According to Spiegel
Online, it is Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is the leader of a
new, hate-filled authoritarian movement. Nothing would be more harmful to the
idea of the West and world peace than if he were to be elected president.
George W. Bush's America would seem like a place of logic and reason in comparison.
There is much that I agree with in the article. It is what remains unsaid that is much more
important.
Hilariously, the article begins with Trump talking about
American football – there is no sport in the world that celebrates militaristic
aggression in all forms, both on and off the field. Did Trump invent the game? Did Trump turn it into a weekly worship of
warmongering? Did Trump cause American
worship of the military to manifest itself in this Sunday ritual?
Trump reflects America; he is where he is because Americans
are what they are. What isn’t said in
the article is why things came to this.
The closest offering is reference to a book by New Yorker writer George Packer, whose book, "The
Unwinding," describes the gradual economic and, more importantly,
moral decline of the United States.
The book points to the drastic changes in American culture
since the 1960s. The article does
nothing to explore the whats and whys of this.
The list of contributing factors to this economic and moral damage is
not difficult to compile: the Vietnam War, the Great Society, the removal of
gold as a constraint on government, the subsequent loosening of the Fed to
enable theft by financial manipulation, the blatant bailing out of
multi-millionaires on the backs of everyone else – despite public protests to
the contrary.
None of this is mentioned.
Politicians have pointed to Mexicans and the Chinese – they steal
our jobs. Muslims are today’s enemy –
demonized to generate support for war.
History is whitewashed – everything America ever did was righteous,
therefore everything done today by the government must also be righteous.
None of this is mentioned.
Public education and the media are completely complicit in
this corruption. Not a mention of this
by Spiegel.
And what of the charge that Trump is the most dangerous man
in the world? Certainly since the end of
the Cold War – and arguably since the end of World War II – whoever has sat in the oval office has always been the most dangerous man in
the world – and has acted accordingly.
Just a small sampling of the lowlights: Franklin Roosevelt
carpet-bombed civilians by the hundreds of thousands in Japan and Germany. Harry Truman is the only human being in the
history of the world to drop atomic bombs.
Lyndon Johnson killed millions of Southeast Asians; so did Nixon.
Reagan made war fashionable again via little victories. George H.W. Bush made boots-on-the-ground fashionable
again via CNN.
Bill Clinton utilized the end of the Cold War to turn NATO
into an overtly offensive organization; to divert attention from a stained
dress, he dropped bombs. George W. Bush
destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan. Barack
Obama added Syria and Libya to the list; if this wasn’t enough, he has brought
the US and Russia to the brink of war.
This last one isn’t a concern to the German editors at Spiegel?
Spiegel hopes for a Hillary Clinton victory. Talk about a dangerous person! I forget: was it Clinton or Trump that
cheered with glee at the sodomizing of Ghaddafi?
There is no candidate in this election that one might
consider anything other than dangerous. They
thought this about Obama. He was safe,
they thought. They gave him the Nobel
Peace Prize – how did that turn out?
Donald Trump? “I don’t
always kill non-combatants by the millions, but when I do…wait – I never have!” And unlike many of the others running for
this office, he has never voted to do so either.
This will undoubtedly change if Trump reaches office. But it will be true no matter who wins.
And this comes to the most important point that is unsaid in
the article: it isn’t the occupant that is dangerous; it is the power inherent
in the office.
Why doesn’t Spiegel focus on this?
Conclusion
My conclusion has nothing to do with this post, other than
providing the inspiration for the title.
Some of my favorite lines from
the series:
He lives vicariously through
himself.
He once had an awkward moment, just
to see how it feels.
He has won the lifetime achievement
award, twice.
Once while sailing around the
world, he discovered a short cut.
Stay thirsty, my friend.
"... it isn’t the occupant that is dangerous; it is the power inherent in the office."
ReplyDeletethe power residing in the occupant of the office is power that was never intended to be vested. the results of vesting such power in one person, particularly with the 'checks and balances' having been removed with a do nothing congress and a supine supreme court, are quite obvious and to our detriment.
Some of my favorites:
ReplyDeleteNever approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any direction.
The business end of a six-gun don't pay no interest.
Shallow rivers and shallow minds freeze first.
It's the far-off cows that wear the biggest horns.
A drunken tongue tells what's on a sober mind.
Food for thought gives some folks indigestion.
Do not desire what you can't acquire.
Eagles don't catch flies
On a gentle horse, every man is a rider.
Love your enemies but keep your gun oiled.
You forgot "He once parallel parked-a train."
ReplyDeleteThere is another aspect in which Trump represents the gravest danger to the spiegel, he and his followers represent the sizable portion of people who just aren't buying their narrative. The spiegel and their supporters are like all the ww1 generals and leaders whose actions are causing the deaths of millions all the while claiming that it's the only way forward, never even suspecting that their very actions are the cause of the problems themselves. trump represents a mortal danger to this paradigm.
ReplyDeleteFor that alone, and for the potential halt in the carnage he seems to favor in the ME he should win. Another reason he should win is the discredit he will bring to statecraft with his boorish imbecility. As Thomas Sowell had written about attorney general Eric Holder, he shouldn't quit because he is like obama without the charm, trump is like all the presidents without the cufflinks he cannot but discredit the whole institution.