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!