To start this short essay, I should make it clear that I am neither a supporter nor detractor of Mr. Trump. He won the election for president fair and square. He did strike a chord with a significant minority of Americans. If Mr. Trump had lost, the needs of these people would have still needed to be dealt with. They are a sizeable social and political force and should not be ignored.
What we saw in his personal/public life and the campaign trail is what we are seeing in the White House today. In this way, Mr. Trump is one of the more honest politicians I have seen.
And the Democrat Party put their sure 2016 presidential win into a coin flip toss and lost the coin flip. They have themselves to blame.
Mr. Trump should be allowed to govern as per the laws of the United States. And if that includes signing executive orders because Congress has not been able to do much in the past 20 years, so be it.
But these same laws allow for a vibrant opposition and media, which are salient features of all western democracies. Elected politicians always face a lot of criticism for what they are doing or want to do. If someone runs for public office and wins, that person should expect a lot of resistance as they go about trying to change the world in the way they think it should be changed. History has shown us that some politicians are more skillful than others to make changes in face of immense opposition.
Mr. Trump has given lots of indication that he doesn’t like the opposition. He doesn’t seem to understand that opposition is a necessary cornerstone of western democracy to shape public policy for the better. He doesn’t understand that it is his job to figure out how to best deal with it. But I don’t think anyone should be surprised by his lack of skills in this regard. Yet he did get 62m votes in the last election.
But what about his supporters? Many of them were active opposers to Mr. Obama in his eight-year tenure. Why is it that the Obama opposers should be allowed to oppose Mr. Obama, yet call Trump opposers as impediments to moving USA in a better direction?
Here is where the paradox gets bigger. If opposition to Mr. Trump is regarded is an impediment, then logic says it should be removed. Media outlets such as CNN and Washington Post should be shut down, as they are obviously propagating fake news. Because high ranking members of the Democratic Party are so inept, so corrupt, so obstructionist, yet still so ambitious for more power, they should be regarded as traitors and put into jail for treason. To make sure traitorous acts don’t happen again, the Democratic Party should be shut down and its assets confiscated. Anyone trying to make donation to any other upstart party should face legal consequences for supporting future traitors. The party of Mr. Trump is all the USA needs. Hence, a one-party state is totally justified.
If Mr. Trump is all the USA needs, let’s do away with Congress and all those elections. Let’s make Mr. Trump president for life. Before he passes away or steps down, he will name his successor. And we should all bow to his wisdom of naming the right successor. And that successor will name his/her own successor. We just don’t need elections any more.
Mr. Trump won the election fair and square. He should be allowed to govern. But part of his job is dealing with the opposition, just like all politicians before him. To imply that he is above this feature of western democracy means that we really don’t need western democracy. And I believe many of his supporters would prefer a Trump monarchy to the current American democracy.
Published in debatepolitics.com in 2017.
Building a Wiser Kinder Democracy
