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.