Donald Trump’s strongman fantasy deeply un-American
Mary Sanchez
If there were any doubt left that Donald Trump is a narcissistic, demonizing spinner of half-truths and outright lies, the case has been rested.
Closing arguments came in stunning performance by the 2016 GOP presidential candidate himself, live and televised.
The Republican Party’s choice for the next occupant of the White House intends to seize upon people’s fears and transform the nation into an isolationist country, inwardly focused and always on the lookout for scapegoats. Trump fancies himself as some sort of dictatorial leader at the helm.
“I am your voice,” he declared, addressing the “forgotten men and women” of America. Then he proceeded to tell them who they can blame for their woes: immigrants, foreign countries and, of course, Hillary Clinton.
Thursday night’s address to the Republican National Convention was the most scripted, controlled, practiced and vetted speech from Trump so far.
He didn’t dare stray too far from the prepared remarks. What he delivered was the truth of how he sees America and how he believes himself to be the superhero that will rectify the nation’s woes.
Zap! Flash! Bam! After his coronation on Jan. 20, 2017, violent neighborhoods will suddenly begin to be safe, millions will be employed and prosperous, crime will plummet, gangs will be no more and terrorism will be obliterated.
Oh, and those awful undocumented immigrants, they will be sent packing, and Trump will slam the door in the face of anyone he deems to endorse violence, hatred or oppression.
Sometimes, the more a person talks about an issue, the more apparent it becomes how little he understands it — or, in this case, how little he understands the people he claims to care about. For example, Trump listed some statistics on black and Latino unemployment and then blamed illegal immigration for the disproportions.
For Trump, unity is a matter of finding a scapegoat, some person or group we can all hate together.
Yet leadership is about good policy. Any candidate can condemn the recent murders of police. It’s something we all concur with. But what are you going to do about police training and oversight? How are you going to rebuild broken trust with communities? How are you going to reassure African-Americans and Latinos and poorer people of all races that they will be treated with the same consideration and justice as white people?
Trump doesn’t say — a good indication he doesn’t care.
Now it’s onto the Democratic convention in Philadelphia and Hillary Clinton’s moment to formally accept her party’s nomination.
Clinton, for sure, has her own problems with authenticity and appeal. But she’s never been possessed with a penchant to cast herself as a savior.
And she’s not standing atop a party platform that seeks to sort the nation into those who are inherently more worthy and those who are not.
Maybe voters will decide that that makes Clinton too much of the same-old, same-old.
But that is also the point. America’s problems are possible to tackle.
If we want a better future, Americans must commit to honesty and diligence and common cause — not to the strongman fantasy Trump is selling.