Era coming to an end
July 20, 2020. A very significant date for the United States. Depending on how things turn out, only six more months in the Trump era, or four years and six months. Heaven help us. It seems like a good time to review how we’re doing in Making America Great Again.
Not so hot, it appears. Our allies don’t trust us to keep our word. Our adversaries don’t respect us, let alone fear us. Mini-me in North Korea is still building bombs and testing missiles despite King Donald’s epic dealmaking skills. Putin appears to have pictures or worse on Trump, who has become Russia’s lapdog. Federal agents have invaded an American city—Portland, Ore.—to arrest whomever they want for whatever they want, legal process be damned. The covid-19 pandemic is hardly Trump’s fault, but our nation’s response to it surely is. We could hardly have done worse. We are the laughingstock of the world. It’s so bad that the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team can’t play any home games because its high-disease-risk opponents, coming from the U.S., would have to be quarantined when they enter Canada.
So, Mr. President, as you wind down your reign, think about some things that should have been obvious all along but apparently weren’t. Leaders lead. They don’t whine about what a tough hand they’ve been dealt. They don’t spend much of their time looking for someone to blame. They make decisions, not all of which may work out, but they decide and they act. For you, grow up. Stand up. Act like an adult rather than a 9-year-old who didn’t get his way. Your time is short. Use it wisely. And if, in the meantime, you’re tempted to excoriate some politician for his mental fitness for office, look in the mirror. DENNIS BARRY
Little Rock brown-shirted paramilitary that went around arresting “undesirables.” They indicated they had the right to do so because Germany’s leader said they could. In 2020 a group of camouflage-dressed paramilitary are roaming the streets in Portland picking up protesters. The president said they can do his will without the consent of the governor.
A history lesson: Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it. I am paraphrasing, but the lesson stands. Let the voter beware. GWENNETH PRICE PICARD
Little Rock