I wrote this down on Friday - Dec. 30, 2016 - when I wasn't feeling very well. I didn't post it, because I thought maybe I was possibly being more reactive than usual. Tonight - my feelings are the same. I apologize for being long winded, but I feel an angst that won't subside.
When the US and the Obama Administration allowed the passage of the UN Resolution condemning the continued expansion of settlements - Trump tweeted, "Stay strong, Israel, Jan 20 is fast approaching." I was appalled that a President Elect would attempt to belittle the sitting President's decision, but I wasn't shocked. Like so many of his impulsive, inexperienced reactions - this just added to the pile of dung at his feet.
Today though something has changed in me. Whether I mentally turned a page or the accumulation of crap started to look like something else - I don't know. I appreciated when President Obama placed sanctions on Russia and booted Russian "diplomats" out. It was the very least I would expect after Russia subverted our election. Politicians agreed on both sides of the aisle - knowing it could be their party's turn to be sabotaged next time. Republicans and Democrats agreed the response was appropriate - but not Trump.
Last night I waited for him to tweet something like his "Stay strong" message to Israel. Then Putin threw a bone to Trump. He announced that he would delay his retaliation until Trump was in control. I actually felt fear reading Putin's words. I told myself Trump wouldn't take the bait - that even though he's inexperienced he would surely recognize the bear trap being set for his ego.
This morning Trump - so eager to encourage more praise from Putin - tweeted, "Great move on delay (by V.Putin) - I always knew he was very smart." I just stared at the words as if they had been said by Osama Bin Laden. In that moment - like the click of a padlock closing - all of my thoughts and feelings aligned. I realized that this man isn't a Republican.
If anything can be said about Republicans - they respect "the water's edge." Our country's independence is sacrosanct for Republicans - that's what makes them fairly crazed about immigration issues. The Republicans I know would lay down their life to maintain and to protect America's position of authority and strength in the World. These reactions rise from deep, gut level feelings about patriotism and their love of family. When heated campaigns drive those emotions to the surface in the everyday life of Republican - well, we hear the "stuff" that divides us into one political party or another.
Yet at the water's edge - no matter what our political ideals - we stop. We have one Commander in Chief who directs our Military. We stop at water's edge with humility and with clear knowledge that Treason begins at the water's edge.
If Trump isn't Republican - what is he? He responds to praise - anyone's praise. He ridicules and attacks anyone who tells an unflattering truth about him. To Trump money is power and power can make anything true. He believes he can buy anyone or sue them into compliance. He also sues his critics or business adversaries literally out of existence like a petulant prima donna. He is incapable of self-review. Facts are not real in his world.
This description reminds me of an NYT article describing Saddam Hussein, "...he heaped scorn on the Iraqi judge who referred to him as the 'former' president after asking him to identify himself on the first day of his trial for crimes against humanity, which ultimately lead to his execution. 'I didn’t say former president, I said president, and I have rights according to the Constitution, among them immunity from prosecution,' he growled from the docket. The outburst underscored the boundless egotism and self-delusion of a man who fostered such a fierce personality cult during the decades that he ran the Middle Eastern nation that joking about him or criticizing him in public could bring a death sentence."
[MacFarquhar, Neil: "Saddam Hussein, Defiant Dictator Who Ruled Iraq With Violence and Fear" New York Times 12/30/06]
I can only hope the Republicans in the US Congress will realize who Trump is and what his goals truly are, before it's too late.
