motivation, then an analysis of the discernable persona of the President of the United States is no mere personal pastime since it plays such a formative role in shaping public behavior.  Given the power of the office holder, such behavior extends widely across the nation, as well as throughout the world.  Michelle Obama once said that the presidency does not make, but reveals the person.  This has become only all too clear in recent times.

In order for “we the people” to hold onto, and even to strengthen the republic upon which we stand, we must act with the maturity and good judgment to best assure that the people we call upon to lead this nation are worthy of the trust we bestow upon them. In short, it matters who we elect as the President of the United States. 

If I were addressing a traditional Republican president, a vigorous debate on the issues that matters would be much more feasible. That prospect is confounded by an occupant of the White House, who, by his very nature, is essentially an amoral, bad actor.

As I interpret one of the central problems at hand, Trump’s fundamental world view does not extend much beyond his fragile ego, which permeates his policies and impulsively-driven, confrontational approach to governing.  Much wisdom is needed in these perplexing times. 

2019

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