What Fools We Are

I want to consider the United States of America a mostly intelligent nation with mostly kind and compassionate people. I want to, but these days it is difficult. I can’t watch and read the news and say, “Yes, look at all these kind, Christian, and intellectually honest people voicing their political views.”  I am unable to listen to the candidates or public servants from the other side without becoming terrified by their rhetoric and thoughtless diatribes.

In 2015, a man rode down a gold escalator and announced his candidacy for the highest office in the land; we all laughed and thought he was a joke. Donald J. Trump had been a fraud, a thief, a womanizer, an adulterer, and a witless hanger-on in New York high society for decades. He was also a known racist, a known misogynist, and a well-known friend to those with less-than-stellar character for most, if not all, of his adult life. This half-wit based his entire political strategy on two things: racism and his self-proclaimed business savvy, one a proven truth and the other a proven lie. Let’s take a quick look at the foundation of this fraud:

In 1973, the Trump organization was accused by the US Justice Department of racial discrimination, specifically against Black Americans trying to rent properties in their buildings. They settled, and as part of that settlement, they had to agree to change their policies.

In 1989 Trump called for the Death Penalty on the Central Park Five, five teenage Black and Latino youths accused of raping a young woman who were later exonerated. He took out full-page ads and gave interviews during this time.

From 2011 to 2016, Trump pushed the Birther conspiracy about Barack Obama and combined this with the complete fabrication of whether then-President Obama was Christian or not.

In 1990, Fred Trump (his father) bought $3 million in Trump Castle casino chips so Donald could pay interest on his loans. This was later judged to be an illegal loan, and Donald had to pay $65,000 in fines to New Jersey.

1991, Trump Taj Mahal files for bankruptcy relief.

1992, Trump Plaza Hotel files for bankruptcy relief.

Trump forms the Trump Hotel and Casino Resorts as a publicly traded company, retaining 56% of stock. Despite reorganization, the company failed to turn a profit and filed for bankruptcy relief in 2004, 2009, and 2014.

This barely scratches the surface of Trump’s failures and scams.

Trump University. Sued by the State of New York. Settled for $25 million without admitting guilt or malfeasance.

But back to his 2015 announcement, it was full of racist rhetoric, but we should have seen it coming based on his history. We should have also believed him, but we laughed and dismissed him. His announcement was full of braggadocio, and his business acumen and success were a centerpiece. If we hadn’t been so busy laughing at the fool before us, perhaps we wouldn’t be where we are today.

“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

Dr. Maya Angelo

I would like to think America is better than this, but we are proving every day we are not. We have a third-rate backbencher as the Speaker of the House. Our allies are terrified we will leave them at the mercy of Russia and Putin. We have a narcissist, would-be dictator as the third-time GOP presidential candidate who would rather play politics with national security and hopes for an economic crash because it would be good for him. The GOP in Congress has made clear they are nothing more than the support arm of the Trump campaign, installing a MAGA election denier as Chair and the daughter-in-law of twice impeached ex-president as co-chair who together have already said they will funnel funds toward legal fees and ‘poll watchers’ rather than down-ballot candidates.

The halls of Congress echo with songs of praise and hallelujahs for the Orange Jesus that will lead them into the failed nation they claim is already here. The cult of White Grievance, White Nationalism, and White Evangelism is here, and it is led by a man who never once in his life cracked open a Bible, never once met a sin he didn’t want to commit, and never once met a Commandment he didn’t break.

So here we are. We have the two oldest presidential candidates running in the history of this nation. We have voters who wish it were otherwise and are thus unenthusiastic about the Democrat and looking at the Republican as if he might be a viable option. We have an uninformed, under-educated, conspiracy-believing nation full of half-witted bigots who have either forgotten or simply do not care what the first Presidency of Donald J. Trump was and are willing to drink the Kool-Aide of a media bent on destroying this nation as we know it. But let’s take a short trip down memory lane, shall we? This is what happened during the 4 years of the first Trump Administration.

• Dropped the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and created additional tax breaks for the wealthy, more of that trickle-down theory. End result? $7 Trillion was added to the national debt.
• Multiple trade wars started with China and other nations, resulting in tariffs trickling down to the consumer. Do you wonder why prices are still high? In part, it is because wholesalers and retailers continue to charge the same price despite no longer absorbing the tariffs.
• The tragedy of the coronavirus was worldwide, but focusing on this nation is important because we had a President who knew how dangerous it was and didn’t just downplay the danger but politicized it.
  • More than 1 million dead Americans
  • More than one-third of small businesses closed during Covid.
  • The average unemployment rate 13%. This is misleading, though it was much higher in some industries, reaching above 20%, and in many cases, these jobs have still not recovered.
  • Schools closed, and children falling behind socially and educationally.
  • In some cities, hospitals and morgues out of capacity.
    • Refrigeration trucks used to store the dead.
    • The sick in hallways being cared for by doctors and nurses, unable to return to their homes for fear they might infect their families.
    • Experts demonized while politicians, including the President, suggested bizarre and dangerous options for cures.
    • The mental health of the entire nation was jeopardized by isolation, joblessness, homelessness, and the loss of loved ones without proper goodbyes.
    • Supply chains were disrupted, creating empty shelves of essentials, and social media showed daily fights in the aisles for toilet paper, diapers, and baby formula.
      • These are just the highlights, and yet, the cult wants to return this nation to this. Somehow, whether the man in the street or the elected official thinks this was the golden age we should be pining for.

I watched the State of the Union President Joe Biden delivered this week and was proud that he was this nation’s President. I was happy to think there was a man in the White House who cared more for this nation than he did for his own enrichment.

Is he old? Is his walk a bit slower? Does he stutter? Yes, to all of that.

Has he and his administration brought us back from the brink of disaster? Yes, to that as well.

When you consider the alternative between the two candidates, remember this; one gives a shit about this country and our standing in the world, about the people of this nation, about the Constitution and what it means, about our Democratic Republic and how we continue to grow great, about the American Dream and how we can all reach it.

The other, well, he sees us as a failed nation ripe for the picking.