Trump’s values are alien to all that makes us great
Thomas L. Friedman
It’s taken me awhile to put my finger on exactly what political label best describes Donald Trump as his presidential campaign snarls and spits to a finish. I think I’ve finally got it: Trump is a “legal alien” — someone born here but whose values are completely alien to all that has made this country great.
Who do you know who has denigrated immigrants, the handicapped, Muslims and Mexicans; trashed all our recent trade agreements; mounted a fraudulent campaign claiming our president was not born in this country; insulted the whole presidential selection process by running for the highest office without doing a shred of homework; boasted of grabbing women by their genitals; been accused by 11 women of sexual assault or other unwelcome physical advances; disparaged our NATO allies; praised the dictatorial president of Russia and encouraged him to hack Democratic Party emails; vowed to prosecute his campaign rival if he got elected; threatened to curb the freedom of the press; suggested that gun rights advocates might take the law into their own hands if Hillary Clinton won; insulted the parents of a slain Iraq War hero; sought to undermine America’s electoral system by claiming, without a shred of evidence, that it is so “rigged” he can’t promise to concede if he loses; and been cited for lying about more things more times in more ways on more days than any presidential aspirant in history?
That is who Trump is. The big question now is, who are the rest of us?
1. The American people. Who are we? Hopefully, an overwhelming majority will crush Trump at the polls and send the message that he is the one who needs to be morally deported.
Already there are myriad reports of people avoiding his hotels and golf courses. The PGA Tour recently moved its long-standing tournament from his Doral course in Miami to a course in ... Mexico!
2. The Republican Party. Whose party is this? Almost all of the GOP’s leaders have chosen to stand with Trump because they love their jobs (and the party that sustains them) more than their country. If Trump loses, will this GOP fracture and the decent conservatives go off and form a new, healthy Republican Party?
3) The Democratic Party. Whose party is this? In truth, Bernie Sanders’ movement fractured the party almost as much as Trump did the GOP, but that fissure has been tem- porarily plastered over by the overriding need to defeat Trump.
How does the party process the fact that while Trump is a legal alien, his supporters are not. They are our neighbors. They need to be heard, and where possible they need to be helped. But they also need to be challenged to learn faster and make good choices, because the world is not slowing down for them.
Bottom line: We’re in the middle of a massive technological shift. It’s changing every job, workplace and community. A lot will depend on what Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, calls “the startup of you.” You need a plan to succeed today.
To the extent that the center-left and the center-right can come together on programs to help every American get the most out of this world and cushion the worst, we’ll all be better off. But the more we get tribally divided, the more the American dream will become an alien concept to us all.