THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICAN POLITICS
Don’t You Dare Try To Take The Moral High Ground With Me
If you supported Trump, you are going to drown with him or get the bends.
I’ve been following the goings-on in America out of sheer morbid curiosity.
I’ve questioned Trump supporters about their views to get an insight into their thinking. It is good to get an opposing viewpoint and understand a rationale from another person’s perspective.
One question I asked a Trump supporter was:-
Q: Do you think President Trump was right to lie to you about COVID-19?
She replied: “He didn’t lie.”
I was gobsmacked — I mean, seriously?
Prior to Trump being voted in as president.
I was on holiday in Scotland and met three Americans in their twenties.
The subject of our conversation turned towards Trump, and it surprised me to learn that these three Americans were going to vote for Trump.
“Why?”
“Because he is saying what we are all thinking!”
“You think that it’s okay to be racist, sexist, and greedy.”
“Well, no, but he is going to make America great again! He has the right policies.”
“What are his policies?”
“I don’t know, but he is a good businessman and he will be good for the country.”
“Do you know that most of his businesses have failed? The casino left thousands of ordinary Americans working for him without pay. He went bankrupt, so the banks had to pick up the tab. His university was a scam. His Trump vodka didn’t go down well. His airline never got off the ground. He failed to pay contractors, and it left many workers penniless.”
“But he’s a billionaire.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he says so.”
“And you believe him?”
“Yes.”
“Why hasn’t he released his tax returns then?”
“He doesn’t have to.”
“Did you know his businesses submitted a $1.5 billion loss in the eighties and instead of being embarrassed he alluded to fiddling the figures so he didn’t have to pay taxes?”
“That is smart.”
“It’s illegal.”
“If it’s illegal, he would have been charged?”
“Okay, which would you prefer — the guy you are voting for is a bad business person who has lost most of the money he inherited and lies about it or a guy who is rich because he cheats his country out of taxes and lies about it?”
“Um…”
“One way he is incompetent, the other way he is immoral.”
“But he will make America great again.”
“Let’s move on, do you believe in climate change?”
“I don’t think that has been proven.”
“It is a real thing.”
“Trump doesn’t think so.”
“Tens of thousands of scientists have spent decades in research and have presented irrefutable evidence. Yet you believe a reality TV star and inveterate liar when he says that climate change isn’t a thing?”
“Donald Trump is going to make America great again, though.”
“How exactly?”
“Because he says so.”
“Okay, I’ll change the subject. I have a little quiz for you.”
I asked my fellow travellers twenty questions about the world they live in. They got three correct. Here are some questions they got wrong.
- How many countries make up the UK?
- What is the capital of France? (They said the Eiffel Tower.)
- Who is the prime minister of Great Britain?
- What language do they speak in Germany?
- Where is Iran?
- Who invented the television?
- Where is the Panama canal?
I hung my head in despair.
My Favourite American
I have an American friend. We were out for a beer when Trump cropped into the conversation. I put in my tuppence worth. I said that I thought that Trump missing the Armistice Parade in France was despicable.
My favourite American friend stepped forward and gave me a fresh perspective.
“How do you know he missed it?”
“What?”
“How do you know for certain?”
That made me think. It stopped me in my tracks. I wasn’t there. I didn’t witness the event. I relied on the media. We rely on the media to give us the unbiased truth — but we know that isn’t always the case.
What if he was right?
“What if there is a conspiracy against Trump?”
‘What do you mean?”
“What if it is all fake? What if Fox News are the only ones reporting the truth?”
I shut up for a moment and had a think. What if he is right? What if everything I see and hear about Trump is being manipulated by the press?
What if he did go to the Armistice parade?
It came to me all of a sudden… an awakening. An epiphany if you like. The massive realization that — my American friend is an idiot!
Trump has been impeached for a second time.
Wait now. Why is this a surprise? Let’s go back in time.
“Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” — William T. Kelley, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania.
The people of America voted for Donald Trump, who:
- Made racist comments — and you ignored it.
- Made fun of the disabled — as if this was nothing.
- Has been accused of sexual assault (and they recorded him admitting it) — this isn’t an episode of House of Cards.
- Ripped off workers and businesses all his life — people still voted for him.
- Has had thousands of people sue him — you still voted him in.
- Committed fraud with his university — and you let him do a deal to stay out of jail.
- He’s proven to lie repeatedly, make up fake news, and distort the truth — and you still believe him.
- Supported Putin against his own country’s secret service — retracted it saying he ‘misspoke’, and nothing happened.
- Once had a moment of clarity on the toilet and tweeted something sensible — okay this one isn’t true.
- Started a trade war that history tells us will adversely affect the world for decades — nobody bats an eye.
- Suffers from the Dunning-Kruger effect — no one seems to notice.
People have died and Donald Trump is responsible.
In the middle of a pandemic, President Donald Trump cancels funding for the World Health Organization.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has a broad mandate which includes monitoring public health risks, coordinating responses to health emergencies, and promoting human health and well-being.
The WHO has played a leading role in several public health achievements, most notably the eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of polio, and the development of an Ebola vaccine.
This impulsive, blame-game, smoke-screen is unbelievable. It is not the act of a smart man, it is imbecilic and unforgivable.
If there are two words that all Americans should live by, it’s — people matter.
Every single person, all 414,224 of those who have died in America from COVID-19 matter. They matter to their mother, their father, their brother, their sister, their uncle, their aunt, their cousin, their teachers, their friends, their workmates, and us — we’ll never know how they could have changed our lives.
People matter.
But not to POTUS. He hasn’t given a shit about anyone but himself.
“The buck stops here.”
Are the only words you won’t hear come from Donald Trump’s mouth.
I love America.
I do. America is the baby of the world. It can fart and shit and burp and gurgle and I still look at and think — Aw, Cute!
I love Friends and Fraser and Fargo. I adore Dexter and Daredevil and Davy Crockett. I’m mesmerized by Mad Men and The Magnificent Seven and Malcolm in the Middle.
But right now, America, you are having a tantrum. A smash the furniture, bawling, petted lip, batter the floor tantrum.
Not all of you — granted. Most of you have grown up and realized — ‘wait a minute! Is this what we want? Is this what we are about?’
The truth about American politics
Don’t you dare try to take the moral high ground with me. If you supported Trump, you are going to drown with him or get the bends. It’s not up for discussion. You know what he has done; you know what he is like; you know that he is responsible
If you still supported him, you are culpable. You should be shamefaced. Your fellow Americans should hold you to account.
If you spoke up against him from the start, you are the hope and the reason the rest of the world will heal and love you like a child again.