I used to like to think I was the least political person in any room. I’m a writer, an intellectual, and did not need to be confrontational and get into discussions on what felt like the microscopic differences between political parties. I would leave politics to those who needed something to argue about to feel like there was more to life than themselves.
I would vote at the local level, but never really bothered to vote at the presidential level until Obama’s first term. It seemed like anything and everything that could go wrong could and did. There were no weapons of mass destruction, Saddam was dead, yes, but so were so many Americans who lost their lives at the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001. Soldiers were sent overseas to Afghanistan, to Iraq, and it didn’t seem as if there was a very clear reason for them being there. Blackwater frankly terrified me – assassins dressed up with the title of diplomatic security and had carte blanche to kill almost at will.
Then there was the Great Recession. There was an unemployment rate of 10%, people were walking away from their homes. It was a time of instability and frustration for many Americans, and the nation demanded a change. I wanted to be part of that change, so I voted for Obama.
Like many traditionally-minded Jews, I believe in the original ideals of the Democratic party: of the people, for the people, socially minded and aware, striving to make life better for everyone, not just the rich fat cats at the top.
Which leads me to one of my singular regrets in life: not being able to vote in the 2016 election. I had just moved into my new home and hadn’t been established at my address long enough to be on the records. I would have had to drive to another state to vote, over 2 hours away.
I was bitterly disappointed I didn’t get to vote for Hilary Clinton, and it took me a long time to get over it. Still, life went on. When you’ve got a family to care for, sometimes all you can do is get through the day.
But it didn’t take long for the faux pas and then outright lies to start coming. The border wall, the devaluation of the yuan, NAFTA, sanctuary cities harboring criminals, that most illegal aliens had criminal intentions. The constant threat of the ACA being pulled, the revolving door of officials in some of the highest offices in the country, the constant tweets. The supposed collusion with the Russians. The stories and events never stopped coming.
The tweets never ended, and neither did the pointing of the finger at the Obama administration. Now, if COVID had never happened, people could have perhaps Trump did do quite a good few things. I’ll go so far as to say he did indeed do many good things: moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing it properly as the capital of Israel, the release of Sholom Rubashkin, the signing of laws that made animal cruelty a felony, the legalization of CBD and hemp products, stopping the gag order on pharmacists’ ability to share cost-saving information with their customers, the CARES act, the FDA approval of many more generic drugs – I could go on, but I don’t want to because I have one question that I can’t get away from.
What is the use of all of the above if 200,000 Americans died and millions more infected with COVID-19? Trump stated personally that he didn’t want to panic the nation so he downplayed things. He turned down American companies who wanted to change their systems to produce PPE, he made outrageous claims about bleach and UV rays. He insisted that COVID would disappear with the warmer weather. To add insult to injury, he never admitted he was wrong. He can never admit he is wrong.
Case in point: the 2020 Presidential debates. Coming out of the gate, Trump was smug, condescending, and barely let anyone get a word in edgewise, including the moderator. He went off on tangents to attack his opponent, former vice-president Joe Biden. He referred to Elizabeth Warren as ‘Pocahontas’. COVID-19 was once again being called ‘China Flu’. Nothing new here. Name-calling and accusations were flying everywhere.
So far, the debates made America look foolish and a lot of people were drinking, posting about the proceedings. But then the topic turned to race, to Trump ending racial sensitivity training for federal agencies.
Trump insists that racial sensitivity training is radical and that it teaches people to hate America. He insists that we ‘go back to the core values of our country’. It only gets worse from here. But if nothing else shows Trump’s truest colors, this does. A single sentence.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by”.
He knew damn well what Biden was asking him to do, almost leading him along to get the President to this exact spot: to denounce white supremacy militia and other hate groups. And what does Trump do? Act dumb.
Sure enough, the Proud Boys heard their master’s whistle and reacted accordingly. They responded that they were ‘standing by’. They celebrated in the fact they were mentioned in the debate, and already recruits for membership are increasing in number as we speak.
Jason Miller, when asked what the President meant by that statement, replied that Trump was ‘telling the Proud Boys to knock it off’.
Really, Jason? Everyone knows if you tell someone to stand by, it’s to await further instruction, not to stop. If he wanted them to stop, he would have told them to stand down, not back. If he had, it would have been three fewer words out of his duplicitous mouth.
People of the United States, I’m not saying Biden is without fault or even the best person for the job. But right now our country is in crisis – we’re being attacked on all fronts. Forest fires are still burning, there are still people rioting, more jobs are lost by the day, and worst of all, there is still COVID.
Biden may or may not be the best person for the presidency, but Trump is without a doubt the worst person for a second term. No one has the right to tell another person who to vote for, and we know that at the end of the day, G-d is there guiding our elected officials. But we have to do our part so G-d can do His – and that means seeing Trump for the hypocritical, lying, evasive, self-serving man that he is and acting accordingly in November.
