It's A Trump Country Today...
by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle 5/11/18
Make no mistake, this is Donald Trump’s America.
Which is, to an extent, as it should be. As the 19th century French philosopher Joseph de Maistre famously said, “Every nation gets the government it deserves.” We can debate whether or not America deserves President Trump and his version of government, but the fact that America got what it voted for is indisputable.
There is very little President Trump has done since he got elected that can be termed a surprise. He hasn’t snuck up on anyone. He acted like an immature, bombastic, uninformed, arrogant, misogynistic, insulting, rude, and self-serving candidate when he was running. He has done little to nothing that changes that general description since taking office.
In terms of legislative and political accomplishments, he has given permanent tax breaks to corporations and temporary ones to individual taxpayers. He has pushed through legislation to take away health insurance from millions of Americans. The centerpiece of his foreign policy has been to propose the building of a giant wall, eliminate the DACA program that protected children/young people who have lived here since an early age, and a court fight to ban people from coming here based upon little more than their religion.
On the more personal front, Trump the candidate mocked a disabled person during one rally. He insulted the appearance and character of every opponent he had, regardless of party. He lied about revealing his taxes. He lied about crowd size at his inauguration. He has lied about big things, small things, old things, new things, red things, blue things — lied so much he gets special attention when he actually tells the truth about something.
His former campaign manager has been indicted. His hand-picked National Security Adviser was fired, indicted, and plead guilty in a federal investigation. His personal lawyer has had his offices raided after admitting he paid a porn star $130,000 to remain quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. Hell, a tape with Trump admitting to sexually assaulting women came out right before the election — and his popularity increased.
His son, son-in-law, and campaign manager met with Russians during the campaign because he was promised dirt on his opponent. He often mocks his own attorney general, publicly attacks the integrity of the intelligence agencies he oversees, and admitted firing the FBI Director to protect himself against investigation.
But no one should be surprised by all this. Disgusted? Sure. Disappointed? OK. Some are very pleased and satisfied, perhaps even more than they expected to be. That’s understandable.
But don’t be surprised. This president is merely reflecting America, not reshaping or remaking it. He’s not instilling this type of behavior and leadership in Americans — he’s just making it acceptable. He’s the vessel, not the source.
Donald Trump is what happens when we as a people value bravado more than bravery, insults more than integrity, equity more than equality. There have always been Donald Trumps among us (though Trump is unquestionably the trumpiest ever), but we generally chose to keep them from positions we knew full well they would abuse for their own benefit.
This is indeed Donald Trump’s America. But that’s our fault, not his.
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.
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