by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Donald Trump likes to use race to stir passions and divide Americans, whether that is through his support of hate groups here in the United States who routinely attempt to marginalize or terrorize people of color, or through the establishment and enforcement of racist immigration policies which target groups of people trying to enter the United States who do not resemble Americans of northern European heritage.
Trump wanted to make it simple for Bubba to understand: if they don't look like you, they're bad people.
And he holds hate rallies, and issues travel bans, and builds walls - and never lets Bubba and the good old boys forget that he is just like them - white - and he loves his guns (or at least his golf clubs), God (or at least money), and fried food.
Some politicians strive to present themselves as the common man, but that image has never appealed to Donald Trump. He is not common, nor was he raised to be lost among the masses. Donald Trump is special. His parents told him that early on - when they bothered to tell him anything at all - and he grew up secure in the knowledge that he was entitled, privileged, and better than everyone else.
Donald Trump lives in a fantasy land. He has convinced himself that he is an extraordinary human being, and he has spread the image to a culturally and economically impoverished American subculture who struggle through each day in the false belief that Trump appreciates and respects them - and that they are just one winning lottery ticket away from being his complete social equal.
But for Trump to maintain his illusion of grandeur he must constantly be concerned with keeping up appearances - maintaining the optics of grandeur. It is important to Donald Trump that he live in a penthouse atop a skyscraper that bears his name, that he empty his bowels into a golden toilet, and that when he descends from his high abode to walk among mortals that it be on a grand escalator - like Jesus coming down from Heaven.
Donald Trump will not wear a face mask because to do so would make him ordinary, one of the common people whose health and safety depend on covering their faces. Donald Trump has to show his special face - it's good optics - and it's necessary to maintain his distinct presence above the masses of common people.
Donald Trump had a chat with the nation a few days ago from the Lincoln Memorial. He could have spoken from the White House press briefing room, or from the Oval Office, or from the Rose Garden, but he chose to be seated next to a gigantic statue of Lincoln to remind America that like Lincoln, he too is a great and revered American leader. Optics. Trump wanted to be seen with Lincoln, two American leaders struggling to hold a nation together during a time of crisis.
Donald Trump wanted his name and signature to be on every stimulus check going out to every eligible American, and he wanted his name and signature on a letter to every American whose stimulus checks were direct-deposited into their banks. He wanted - demanded - that every American who received this bit of good news from the government see his name and signature so that they would associate that good news with him. Yes, it was a cheesy election stunt, but it was also part of the Trump illusion, the one that places him above everyone else, the one that he has maintained and reinforced since he was a child in Queens.
While a real leader, someone like Justin Trudeau of Canada or Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand or Angela Merkel of Germany, would be focused on protecting the citizens of their countries from a killer virus, and with consoling the families and friends of those stricken with the killer disease, those are not concerns shared by Donald Trump. Our "leader" is laser-focused on his "ratings," and devotes large amounts of time to plotting revenge against government officials who disagree with him and journalists who share stories that cast him in an unfavorable light.
True leaders worry about the health and safety of their people, for them it's about others. Donald Trump frets over his image, and for him it is all about himself.
At a time when the United States of America desperately needs an inspirational leader, we are stuck with Donald John Trump. November can't come quickly enough!
Citizen Journalist
Donald Trump likes to use race to stir passions and divide Americans, whether that is through his support of hate groups here in the United States who routinely attempt to marginalize or terrorize people of color, or through the establishment and enforcement of racist immigration policies which target groups of people trying to enter the United States who do not resemble Americans of northern European heritage.
Trump wanted to make it simple for Bubba to understand: if they don't look like you, they're bad people.
And he holds hate rallies, and issues travel bans, and builds walls - and never lets Bubba and the good old boys forget that he is just like them - white - and he loves his guns (or at least his golf clubs), God (or at least money), and fried food.
Some politicians strive to present themselves as the common man, but that image has never appealed to Donald Trump. He is not common, nor was he raised to be lost among the masses. Donald Trump is special. His parents told him that early on - when they bothered to tell him anything at all - and he grew up secure in the knowledge that he was entitled, privileged, and better than everyone else.
Donald Trump lives in a fantasy land. He has convinced himself that he is an extraordinary human being, and he has spread the image to a culturally and economically impoverished American subculture who struggle through each day in the false belief that Trump appreciates and respects them - and that they are just one winning lottery ticket away from being his complete social equal.
But for Trump to maintain his illusion of grandeur he must constantly be concerned with keeping up appearances - maintaining the optics of grandeur. It is important to Donald Trump that he live in a penthouse atop a skyscraper that bears his name, that he empty his bowels into a golden toilet, and that when he descends from his high abode to walk among mortals that it be on a grand escalator - like Jesus coming down from Heaven.
Donald Trump will not wear a face mask because to do so would make him ordinary, one of the common people whose health and safety depend on covering their faces. Donald Trump has to show his special face - it's good optics - and it's necessary to maintain his distinct presence above the masses of common people.
Donald Trump had a chat with the nation a few days ago from the Lincoln Memorial. He could have spoken from the White House press briefing room, or from the Oval Office, or from the Rose Garden, but he chose to be seated next to a gigantic statue of Lincoln to remind America that like Lincoln, he too is a great and revered American leader. Optics. Trump wanted to be seen with Lincoln, two American leaders struggling to hold a nation together during a time of crisis.
Donald Trump wanted his name and signature to be on every stimulus check going out to every eligible American, and he wanted his name and signature on a letter to every American whose stimulus checks were direct-deposited into their banks. He wanted - demanded - that every American who received this bit of good news from the government see his name and signature so that they would associate that good news with him. Yes, it was a cheesy election stunt, but it was also part of the Trump illusion, the one that places him above everyone else, the one that he has maintained and reinforced since he was a child in Queens.
While a real leader, someone like Justin Trudeau of Canada or Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand or Angela Merkel of Germany, would be focused on protecting the citizens of their countries from a killer virus, and with consoling the families and friends of those stricken with the killer disease, those are not concerns shared by Donald Trump. Our "leader" is laser-focused on his "ratings," and devotes large amounts of time to plotting revenge against government officials who disagree with him and journalists who share stories that cast him in an unfavorable light.
True leaders worry about the health and safety of their people, for them it's about others. Donald Trump frets over his image, and for him it is all about himself.
At a time when the United States of America desperately needs an inspirational leader, we are stuck with Donald John Trump. November can't come quickly enough!
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