OPINION WRITERS AGREE: PRESIDENTIAL INCOMPETENCE BETTER THAN HAVING A DICTATOR

…The way our allies see the Trump administration

 

Trump doesn’t know how to be a US President, but he doesn’t seem aware that he doesn’t know…?

 

One major Washington Post opinion writer, in commenting about President Trump's ignorance, he quoted the following from the late Groucho Marx: “He may talk like an idiot and look like an idiot. But don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.”

 

The writer also asked: “How can a leader, [Trump] so enamored of authoritarianism [yet] be so allergic to order?”

 

Trump comments about his respect for the authoritarian leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, as the strong leader for Russia, is just one example of what Trump thinks all leaders of all nations should be. 

 

Going back as far as 1989, during the Chinese student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, this is what Trump is quoted as saying: “When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of real strength!"

 

I believe that when history writes the stories about President Barack Obama, I believe he will be considered as a president that was very successful in taking over a nation in serious trouble, and turning it around and giving this President Trump a great head-start when he was given the nation’s helm.

 

But all Trump does is to talk down our first Black president.  As to being a strong national leader, when comparing Obama to Putin, Trump said about Obama: “I think Putin’s been a very strong leader for Russia, he’s been a lot stronger than our leader [President Barack Obama], that I can tell you.”

 

And to prove what Donald J. Trump would like for himself as the American president, here’s what he had to say about that subject when talking about China’s leader, Xi Jinping, Trump’s comment: “He [Xi] is now president for life. Maybe [America] will have to give that a shot someday.”  Trump said it was only a joke, but most of us think he was serious.

 

The problem is that even though it’s obvious that Trump would rather be a dictator than the US President, Trump continues to show that he is incapable of even ruling his small plot of land called the White House on 18 acres of Washington DC.

 

Just look at the words that have been used to describe what has been going on in the Trump White House.  These words were not used by the political writers.  These are words that were quoted in interviews of individuals that currently work in Trump’s White House.  The words of what’s going on were: “chaos,” “tumult,” “disarray” & “pure madness.”  And with the White House policy process completely broken, staffers now seem to occupy their time with blood feuds, the leaking of events and their own legal consultations.  According to White House staff, Trump himself has been “brooding,” “isolated and angry,” & “mad as hell”, and of course, he takes this all out on his AG, Jeff Sessions and the actor, Alec Baldwin on SNL.

 

All of this turmoil is self-generated by Trump himself.  And when you look at his desire to be an authoritarian leader, all it does is make Trump look pathetic as a US president.

 

In past dictatorships, the authoritarian leaders usually pursued the writings of Karl Marx for their inspiration.  But with our leader, his actions are more in-line with the actions of the Marx Brothers.

 

Just look at the clowns that have been in high level positions that were what Trump had referred to as his bringing, “The best of the best into the White House!”  So whom did we actually get?  We got individuals such as Anthony Scaramucci, Sebastian Gorka, & Stephen Bannon.  These "best of the best" couldn’t even last one year in their positions, let alone a four year term.

 

One writer has referred to the Trump term in office as the, “Duck Dynasty Dictatorship.”  Sounds like a good description to me.

 

The Trump issue that has becomes so dangerous to our democracy is Trump’s de-legitimizing the institutions that are supposed check his power as president.  That includes both the FBI and the mainstream media.  And this is doing lasting damage to both.

 

Trump’s constant lies have unleashed irrational actions in American public life. His reliance on his conspiracy theories and on Fox News are used to promote an unrealistic allegiance that has become dangerous.

The reality is that if Trump did not have the blind support of a blind constituency, he would have no support at all.

 

As a case in point, Trump's stated rejection of due process for gun owners is a rejection of the rule of law in America.  To not allow “due process” would be a direct rejection of the US Constitution.  (More proof that he has never read the document.)

 

Trump’s approach to ruling the country reminds me of an old friend of my father’s that became somewhat senile in his later years, and that was also when he became an avid follower of the Fox News channel.

 

Trump acts just as this older man did.  Trump sits on the side lines and yells at the TV like that old Fox News follower.

 

Trump just doesn’t know how to be a US President.  But he doesn’t seem aware, or he won’t admit, that he doesn’t know.

 

The dangerous part is that few (if any) people around him seem to know any better.

Being the American president requires some specific skills. Presidents gain influence through their tools of inspiration. They gain influence through their policy innovations and legislative leadership. They gain influence through motivating the permanent bureaucracy to accept and pursue their agendas.

 

Trump has none of these skills.

 

History will remember Trump for his endless string of demeaning, incoherent and misspelled tweets that continually force us to question his stability. As a matter of policy, he has acted through his executive orders that make no sense. Rather than leading the bureaucracy, he de-populates it with more government vacancies and he sends the other bureaucrats into a total resistance mode.

 

From his executive order on migration from majority-Muslim countries, to his recent action on tariffs, Trump and his administration have not displayed even minimal proficiency in making and explaining the real basis of these presidential decisions.

 

On all issues from immigration to gun control, the president has made seemingly random and contradictory moves that show his ignorance about the basics of policy debates. This man who apparently believes in “the power of strength”, offers us a level of governmental incompetence that would be embarrassing in a high school student government.

 

Trump views the presidency only as a TV performance, and he has shown a remarkable ability to dominate the national conversation with ridiculous and trivial statements.

I guess one can say that this total presidential incompetence is preferable to having an authoritarian dictator.  But this president is demeaning America to all of our allies.

 

And this does nothing to advance the wants and needs of the people of the greatest nation on the planet.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2018