The following guest post is from my dear friend Wally Welch. In it, he compares and contrasts former President Jimmy Carter (a personal hero of mine who is battling brain cancer) and Donald Trump (not a hero of mine who is battling xenophobia, racism, and sexism.)
Enjoy
Jimmy Carter, 91, in typically cheerful, humble, and matter-of-fact fashion, recently announced he is battling cancer. At the same time, Donald Trump, the newly discovered darling of the GOP, bragged about his wealth, promised a beautiful wall to take the place of Lady Liberty (at no cost to taxpayers), and implied the 14th Amendment to the Constitution is ‘stupid’.
What are we to make of this? Aren’t Republicans all about small government, faith-based leadership, the virtues of traditional families, small business ethics, a U.S. Constitution handed down by God? How can they hate the one President in our lifetime that best espouses these ideals while loving the candidate who has no military or government experience and is mainly known as a celebrity (sometime referred to as ‘Hollywood elite’)?
Here is what may be going on in the minds of republicans who flock to Trump:
- The GOP wants a winner. Carter was a loser. Trump is a multi-billionaire. Trump followers want to be billionaires, and maybe he’ll rub off on them.
- Trump can’t be bought, because he does not need the money. That’s why he says what he thinks, not what donors want hear. He talks like ‘one of us’.
- Trump is the smartest guy in the room (just ask him). He should be negotiating for America.
All these reasons are understandable. The trouble is, none of them has anything to do with the supposed principles of the GOP. And the traits which Jimmy Carter embodied, namely: rural background, actual military and public service, honest faith –- none of these are really of any importance when it comes to who the GOP thinks should be the leader of all of us.
For those of us who want pick a leader based on actual reality, Trump has provided some important clues as to what he might do. Certainly, he has said very little and his record is zero. So what can we expect in the way of policies and actions, based upon what Trump has said? Here are headlines you might read after President Donald Trump is inaugurated.
- All State Department personnel will be fired and replaced by Wharton graduates.
- Any Wharton graduates that are still not working in government will be appointed to the Supreme Court.
- The secret plan to wipe out ISIS will involve Miss USA candidates trained in covert operations as Navy Seals.
- The bridges and highways that make up our crumbling infrastructure will be rebuilt and paid for by Canadians. After all, most of the bad winter weather we have comes from there, and they are always driving back and forth to Florida. If that is not enough, Canadians should pay because: NAFTA.
- The annual State of Union address will be replaced by a reality TV show entitled “Make Congress Great Again”, where political allies and enemies are promoted and fired.
- The stars and stripes will be replaced by just TRUMP.
- Iranians will voluntarily re-return $100 billion of seized assets returned to them by the nuclear agreement because, hey, there is a Wharton graduate running the State Department.
- Putin will be pushed out Ukraine by 11 million formerly undocumented Mexicans drafted into the Marines.
- The Keystone XL Pipeline, rendered useless by low oil prices, will be converted to a water park and redirected to California.
Hopefully, Jimmy Carter will be spared having to see his country experience the spectacle of President Trump.
