Donald Trump and Richard Goutal. We were both born in June of 1946. Apart from that, we have nothing in common.
Maybe it all began in June of 1946, the month and year we both were born. But really, it begins today, the inauguration of the presidency of Donald Trump along with the inauguration of my recorded thoughts here.
On the night of the election, November 8, 2016, I went to bed thinking Hillary Clinton had won, but woke up on November 9 to learn that Donald Trump had won. I favored Bernie Sanders during the Primary Season; there has been no candidate that I can remember that more closely represented my own thinking than Sanders’. By the time Sanders lost to Clinton, it was clear that she would be running against Donald Trump, and I agreed with Sanders, that a vote for Clinton was a vote against Trump, and that Trump must not win.
Trump’s candidacy was bad for America; it certainly helped make many Americans feel that open displays of their various hates were acceptable. Trump’s own open statements did this. There was nothing subtle or hidden. I do not understand how anyone can overlook this. Here follows a brief rehearsal of statements by Trump that disqualified him for any public office.
- There was his public mockery of journalist Serge Kovaleski who suffers from arthrogryposis, a condition which limits the movement of joints and is particularly noticeable in Kovaleski’s right arm and hand. It all startedwhen Trump misused a 2001 news report (written by Kovaleski) to substantiate his 2016 election campaign trail false claim that thousands of Arabs living in New Jersey cheered when the Twin Towers collapsed in 2001. There was never any evidence of this, and Kovaleski’s article did not say any such thing. So instead of accepting the fact that he was wrong, Trump mocked Kovaleski in one of his rallies. Trump then denied even knowing Kovaleski (a lie) and denied mocking him. However, the video is unmistakable. It has been shocking: When Trump disagrees with someone, he ridicules and insults them. This behavior greatly offends me, perhaps because of my own history with a familial tremor. [1]
Trump at rally referring to Kovaleski saying: “Now, the poor guy, you’ve got to see this guy: ‘Uhh, I don’t know what I said. Uhh, I don’t remember,’ he’s going like ‘I don’t remember. Maybe that’s what I said.'” [Kovaleski pictured at right.]
- He has frequently disparaged programmers or hackers as some fat person on a couch. Similarly, he has attacked various women by calling them fat or overweight including Rosie O’Donnell, Jennifer Lopez, Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado, and others. All in public – it is recorded; there is no mistake. If you disagree with someone and respond with a personal attack, it is bullying. That is how it would be labeled if a middle school student said the things Trump says with apparent impunity. So America rewarded a bully by making him President; of course that sent a message! [2]
- Then there are Trump’s endless tweets – many of them insults or baseless attacks on a whole range of people: his opponents in the Republican Primaries, journalists, news organizations, nations, and more. His lack of self-control is astonishing – and frightening when one considers the role of the President in foreign policy and developing relationships with foreign leaders. [3]
- Then there are the many ways that Trump has opened the door for white racists to lash out. He began his campaign by labeling Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers. His treatment of the Iranian family that endorsed Clinton at the Democratic Convention. His role as the main propagator of the Obama birther myth. And so much more. Fortunately, doubters of Trump’s racist stance can get the whole story if they Google it, for there are various summaries available. [4]
- Then, there is the essentially vulgar or crude conduct, manifested most obviously (but not only) by the 2005 recorded conversation with Billy Bush. Finally, the blatant approval of sexual assault or harassment that were also revealed by the vulgar Trump statements: [5]
“I moved on her like a b—h, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married.”
“I did try and f–k her. She was married.”
“Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”
“Grab them by the p—y. You can do anything.”
None of the above could also be said about any of the other candidates during 2016, although I did not like very many of their expressed policies. None of the above describes the public behavior of other Presidents since at least 1900. Yes, several were known to have had affairs or sexual escapades. But no other President boasted about them in public. No other President since at least 1900 has openly ridiculed minorities, women, the handicapped, etc.
All of this Trump behavior has given permission for certain deplorable individuals to act out in similar as well as more extreme ways. While there have been a few random violent acts described in the news by those opposing Trump, including at the inauguration, there have been an avalanche of stories of hate crimes – a marked increase since the success of the Trump campaign.
And now this bully is the President.
He is the President, but not my President. I am not his supporter. And beyond the fact that he is temperamentally unfit to be President – which is enough by far – I disagree with the vast majority of his policies; they will do anything BUT make America great. I will write much more on this in the future, drawing from my days of teaching American history.
I am not watching his inauguration on television. Instead I am inaugurating this series of articles under the title, “Just Thinking.” I will do everything I can in the limited way that I have available, to stop Trump from inflicting damage on our country, but let’s face it: he is the President with a Republican Congress intent on dismantling all the best of American achievements since 1900. The amount of power amassed in Washington is not reasonably stoppable. But I won’t shrink back either.
Whatever Trump will do now, with all the power of the office, will be done the same way he has orchestrated his election and his subsequent transition: erratically, narcissistically, rudely, non-transparently – in a word, dangerously.
Trump will not make America great again – but he is making America hate more openly. What is desperately needed: Making America Think.
Just to be clear. The articles written here are for my own benefit. Writing these articles is not what I meant about “doing everything I can.”
[1] http://www.snopes.com/2016/07/28/donald-trump-criticized-for-mocking-disabled-reporter/
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html
[4] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-racist-examples_us_56d47177e4b03260bf777e83
[5] Just one of many summary reports: http://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/
