Trump’s Incivility Demeans American Values

During Trump’s campaign, his inner circle reported him as being sort of “down in the dumps” following several anti-trump rallies.  They suggested that he go downstairs to the outside and “mix” with the crowd. The crowd outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue was apparently largely “pro-Trump” at the time, and they warmly embraced him. According to his inner circle, he returned to his staffers reinvigorated. They said that the crowd charged him up to the extent that he appeared to be a new man- no longer in the dumps and ready to zestfully pursue the campaign.

Trump’s followers invigorate him. He feeds on their passion and he thrives on their enthusiasm. He loves to hear them chant “Trump, Trump, Trump” and “Build the wall, build the wall!”

I guess it would be fine if his folks contained their enthusiasm and fervor, but his rallies often become uncivilly wild and violent, which is not good.  It appears that he purposefully “aims” for the sort of unbridled enthusiasm that the crowd ends up demonstrating. He seems to whip them into a frenzied state and it seems that the more frenetic they become, the more satisfied he is. This seems to feed his ego.

Trump draws a certain type of audience. Rarely do you see Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, etc. in his crowds, and if you see any, there are only a few. His crowds are overwhelmingly Caucasian and seem to come from somewhere in middle class America.  This is a population that has stated that they felt “overlooked” and “not catered to” as a group, compared to how they perceived minority groups were treated. Thus, when Trump mentions undocumented aliens, a ban on Muslim countries, or African-American athletes not acknowledging our flag, they get “up in arms” about it. Trump doesn’t try to create a dialog with these groups; he uses racial and cultural differences to further divide Americans.

I’ve stated in other essays that Mr. Trump really doesn’t want a “united” America because he feels that a divided America along racial and cultural lines strengthens his power among his supporters. In one of my essays, I called him “the Dean of division” because he seems to seek out our differences and exploit them for his own selfish purposes, rather than trying to unify Americans as other presidents have endeavored to do before him. His divisive tendency is apparent to many.

Trump supporters will tell you that he reached out to Black citizens by inviting the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) presidents to his office for a dialog. However, these presidents will tell you that the dialog never happened, and the “get together” ended up being nothing more than a “photo op” for the Trump Administration.

Trump supporters will tell you that he invited congresspersons to his office to resolve the DACA problem. However, we all know that despite all of his grand promises, nothing happened! That’s because he doesn’t really intend to cater to any group but his base.  We can recall that when he captured the support of the group that we later called his base, he did not earnestly campaign to bring “others” into his tent. To Trump and his supporters, that would not be a workable union.  The Trump support base is simply not “all inclusive”. Period!

Trump has never been interested in unifying Americans and engaging them in honest civil discourse. He thrives on division and chaos. If things get too quiet, he feels uneasy. He therefore targets unsuspecting whites who he knows feel “wronged” by “the system” that they perceive as catering to minorities.  They see minorities as “gamers of the system” who misappropriate the “lions share” of the free stuff  that the nation has to offer. It’s a false premise, because the percentage of African-Americans receiving welfare is 39.8%, while the percentage of Whites receiving welfare is 38.8%-roughly equal, according to a 2016 report provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Groups in America have a right to hold rallies, stage meetings, etc. as long as they are civil and don’t infringe on the rights of others.  Trump’s rallies have featured him inciting others to violence by offering to pay the legal bills of those who would “punch out” rally dissenters.  In somewhat coded language, he said dissention by certain people wouldn’t happen in “the good old days” or they would have been taken out on stretchers.  He further said that he grabbed women by the unmentionables. He went on to disrespect a “Gold Star” Muslim family, and denigrated Senator McCain for having been caught and imprisoned as a military officer.

One can go on-and-on about Trump’s inappropriate and crass statements and actions, but my purpose here is only to highlight the”incivility” of the Trump political brand.  His followers have begun to “act like Trump”, and they think they can demonstrate their incivility with the same impunity as Trump himself.  Republicans are campaigning “Trump style”-using the same divisive rhetoric that Trump constantly uses.  Trump has done and said so many uncivil things that that it’s not funny. Others would have been penalized in some way for the same actions.

Without cause, a white-haired elderly woman belligerently pursued CNN’s Jim Acosta at a recent Trump rally in S.C., and tried to provoke the ire of rally participants against him. Common sense and decorum has been thrown out of the window by Donald J. Trump, and many of his followers are exhibiting the same behavior.  It has to stop before it gets worse!

Trump has hijacked the Republican Party and besmirched its character. He is in the process of hijacking America’s norms and values and besmirching America’s character.  Putin himself couldn’t have done more to divide America and besmirch its character than the uncivil Donald J. Trump!  

Trump and his emissaries are derailing America and its values at a fast pace on a daily basis. We can’t successfully go into the future led by a self-proclaimed “great businessman” (who has four verified business bankruptcies) who is a man of questionable character with a history of dishonesty.   If we don’t redeem our traditional values (among them, civility, equality, honesty, justice, and respect for all nations and people) we may well be headed toward the “scrap heap” of history.  As a nation without respectable values, our traditional friends may eventually desert us. Many nations may not want to deal with us if they have an alternative. If we fall as a once prominent nation, our enemies will not be saddened.

It is now time for America to wake up and make its true values known at the ballot box.

Random Thoughts on the Trumpian Dilemma

I use Twitter a lot and in one of my recent tweets I said the following:

“Many citizens feel that with reference to Trump, ‘something is rotten in Denmark’, but so far the investigators have not linked the rot directly to Mr. Trump.” I then referred my readers to my article entitled “The Trumpian Path: Not Good for America” at this web site.

We are going down a “slippery slope” under the present administration, but we should not be surprised.   We’ve been losing our age-old “friend to the world” character since the recent coronation of Donald J. Trump.

Some people are alarmed at how undisciplined and unpolished Trump is as the “leader of the free world”. However, he is no different than the man we saw on the campaign trail. No, we shouldn’t be surprised at who the President is. He has been demonstrating who he is since throwing his hat into the presidential race. I am reminded of Maya Angelou, who said “When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time”. True!

Many still can’t believe that a great nation like ours have allowed ourselves to be led by a man of such questionable character and “suspect” motives. Why are we abandoning our traditional values and becoming a nation that our friends do not know anymore? Why are we allowing a flawed entity to define who we are, and where we are going? Why?

There is no legitimate and effective forum on Capitol Hill to register a sincere “dissenting viewpoint” anymore. The Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee tried to do so and were effectively “shut down” and “shut out” of any meaningful participation regarding the Committee’s so-called “Russian Investigation”.  This resulted in the Republican majority (led by Trump’s friend, Devin Nunes) hijacking the Committee and returning a Republican majority finding of “No evidence of collusion”.

It seems to be that the current viewpoint of the administration is, “my way or the highway”.  Thus, fearful Republicans walk “lock step” with the frenemy because they are afraid “to poke the bear” as Senator Corker recently put it. With these Republicans, he said, it’s all “about the next election”, suggesting that most sitting Republicans would not risk losing their seats over “principal”. They don’t want to be Like Sen. Mark Sanford of S.C. who bucked the system and lost his primary. However, Sanford and his four sons are happy with his principled decision. Good for Sanford. It takes guts to stand up to a personality like Trump, and Sanford did it! McCain and Flake are examples of others who have stood up for “principle over party”.  However, unfortunately, they remain in the minority.

When leaders give up their whole value system to hopefully secure their seats, something is critically wrong with their moral compass.  If nations around the world lose faith in our motives, purpose, and integrity, it would create an unhealthy suspicion of our country and would make it hard for us to effectively participate in world affairs.

The President rules by his own often faulty “intuition”. However, he often “tests” his potential actions in the court of “popular opinion” before he acts-sometimes he doesn’t.  He has his own ideas and is largely “closed” to outside opinions. However, if public opinion leans too negatively on his actions, he reverses his course to coincide with public opinion. A case in point is separating kids from their parents at the southern border. Citing some obscure (supposedly Democrat) policy of the past, he detained and separated kids from their parents at the southern border. The outcry was so intense among his fellow Republicans, evangelicals, Democrats, and citizens (Including Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump) that he signed an Executive Order reversing the policy.

Overall, Trump has managed to retain his core base.  Many applaud his effectiveness as president, likely because the economy is good, and they like his tax plan that puts more money in their pockets.

Have some Americans given up their life-long core values in exchange for a tax break? Did they really have a concrete value system from the beginning? Did Trump resurrect their dormant true nature? Does he know many Americans better than they know themselves? Does he perceive that money, position, and power are key influencers of human behavior? Does he use these things to compromise peoples’ so-called principles to his advantage? When we obtain the answers to these questions, we will better understand Trumps ability to corrupt and compromise others.

I don’t know what my fellow citizens will do going forward in this Trumpian environment , but for me, I will steadfastly stick to America’s traditional values and my own personal integrity.  I will always recognize that America has historically granted its citizens a greater life style than most nations of the world. This MAGA stuff has caught on with many, but we’ve been a great nation for centuries, including when Mr. Trump entered the White House.  We also have a history of being a “benevolent nation”, which has worked for us over the years.

To all those concerned citizens wading through the waters of Trumpian despair, I say-“hold on”! The forces of “good” will prevail!

On Trump and the Silenced Majority

I didn’t think that Donald J. Trump had a “snowballs chance in hell” of winning the presidency, but he won. Perhaps several things played into his success.  James Comey’s back-and-forth on the Clinton email issue probably hurt her to some extent and helped Trump to some extent. However, how much it may have possibly hurt Hillary or possibly helped Trump is not known. Then you had the constant “drip, drip, drip” of democratic emails meant for internal consumption exposed in the media. By any stretch of the imagination, this couldn’t have helped Mrs. Clinton.  Also, there had been some muttering that maybe Trump, Roger Stone, and perhaps Putin himself had a hand in these shenanigans- or at least, sanctioned the whole Wikileaks caper. The Russian manipulation of social media in an effort to help Trump and hurt Hillary possibly had a profound effect on the voting decisions of thousands-upon-thousands of voters- mainly because many of them relied on the internet and social media to aid in their decision making. The confluence of all of these things may well have shifted the election in Trump’s favor. After the election, Trump did not want to hear of these possible “influencers” of the election outcome, and got defensive and combative when anyone would bring them up. He wanted to convey to all that his victory was hard-fought, competitive, and most of all decisive, with no “wrongdoing” going on.

When Trump ascended to the presidency, I had my misgivings. I didn’t think he would actually pivot and become “presidential”. He didn’t. Given his history, I didn’t believe he would equally represent all of the people?  He doesn’t. I didn’t see him as a president who would be content to be “tied down” to a desk in the White House. Well, he travels internationally enough and he meets with foreign diplomats regularly, so he seems not “tied” to a desk. When not travelling abroad or meeting with foreign dignitaries, he creates enough havoc around the White House to be never bored.  I wondered if he would surprise us and emerge as a “quick study”-rapidly becoming adept at domestic and international issues.  On this issue, he still appears to be a “work in progress”.  Perhaps he’ll never be a student of American or international history and politics.

From the campaign trail to the presidency, Trump has nurtured a strong affection for Vladimir Putin. However, his affection seems more like an affectionate puppy cuddling up to his master, rather than a co-equal association.  Sorry, however, it appears that way. A few months ago, Mueller had already handed out 13 indictments of Russian individuals (and 3 Russian institutions) concerning meddling in our 2016 elections.  Yet, Donald continually sings Putin’s praises while he outwardly disrespects leaders like Canada’s Justin Trudeau, the Mayor of London, and other traditional American allies. What is up with Mr. Trump? Is he trying to trash us from the inside as Putin trashes us from the outside?

What bothers a lot of caring Americans is that Trump seems to be able to do almost anything and get away with it. I’m not going to rehash these issues now because I have written over ten articles about Trump, and I respectfully refer you to them. However, as I have said before, with reference to the “cozy-cozy” relationship between Trump and Putin, something seems “rotten in Denmark”.

I use Twitter a lot, and on a recent tweet I wrote, “It is past time that we stopped giving Donald Trump a ‘pass’ on various issues. Is the path he has us on good for America?  Are Republicans afraid to ‘push back’ on him?” I believe they are afraid to push back on him.

Trump picks fights with the NFL on a bogus “knee” issue, only because “it’s good politics”. He actually admitted this! He wants to build a “wall” for political reasons too.

With reference to Mr. Trudeau, something is wrong when our president shows enormous outward respect for Putin and shows outright disrespect to the Prime Minister of our friendly neighbor on our northern border. Something is wrong when Republican Chairman Nunes of the House Intelligence Committee effectively stifles the voices of Democrats, to bring home the bacon for Trump, citing in their Republican dominated report, “We found no evidence of collusion”.

Except for a few Republican majority congresspersons- (among them, Flake, McCain, and Corker) - the Republican Party’s core values seem to have been eroded or co-opted by Mr. Trump. We cannot stand idly by and let this trend continue. Dedicated American voters must hold their congresspersons accountable at the ballot box! Let’s make the Mid-Term 2018 elections a referendum for the real change we need in America, like a return to reason, common sense, and a healthy respect for all Americans and our dedicated age-old allies.  We must replace the “silenced” Republican majority members who have been immobilized by fear and rendered “ineffective”. Going forward, those in government membership or leadership positions who choose not to respect our traditional values and “the rule of law”, should know that they risk being replaced by those willing to represent the best of America as embodied in those values and those laws. These noble principles have made America the great country that it has evolved to be today. Let all know that there is a price to pay for trying to un-Americanize thus devalue the very underpinning of America. Your motives are very questionable.

The Trumpian Path: Not Good for America

I don’t think the path that D.J. Trump is taking us down is good for America. In one of my recent “tweets” I said “Trump brings lies to a new ‘high’ and America to a new ‘low’.  All Americans must wake up!” Observers of the political scene know what I’m talking about.

I’ve written many articles about Donald J. Trump, and I’ve criticized him on many issues. With his constant lies, deceit, misdeeds, and flaws, he always manages to keep our attention. Sometimes Trump’s words and actions are so insensitive and crass that many of us wish we could magically shut him up and create a different, more refined Trump, in “one fell swoop”.

Many people have character flaws.  However, Trump seems to have more of these flaws than the average God-fearing American. His pathological lying causes me great concern. This concern is encompassed in the following sentiment that I tweeted several days ago: “Trump has demonstrated that he is not believable. If we can’t believe him at home regarding personal legal issues, how can we expect our allies abroad to believe him on larger issues of critical international importance?” This tweet reflects an unavoidable issue facing America today.  Going forward with the Trump presidency, will our allies abroad tend to believe in and place trust in the Trump administration, or might delicate negotiations involving America and other countries become extremely tedious and, perhaps stalled, due to what some may perceive as the administration’s lack of credibility?

We can recall several months ago when Mr. Trump alienated the Mexican President, the Australian Prime Minister, the Mayor of London, and others due to, let’s say, his general lack of diplomatic comportment, and in the case of the Mexican president, Trump outright lied about a conversation he said he had with President Nieto that in fact did not take place. To Trump, diplomacy takes a “back seat”, if he does not feel like being “diplomatic” that particular day. He is erratic and impulsive and these qualities do not make for a cordial environment should you need the future assistance of these countries and their leaders. However, strangely enough, Trump has warmly embraced our traditional enemies and strongmen.

In my Innocent Man series, Part III, subtitled “Trump’s Peculiar Admiration for Dictators, Totalitarians, Despots, and Strongmen”, I stated the following:

“Trump admires dictators, totalitarian leaders, despots, and strongmen. He openly praised Kim Jung Un for his uncanny ability to successfully inherit the reins of power from his deceased totalitarian father, despite his youth and being surrounded by elder ambitious career military strongmen. He demurely sidled-up to the Philippine dictator Duterte greeting him as if he was a long-missed ally. He extolled the virtues of Vladimir Putin saying that he is a greater leader than our own past-president Barack Obama. This remark not only demeaned our former president but our nation as well.”

When our American president does not show our traditional allies the proper respect, then turns around and “cuddles” our traditional enemies, something is wrong!  Many television pundits and newscasters have commented on this very aspect of Trump’s unusual behavior. This behavior does not appear to be haphazard at all. It appears deliberate and sends patriotic Americans scrambling to make sense of it all. Many citizens feel that with reference to Trump, “something is rotten in Denmark”, but so far the investigators have not linked the rot directly to Mr. Trump. Thus, Trumpism is alive and well on Capitol Hill and the Trump Kingdom reigns supreme and continues to compromise susceptible Republicans and instill fear in all majority party members that dare stand in Trumpism’s way. Do they fear for their positions? What else could it be when folks literally “clam up” and toss aside their age-old values and the essence of their very “selves” in deference to a president whose values, motives, and  purpose remain suspect at best? Rule by fear and intimidation is not the democratic way. However, it appears to be the Trump way.  Though many Republicans do not openly acknowledge their Trump concerns, behind closed doors they are known to share their misgivings regarding Mr. Trump’s tactics.  However, the public sees what’s going on and they wonder what happened to the once upstanding GOP that would have in the past “pushed back” against a presidency that has dismissed American values and run amok.

In previous articles I commented about Trump’s penchant for pomp-and-circumstance and ostentatious demonstrations of military might. He likes to see disciplined and obedient troops boldly stepping in cadence down the parade route with the military aircraft zooming above. When Trump sees this, his eyes widen, his body moves to the music, and his hands clap to the beat of the drums. He appears in seventh-heaven as he embraces this kind of spectacle like a “kid in a candy store”. This ostentatious demonstration of military might is not the norm for America. This type of show is more reminiscent of totalitarian regimes like Russia or North Korea as they attempt to show their military might to their citizens and the world. Trump indeed does admire totalitarians, which makes people wonder, does he secretly yearn to be a dictator himself?

Over time, I’ve talked at length about Donald Trump’s unsavory personality characteristics. I also tweeted that “Trump continues to tarnish the image of America. America under Trump is not who we are. The constant lies, divisive actions, and conspiracy theories are examples of Trump-related issues that we must be concerned about going forward.”

In another tweet, I stated this: “Trump: Champion or Charlatan? Samaritan or Opportunist?”  I then referred potential readers to my various Trump articles.  There they found the answers to the above questions through my citing of Trump’s actual actions and words. That way, I let Trump himself prove who he is!

Donald J. Trump is a complex psychological study encompassing (among other issues) constant lying, deceitfulness, and “alternative universe creation”. Time will tell how his peculiar personality issues impacts America on the domestic stage and on the world stage.

 America could be headed for real problems down the road, because we’re dealing with a “leader of the free world” who is not tethered to the conventional American norms and values that the world is used to respecting and working with. Mr. Trump has thrown the traditional “American values playbook” out of the window, resulting in the world asking, “Who is America under Trump? Can we count on America as we did under previous administrations? ”

Many of our friends around the world are opting to “go it alone” without America.  For example, in the first month of the Trump presidency, he opted out of  the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership), leaving behind such major TPP partners as Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Japan.  These countries, and others, moved on without the great Trumpian USA.

There are mixed messages coming out of the Trump administration. They seem to vacillate on the idea of whether they want to actually lead the free world or not. Trump doesn’t like to be “second best”, but the administration has not definitively stated to the world a willingness to continue being the number one “leader of the free world” going forward. At this time we are a country whose conventional ideals and values are in limbo and perhaps even “devolving”. Will the world continue to embrace us as a reliable friend and ally, or will they sour on us because they’ve simply had enough of Trump’s mixed messages and impulsive behavior?

America must return to its traditional values and ideals in order to maintain its place in the world. Remember, the old Soviet Union went the way of the dinosaur and we’re not indestructible. Trump’s questionable actions are definitely dividing Americans along racial and party lines, and Putin is determined to push America to the brink by meddling in our elections and trying to further divide an already splintered America by employing various methods, including the deceptive use of social media. You don’t have to be a Democrat or Republican to “wake up” and “see the light”, but whoever you are; you must be willing to honestly say “There is something wrong.  This is not the America that our citizens have loved and died for over the years.” We cannot continue like this! I don’t believe the erratic and divisive Trumpian path is a path to sustained growth and prosperity for all Americans, nor will it result in a sustained sense of pride, belonging, and well-being for all American citizens. The Trump path is the wrong path for America. It is time for concerned Americans, regardless of party, to wake up and demand a return to common sense, civility, truth, justice, and a renewed respect for all American citizens and our allies abroad.