Ill-informed, Impetuous, Reckless: The Trump Years

Roger Simon
Mon, 16 Jan 2017 21:00:00 -0800
Opinion

Donald Trump's goal is not to damage America or our allies. But that may well be the result of his ill-informed, impetuous, reckless actions over the next four years.

What can we do about this? Our fight is not to flee to Canada or South America.
Updated: Wed Jan 18, 2017

Donald Trump's goal is not to damage America or our allies. But that may well be the result of his ill-informed, impetuous, reckless actions over the next four years.

What can we do about this? Our fight is not to flee to Canada or South America.

Our fight for the next four years is right here in the streets of America, where we can do everything legally possible to prevent Trump and his thugs from kidnapping our nation.

Why does Trump even want the presidency? Trump's golden ferret and presidential counselor, Kellyanne Conway, broke down and let the reason slip in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

The point in contention was a 35-page report of unsubstantiated allegations that Trump's campaign had contact with Russian officials during the campaign.

Cooper's interview with Conway was marked by raised voices and people talking over each other. It lacked the insincere politeness we have come to expect from TV.

Conway: Excuse me, but, Anderson, if you want me to talk — I know CNN is feeling the heat today. But I was gracious enough to come on and discuss it.

Cooper: I think you guys are feeling the heat.

Later:

Conway: CNN and BuzzFeed have a lot in common. You both were absolutely convinced and told all of your viewers that Hillary Clinton is going to win this election. And that's why—

Cooper: You can't stick to what we're talking about now?

Cooper later said, "I know you like to pivot. I get it."

And Conway later said: "Anderson, you can use words like 'pivot,' 'distract,' 'red herring' all you want. The fact is that the media have a 16 percent approval rating for a reason. It's been earned. And it's crap like this that really undergirds why Donald Trump won. In fact, you're doing him a favor again. This was an anti-elitist election. It was a rejection of everybody who thinks they know better than people."

Then came the explosion.

Conway said: "What are the standards here? ... Because I took a little peek at what the headlines about President-elect Obama were eight years ago. Whew, talk about the world's biggest disconnect. It was basically ... Should President-elect Obama go to Oslo now and pick up his Nobel Peace Prize, or should he wait until after he's sworn in? We get nothing like that. We get no forbearance. We get nothing. We get no respect. We get no deference."

There it is — not the Rodney Dangerfield-like line about getting no respect but the following line, which shows how deeply wounded the Trump people are. It's a line that shows how they have a raw, open injury that throbs and aches from the moment they wake up till the moment they go to bed:

They get no deference. None. And it tears at them.

Deference, by the way, is defined by the Microsoft dictionary as "humble submission and respect."

That is what Trump wants, our humble submission and respect. Sort of like what a dog gives his master when he comes home at night.

Or the touch of the cap the lower classes used to give the upper classes in days gone by.

Trump wants figuratively, if not literally, a nod of the head, a bend of the knee, a curtsy — a recognition that even though approximately 3 million more Americans voted for his opponent, he deserves not only our submission but our humble submission.

He feels he deserves, in other words, everything our Founding Fathers took up arms to fight; they would not humbly capitulate to King George III or to a Parliament they had no part in electing.

Leave aside, for a moment, how much deference is due to a man who admits on tape that he has been a serial molester of women. That is yesterday's news. That is news that Conway and her crew have managed to bury and keep out of the headlines (along with Trump's tax returns).

Some in the intelligence community say the evidence is solid that Russia tried to influence our most recent election. And John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, said he does not believe that Trump is "a legitimate president" because of how the Russians tried to throw the election to him.

Trump, showing his greatest skill as a propagandist, cleverly misdirected in his response: "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart. ... All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!"

It is important to keep in mind what is at stake here. As in 2001, America is about to inaugurate a president who does not reflect the will of the voters. In that sense, Trump is indeed not legitimate.

And he will learn he does not have the vast powers he imagines he possesses.

Americans should peacefully fight his actions whenever those actions will damage the United States and our allies. There should be no violence in our words, thoughts or deeds.

We do not fight against the things we hate. We fight for the things we love.

Do not hate Trump. Love America. And the next four years will fly by.

Roger Simon is Politico's chief political columnist. To find out more about Roger Simon and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.