Donald Trump sent House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the letter displayed below. It should be read, at the very least for insights into the mentality of its author.
Our comments about the letter come at the end of the display.
Our comments based on the current events in American politics and American history:
Nixon, Clinton and now Trump
First, not having interest in American politics today is impossible. There is too much history happening, the news stories about the presidency are too incredible to overlook and all that is happening in American politics is history in the making, much like that of Nixon and Clinton.
As a former teacher of history, American history, our interest in the events occuring in the US is unfathomable.
Too much smoke to not have embers of some fire
Trump seems to be a greater liar than any other politician we know or have known in the political world of the west.
New York Times author, Harry G. Frankfurt, in his bestselling book, “On Bullshit,” tries to differentiate the difference between a ‘bullshitter vs liar.’ It is not a fine line but a very clear demarcation. Frankfurt feels it is crucial to understanding the difference if one is to understand Trump, or come close to doing so.
It is impossilbe to accept or believe even an iota of what Trump claims, no matter how hard we try to cut him some slack. Every Republican supporting Trump cannot all be ‘off kilter.’ Ask yourself, if you were a Republican in the American congress with doubts about Trump’s veracity, would you dare speak out in these tumultuous times? Would you speak out against your president, your party, your political colleagues?
Outrageous beyond comprehension
There may be some validity to the question of sanity. Professionals have analyzed Trump ad nauseam but even without professional credentials, each sound bite Trump makes seems to outdo the last. Just when one believes the latest must be the last straw, the last extreme, Trump trumps it (we couldn’t resist). There seems no end to the outlandish statements Trump can make.
Behaviour beyond the normal, the average person
Trump is not average, maybe not normal. He definitely is unique and this uniqueness results in his doing things, saying things that are beyond the comfort or acceptability level of the average person.
History unfolding
The letter to Pelosi notwithstanding, the Trump saga is history in the making. No matter one’s position in relation to the man, our world has changed incredibly in the last two years. Consider these seismic shifts in politics, in society and to the values and principles to which we once steadfastly adhered:
- American politics has become incredibly vitriolic and hate-filled
- Society and social norms are radically different and polarized
- American political passions and intensity may never have been higher
- No authority is beyond question or secure in its position
- Faith and credibility of news reporting has been completely destroyed
- Social skepticism of everything is boundless and universal
- Compromise, middle ground, and negotiation have been replaced by arrogance, aggression and the autocracy of self
- Conflict and contradiction trump compromise and cooperation
- Bullying has become a new social norm
The list of how society as eroded and descended from the past’s accepted social behaviours is astounding. The president is mocked and ridiculed openly in the media. It’s a golden age for comedians on every stage.
This decline and descent into an abyss of hate, aggression and demagoguery must be stopped. Reversed would be better, but the genie has been released.
History is still unfolding
Trump becoming president was incredible, at the very least. Perhaps he will be removed from office by the same inexplicable dynamics of fate.
And then Pence!
