Thoughts on Trump from an American Expat

I've recently been asked by friends and family, what my thoughts are on Donald Trump now he's been president for a week or so.

I find myself in agreement with former Mexican president, Vincente Fox. on this

Rather than repeat myself ad nauseum, I figured I'd take a few moments to blog about it and perhaps start a discussion on the topic.

Here's a quick summary of my thoughts.

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First off, Trump is likely to be the worst president we've ever seen.
When push comes to shove, this man does not really have the level of decorum we've come to expect from a PTA president, let alone the leader of the free world. That said, maybe it's time to rethink what we expect from a President.
Secondly and perhaps most importantly, I am impressed because this man has kept his promises and that takes guts.
Thirdly, those guts are going to cause us a lot of problems.

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According to the constitution of the United States of America, the role of President is actually supposed to be fairly limited.

The President is first and foremost the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, secondly he is the head of the executive branch. In other words...
He's not supposed to make law, but he is supposed to enforce it.

His recent executive orders are exactly that, enforcement of existing law. It's going to be up to the courts to decide if those laws are constitutional or not.

As Commander in Chief, his role should primarily be that of diplomat, trying hard to keep us out of war, resorting to military intervention only as the last option.

I think Theodore Roosevelt said it best when he said that ideally one should "Speak softly and carry a big stick".

Trump is clearly the anti-thesis of this.

He is loud, boisterous, bombastic and even profane. However perhaps this is what the world needs from an American President after a couple of generations of TV driven ADHD has made it so that no message resonates with the populace unless it is shocking or profane.

Our country has spent the last couple of generations dumbing itself down, and as a result the populace itself is loud, boisterous, bombastic, profane and obsessed with reality TV. Little wonder then that a reality TV star became president.

Honestly I believe that the USA has lost it's mandate as greatest nation on earth because of this dumbing down, and I believe that Trump is just one symptom of a larger disease.

But is this the reality or is this just perception?

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Did Trump win because his policies reflect the desire of the populace, or did he win because people were less scared of a Trump presidency, than a Hilary one?

It's an interesting question and one that requires careful reflection.

For example, prior to the election season, I had been an avid reader of not only the comic strip Dilbert, but of the blog of it's creator, Scott Adams.

Scott Adams came out early in his support of Trump, and frankly he lost my respect for doing so. Not only for his support of Trump, but also because he was focusing on the manipulative tactics that Trump was using and Adams seems to be enthusiastically supporting.

I assumed that the primary reason Mr Adams had for discussing Trump at this level, with this sort of quasi-muted praise, was to raise the profile of his blog in search engines, which frankly doesn't get even a fraction of the page views that his comic does. This felt like a desperate grab for attention in and of itself.

I'm still convinced that's what it was. I have a hard time imagining that an intelligent person could throw their support behind either Trump or Hilary with a clear conscience. In other words, I believe Scott was selling out and I still believe it. But maybe that's the point.

The morals and values of America have become divisive and reactionary. We're all too quick to jump into our little corners and try to defend that position against all opposition. It must be us vs them, in every single dialog we have.

I believe that is the real crux of the issue. Us vs them ignores the fact that there is no us, there is no them, there is only we.

We humans, are a single species. A species that is so closely related to one another that there is more genetic diversity in two dogs born in the same neighborhood than there are in two people born worlds apart.

Genetically speaking the differences between you and anyone else on earth, fit on a floppy disc. So why do we permit ourselves the luxury of hate, why choose to wallow in fear?

I think it's because hate is easy. It's always easier to feel anger, resentment, hatred and fear than it is to find common ground, bury the hatchet and move forward.

I know I sound like a pacifist when I say these things. I'm not a pacifist. I served in the military during a time of war and I am not ashamed of my role, nor the role of any other veteran who acted in good faith believing he or she was defending something greater than themselves.

That said, I wonder at the role that war plays in the modern global stage. We have total unending war and conflict and unfortunately this is no longer serving any greater purpose than the bottom lines of the so called defense industry.

If we were to scale back our "defense" budget so we only defended our home turf, we would save literally, trillions of dollars. So why spend this money on other countries? Why not just pull back and defend the home land, if we're under invasion as the Republicans and Democrats would have you believe?

Here's a plain and simple fact. You are 10x more likely to die from a lightning strike than a terrorist act. Yet there is no war against weather and now climate science is under attack.

You're 1,000x more likely to die in a car accident, yet there is no war against car accidents and the government bodies that certify and regulate automobiles are currently facing a staffing shortage, while at the same time we have a freeze on new hires in the government.

You're 10,000x more likely to die of heart disease and/or diabetes, yet not only do we not have a war against these actual killers of tens of thousands of people each year, we've elected a government that actually campaigned on a promise to tear apart the very health system that strives to keep these things in check.

None of this makes sense to a rational mind. Thus I'm left with the sense that sometimes, things just aren't rational.

So is it any wonder then, that a President was elected who's most consistent attribute is his inconsistency. An irrational leader for a country that is at present in an irrational mood.

However I see a glimmer of hope.

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He did just defund foreign medical aide (not just abortions).
He did just bar tens of thousands of legal immigrants from entry (not Saudis though!).
He did just sign an order to build the wall between Mexico (here's a clue America, import tariffs are a thing you pay, not the other guy).
He did just sign an order allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to be built

And this list just keeps growing.

In fact, since taking office, Donald Trump has become consistent about one thing.
He's keeping his campaign promises. It's scary to me because, this is something that in my entire life I have no recollection of any elected official actually doing. I stand amazed and afraid that he is doing that.

Will he soften his stances? I seriously doubt it. Hardline populists rarely do. However there were many who voted for Trump thinking the same thing I did. He's a politician, that means you can tell he's lying because his lips are moving. This man won't do the crazy things he says, so everything will be ok.

Turns out we were wrong about that. Now we will see first hand what happens when we don't vote our conscience and instead simply choose "not to vote for that other guy/gal".

Truthfully I believe that the Trump presidency will be a disaster for America. But I also believe it will be a watershed moment for us as well. We will get to sit back and watch and see what happens when vitriol and rhetoric become the law of the land. Then we will spend years apologizing, like that guy at work who gets a little too drunk during the office Christmas party.

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How bad can it get?
Well in my case, I find myself in a country that also elected a TV star and is presently undergoing it's own crisis as a fed up populace takes to the streets to demand change. They've seized government facilities, run down the police and even assaulted a governor. Will that happen in the USA? Maybe and maybe not, it all depends on how the republicans deal with some of the crazier things Trump tries. My guess will be impeachment sometime mid term after the novelty has worn off and they are looking at losing big in the next election.

Either way, this is a recipe for revolution. The fuse is lit and revolution, while not exactly inevitable, is most certainly a big item on an ever shrinking menu.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

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