I am having difficulty knowing what to say anymore. I guess I do not really remember his first four years. It seems such a long time ago. But this time around, four years into the future seema forever. Partly, that’s because I’m 90. I may or may not last for the entire four years.
I have lived through many presidencies, beginning with FDR
and WW II. Some I really hated, --
Nixon, Reagan especially. But, now, in
comparison, those look almost benign.
Even Trump’s first term seems benign.
But now, I wonder, faced with the prospect of Kamala Harris,
an intelligent woman of some Black descent, how could they—anyone—actually vote
for Donald Trump? I can understand
someone saying, well I can’t vote for a Black woman, so I will not vote. Now, I
disagree with that decision, but I understand it. But for someone to say, I
will vote for Donald Trump, because (the reason does not matter, because no
reason justifies such a vote). Trump is
so stupid, and so awful, there simply are no valid reasons to vote for him.
And his behavior since the election justifies that reasoning.
Mainly, he seems bent on disassembling
the entire US government. He seems to
have begun with USAID. He hates Foreign Aid. Why? I guess because it involves giving away
money, mostly in the form of goods, to other, poorer countries. There are, as
it turns out, countries so poor, they cannot feed their own people, or provide
them with health care, or in fact protect their borders. So, our AID program helps them to remain
viable and assists in keeping their people alive and somewhat well. I grew to
respect USAID, I guess mainly because I worked in India, courtesy of
USAID. This was in the 1960s, when India
was just coming into its own. We were friends then (are we now?). India had one
population group every bit as well educated as were we, the foreign aid
helpers. We, the helpers, were all graduates, mainly in engineering or
business. And we formed the equivalent
of a consulting group within the Planning Commission. We carried out studies
that could advance India’s economy. But
I also grew to understand that USAID undertook many forms of assistance, from
supplying basic food and medicines, to more advanced planning enterprises.
So, Trump disassembling USAID, and thereby disengaging us
from other less fortunate countries, was simply a form of international
disengagement. But apparently Trump
viewed it simply as giving away his money.
And at one level, that is exactly what it was, as is all forms of
charity.
Trump does not see the benefit to him from helping other
countries. I assume he sees Defence as a
different matter, so were we to supply weapons and funds to another country for
Defence purposes, he might better understand and agree.
Now, his attack on the Department of Education I understand
even less. That, I assume, is governed by his religious supporters, who view
regular education as partly a form of attack on religion, to the extent that better
educated people might be less likely to support right wing religion.
But more, I think Trump prefers keeping the American population
as ignorant as possible—perhaps the better to understand and support him.
Now Trump’s selection of JFK, Jr as Health Czar is also at best
confusing. Junior is anti-vaccine and apparently anti-advanced health care. So,
health research, drug/vaccine development (see FDA, or CDC) would be
anathema. Ergo, all of the Health and
Human Services agenda would be on Trump/Junior’s kill list.
And you can keep going down the list –Environment, kill it. Anything
vaguely science, kill it. The DEI thing is less understandable. I understand that
Trump is both a racist and a misogynist, but I assume the anti-Trans/LGBTQ
thing comes from his right wing religious zealots.
I assume that research into the stars/universe might be
attractive to Musky, even if Trump has no clue. And we really have no idea who
is directing the kill/support directives—Trump or Musk. I guess
his philosophy is vaguely –if a group promises to shoot other groups that might
harm me, then that’s good. If a group promises to help others, then it depends
on how much of my finances might be affected.
Also, if I can spend taxpayer dollars to help some group that promises
to support me politically, then that’s good thing. So he isn’t actually very complicated. Now why Blacks, Hispanics, or Women support
him seems more questionable, except when they are moved by something else he is
doing (like religious right-wingers).
So, I guess, in the final analysis, if you are a religious
fanatic, a racist, or a right winger politically (you hate Russkies,
immigrants, or intellectuals) then you will likely support Trump, even though
he is an ignorant POS.
Maybe, I just need to listen to him and decide which part of
his dysfunctional brain is yakking at me.
Then I can either laugh, or shiver. In either case, whenever he opens
his mouth, my state of depression is likely to intensify. Welcome to our world.
