It isn’t his character that is on the line: It’s our character
Last night we witnessed something literally incomprehensible: the near final, complete dissolution of respect for the Office of President of the United States by the very man who currently holds that title. Down in the polls, many pundits expected Donald Trump to come out on the attack, and I expected lies and smears to come from him this has been his pattern during his entire presidency, afterall, but I did not expect him to literally try to keep talking the entire debate. He came out beyond aggressive, and definitely put on display his tendencies to react, to fight tooth and nail to get in the last word every time, and have absolutely no respect for rules of the debate, to which his team a priori had agreed. He didn’t limit his interruptions to his contestant, but did the exact same think to the moderator, Chris Wallace, interrupting him during questioning and not letting Wallace get the last word in. He showed a complete lack of respect for the other people on the stage. This behavior was all about focusing the spotlight directly on him, for the entire 90 minutes of the debate.
Many have litigated the 2016 election, trying to understand how we got to this point where this man is our president. I am not going to do that here. Frankly I just can’t do that here. I don’t have the time or energy to relitigate the past. But since Trump has been in office, he has desecrated the Office of the Presidency, and after his more level headed advisors left his cabinet, and then after the impeachment hearings, when most Senate Republicans essentially gave him a free pass on his prior behavior, he has only been more emboldened to continue to act in his own interests over the interest of the United States of America.
Five crucial current events highlight his narcissistic and incompetent ways.
1. Handling of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Donald Trump’s claims of saving millions of lives by closing down the borders from China does not hold water, especially since he squandered any time he gained through this measure. Furthermore it did nothing to stop the New York outbreak, which mainly came from Europe. As the United States as Trump’s corrupt response to the pandemic has categorically failed. Here is a good, brief summary of this in Nature. Recently we learned from the Woodward recordings that Trump intentionally lied to the American people when he knew how contagious and how deadly this virus was. His inaction (even worse: his perpetuating anti-mask messaging and attacking social distancing) hits home as I have had friends and colleagues on the front lines get sick from this disease, and I have been at the bedside literally seeing people die from this disease. He has put my life in danger and my friends lives in danger. Although he does not take responsibility, he is 100% responsible.
2. From “Law and Order” dogwhistles to a white supremacy bullhorn. After the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and others, I participated in White Coats for Black Lives and have been taking in as much information I can to better understand racial injustice — not only in policing but in the systemic racism throughout our society. Along this journey I watched Ava DuVernay’s documentary, 13th, which explores the history of racial inequality in the United States prior to, and especially after the 13th Amendment — Neither slavery nor servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Since watching that film, I cannot but hear racist dogwhistles when Donald Trump yells or tweets “Law and Order.” We are at a moment in our history where we need real dialogue, and need to address these atrocities that keep happening to African Americans in this country, where we need to not only say Black Lives Matter, but address ways to show we are ready for necessary change. The current president has no interest in doing anything but keeping us divided, yelling at each other, rather than working to heal our country. His narcissism means he has absolutely no empathy, and thus no interest in helping us heal. Furthermore, when he was given the opportunity to denounce white supremacy last night, he did not do it. In fact he told an extremist hate group, which I will not dignify with naming in this post, to “stand back and stand by,” to the delight to the group’s members, as judged by their social media posts.
3. Inaction on climate change and wildfires. Our Western states are literally burning, and we are facing the hottest temperatures ever on earth, but after weeks of silence about the California wildfires, the president continues to reject science.
4. Lying about his income taxes. Recently the New York Times finally broke the news that Donald Trump has paid very little in income taxes ($750 in 2016 and 2017) and that he has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due. The vast amount of this debt not only puts him at risk, but puts our country at risk, and this risk it the consequence of him not having disclosed his tax returns. This should have been required by the GOP before he ran for office, but it was not. And now we literally are at risk of his decision making being even more impacted by his personally dire financial interest.
5. Attacking the legitimacy of the current election. Trailing in the polls, we see a man now desperate to win at all costs, and to do this he has resorted to literally attacking the foundation of our democracy: by trying to delegitimize the election itself. Watch his actions and listen to him closely, people: Seeing the writing on the wall he is already working on a Plan B to stay in power by any means necessary. If we allow that to happen, our country will never recover.
The atrocities of the current incumbent are mind-numbing, and if you’re interested you can see a summary by McSweeney’s Internet Tendency here, but what this all comes down to is not Trump and his character. This is already well-defined and it will not change (except, perhaps, for the worse). In fact, what this all comes down to is us. You and me. It is our character on the line. If we vote for another four years of Trump, or choose not to vote, we are sanctioning this continued behavior, and putting our country in danger. Will we stand up and show up and do what we need to do not just for ourselves, but for our families, friends, communities, and our country? At this very moment of one of the greatest challenges to our country, will we stand and fight by exercising our right to vote? And then getting as many people as possible to exercise their right as well?
We need to vote as if our lives depend on it, because they do, as does the legacy of the United States. It is a huge responsibility but only by voting in overwhelming numbers will we do everything possible to ensure that our country survives this massive threat from within. And once we do, when we turn this tide, we can then take the next steps, restore civility, democracy, and help our nation heal. But it starts with each one of us.
Please make a plan to vote and get this done. For information on how to vote, check out http://vote.org.