My initial draft of this editorial began with the sentence, “Had Trump been President during World War II, you would be reading this piece in German or Japanese.” I went on to excoriate the President for his recent bizarre behavior and to revisit a handful of other issues that have made his presidency so memorable. You can guess what I mean.
A wise teacher once advised me that when you write in anger, it’s a good practice to set the piece aside before you hit send and reread it in the morning. I did this. My angry draft lacked civility. I ended the piece by calling Trump the Orange Menace. Upon reflection, I know that would not have changed any minds. It is cathartic to write this stuff, but usually succeeds only in strengthening the opinions of people who had already arrived at the same conclusions.
Thus, I set my draft aside and spent some time reflecting on why I am so angry. Part of the reason is that I do not understand how anyone, let alone the President, could act as he has in recent days. Who would dare to speculate on the curative impact of drinking or injecting bleach as an answer to the pandemic? Why did Trump ignore quality intelligence indicating that the pandemic was all but inevitable? Why did he announce that the virus would disappear in a few days when his own experts begged to differ? Inquiring minds want to know.
No doubt the thinking behind these and related episodes will be examined in depth in future days. Most likely, his lack of leadership on the virus will be shown to be part of a series of colossal misjudgments. The same type of thinking that led him to claim that he won the popular vote in 2016 is at play here. Also, remember, this is a man who claimed to trust Putin on the issue of election interference over his own intelligence agencies. He also claimed credit, thousands of times, for the strong economy that ended abruptly in February. What has happened since, of course, is the fault of the Democrats.
One might ask whether Trump understands the difference between truth and lies. He appears to believe that if you say something often enough and believe it yourself, that somehow it will come to pass. If this is true, saying the pandemic will end might end it. Saying that there are miracle drugs waiting to be used to “cure” the virus, will, in fact, do so. And saying that the economy will roar back in a few months’ time will heal the economic havoc wreaked by the lockdown.
When some of us call Trump bizarre, it is more a reference to his divorce from reality. There are many weird, eccentric, awkward people in the world, but only one is President of the United States and in a position to get us all sick, killed, or incinerated in a nuclear war. How did someone with little appreciation of how government works, other than, perhaps, how to game the rules, conclude he could succeed as President? Did Trump believe that familiarity with the Constitution and at least a passing knowledge of how Congress writes laws to be irrelevant? How did he choose the curious bucket of themes on which to base his Presidency—things like xenophobia, rejection of science, and open hostility to the press? Does he believe these themes make America better? And, how did this guy get elected? He may have stolen the election, but the fact that a good 40 to 45 percent of us voted for him has not been explained, at least not to my satisfaction.
Thus, I have unanswered questions. My lack of understanding is perhaps the real reason for my anger. Maybe once I figure it out, I will stop thinking of nasty things to say about the Orange Menace.
J.E. Dean of Oxford is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant. He is a former counsel to the House Committee on Education and Labor. For more than 30 years, he advised clients on federal education and social service policy.
Suzanne Williams says
Thank you Mr. dean for having the courage to express your anger so well. I too do not understand the support for the President’s bizarre and dangerous behavior.
Art Cecil says
A one dimensional view of President Trump and one undoubtedly formed by the writer before 11/16.
Gail jenkins says
When you read or listen to the Redaction of the Mueller Report, you realize to what lengths this man will go to get what he wants. It’s not about the good of the United States of America! It;s about Donald Trump getting what he wants!! He has no morals or concerned feelings for anyone or thing, except himself! And he will go to any lengths and take any actions to achieve this. His desires and existence is more important than anything else in the world! We have been manipulated by a criminal mind, with a remarkable resemblance to Adolph Hilter! AMERICA IS BETTER THAN THIS!!!!!
Richard L Hott says
It remains a mystery why so many seemingly intelligent people voted for Trump in 2016 and we can only hope that they will not do so again. I’ve heard it said that ‘he’s a businessman’ but the country is not a business and he’s not a very good businessman in any case (the university, the casinos, the fragrance to name a few flops). Some time ago a relative gave me a printout to read in which the author was trying to explain why non-Trump supporters ‘hate’ his supporters. After reading I tried to explain that hate is not anywhere in the equation but pity surely is as so many don’t seem to be able to tell truth from lies, statesmanship from buffoonery, and the reality that we have a president who enjoys the campaign more than actually doing the job.
John Fischer says
Yet another Trump rant. Goodness.
It appears unlikely Mr. Trump will prevail in November over the effect of the Corona virus and the frail but inoffensive Mr. Biden.
If we are lucky that will mark the end of these hand-wringing lamentations of writers struggling to comprehend how middle America possibly could prefer the offensive Mr. Trump, first to the condescending Ms. Clinton, and now to their platform heavily influenced by Comrade Bernie, AOC and Princess Summerfallwinterspring.
Christina Cocozzella says
J.E. Dean, Alas– you are controlling your righteous anger too well and I fear that is the problem with Trump detractors. The far too measured tone people STILL take to describe this buffoon’s words and actions (or more frequently “inactions”) shocks me. Why oh why do people bend over backwards to NOT say frankly, directly, unequivocally, the emperor has no clothes? The man is a narcissist, an idiot. He is an ignoramus, he is a fool. He is thoughtless. He lacks civility, humanity, empathy. He is soulless and gutless. He is a dope. He embodies every character trait that you would never want your son or daughter to embody.
My husband, a reasonably reasoned person voted for Trump and quite honestly, it nearly destroyed our marriage. He has since come to see the light and truly regrets his wrong-headed decision. Too bad it took the needless deaths of 60,000 plus American citizens for him to see the light. BTW: Per other comments— What a shame the Democrats chose to put up possibly the only person in US politics who could not (electorally) best Trump. And, here they go again with another flawed, uninspiring candidate. But I’ll suffer through 4 years of Joe any day over another minute with the Orange Menace.
Elizabeth Ferguson says
Clearly, you would be amazed to know how many moderates there are in our country. I doubt you listen to our President – if you do, I wonder about your filter. You sound like you read excerpts in the MSM. I do listen to him. He never said to ingest or inject bleach or anything like it. Your missive is fraught with inaccuracies. Brace yourself for a Trump win on November 3rd.
John Dean says
Ms. Ferguson: Although your comments about my piece were not too kind, thank you for reading the article. Please know that I do follow Trump’s comments closely. I confess to not watching Fox news, but I watched many of his press briefings in their entirety. Please note that I did not say that Trump advised people to drink or inject bleach. He did speculate on it, however, as something that might kill the virus. My specific sentence in the article is, “Who would dare to speculate on the curative impact of drinking or injecting bleach as an answer to the pandemic?” The President, to the horror of Dr. Birx, did speculate about drinking or injecting bleach. You may have also read that Governor Hogan said the state has received “hundreds of calls” about the effectiveness of drinking bleach as a cure for the virus.
As I indicated above, thank you for reading the piece. J. Dean