CROSSROADS

I was born into Depression-like poverty in a coal-mining town in Eastern Kentucky during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. My family was the best. My parents grew up during the Great-Depression and, like all of that generation, their lives were molded by it. My brothers and sisters were the most loving, decent, hard-working people I ever met in my life. In that life, like many Americans, I’ve experienced despair, hardship, and unspeakable grief. Those things are part of life. As Jefferson said, “the art of life is the art of avoiding pain” and “he is the best pilot who steers clearest of the rocks and shoals with which it is beset.” Fortunately, success and happiness also ventured into my life. Like many Americans, family, an ethic of hard work, and perseverance have always been the foundations of anything good that ever came my way. Make no mistake, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

We all reach a point in our lives when we know that the days behind us out-number the days ahead. I’m years past that day, closer, in fact, to shuffling off this mortal coil. Once we get to that place, some of us become increasingly mindful of the future fates of those we care about. A few months ago, I became a great-grandfather. Although I have no memory of either of my great-grandfathers, I hope I’ll be around long enough to give my great-grandson something at least to remember me by. Ever since his birth, I’ve found myself ruminating about the world through which he’ll make his way, and I’m pretty disgusted at it.

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As my wife puts it, I’m not an ebullient, i.e., cheerful, person. I’m a pragmatist, fairly proficient at compartmentalizing all that comes my way. At 62, as my Mom would have said, I’m “set in my ways.” I don’t know, maybe that’s what allows me to think critically, be calm in a crisis, and show patience. I’m running out of the latter, at this point.

Something different and bad.

For a few weeks now, I’ve been considering writing something about the upcoming election. Once upon a time, I was very engaged politically. I worked ran dozens of political campaigns. I led a party. I ran for office, as an Independent. But it’s been over ten years since my last real foray into politics. Now, whenever I write, it’s usually about growing up in the 1960s and 70s and my family. That’s what I enjoy, writing about the people, places, and things that have mattered most to me. I really don’t enjoy politics anymore. I suppose it has something to do with how everything political has devolved from a good ole hard-fought debate into . . . well, something different . . . and bad.

I can argue with anyone all day long about history, ideology and policy, but these days, you can’t have a disagreement about any of that without someone calling you bad names, putting you down, or even threatening you or your family. Trust me. I’ve experienced all of that. It’s shameful. This horrible incivility is so prevalent in society now that it is akin to a disease and it continues to spread. Unless we stop this . . . disease, my grandkids and 5-month old great-grandson – and their respective generations – will all become victims of it, growing up in an America overcome with bullying, hatefulness, meanspiritedness, or similar behavior.

Stand Up for What Is Right.

As I pondered what to write, I was reminded of a speech by Will McAvoy, a fictional TV news anchor played by Jeff Daniel’s in June 2012. On “The Newsroom,” McAvoy was asked by a college student to explain why America is the greatest country in the world. To a surprised audience, he boldly said it’s not. He explained that America was no longer a world leader in many areas, lamenting that it used to be, not so long ago, “the greatest country in the world”:

“We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered.”

We could be a great country again. If so, I’m certain it won’t have anything to do with Donald J. Trump. The downfall of American civility and personal integrity can be traced to June 2015, when Trump slowly descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for President. America has not been the same since. Trump’s Make America Great Again mantra conjures images of military parades, civilian salutes, and similar symbols of past and present authoritarian regimes. It’s as if he infected millions of Americans with a disease – and here we are, nine years later, tumbling toward an American Armageddon, pitting brother against brother, sister against sister, and so on. On November 5, we have an opportunity to put a stop to that disease. Our decisions will likely not only decide the future fate of my great-grandson and his generation, but also of an American republic that has withstood 248 years of wars and threats, from within and beyond.

A Question of Character.

More than anything, it’s about character. Character has never mattered more than it does at this moment. Surely, temperament, knowledge, and integrity inevitably shape a person’s conduct. Good character also cultivates courage, self-control, wisdom and justice. He may have and be many things, but Trump is devoid of good character. For that reason alone, he is as unfit to be President as any person to run in our long history.

It’s not rocket science to say that you can gauge what someone will do in the future based on what he has done in the past. It’s easy to apply that rule here. As a candidate, Trump lied constantly. As President, he did the same. Washington Post fact-checkers determined that Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as President – an average of 21 a day. Out of office, and again as a candidate, nothing changed. And this, we all know, is just the tip of an enormous iceberg.

There are far too many lies, failures, crimes, and other misdeeds associated with Trump – in and out of office – to address here, and I’m sure not going to try. Most of them have been covered elsewhere anyway, and by better writers than me. My focus is on Trump’s character and how it has poisoned America. Fortunately, an antidote is within sight. At 248 years old, we’re at a crossroads, and the election on November 5 may decide our fate. Hopefully, enough Americans who once supported Trump will do their part and put down the disease Trump inflicted on us all.

One thing cannot be disputed: since he arrived on the national scene in 2015, Trump has twisted and degraded political debate in this country. By any account, incivility reigns in America. Nine years later, we all know what to expect from Trump. Time and time again, he directly contradicts himself and then denies having done so, despite video evidence that proves otherwise. He is filled with exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a complete lack of empathy. Why would anyone admire or look up to him?

Why, for that matter, would any of us go along with Trump? He calls America a “garbage can,” refers to immigrants, refugees, and political opponents as “scum” or “vermin,” and views American veterans who died or became POWs as “losers.” He mocks the disabled, bullies the weak, and generally treats women as if they’re pieces of meat. None of this is new. And it wasn’t new in 2016. Trump has a long history of criminal, corrupt and unethical behavior, going back to his days in real estate.

From what I have seen lately, even his most loyal supporters won’t vouch for his integrity and character anymore. Yet, roughly half of American voters will wind up voting for him. Millions have already done so. With a week to go before Election Day, Harris and Trump are essentially tied in national polls. How is this possible? Does character not matter anymore?

John McCain and Integrity.

All of this makes me think of John McCain, a Naval aviator during the Vietnam War. After he was shot down in Vietnam, McCain was captured, tortured and held captive for five years. He was given the opportunity by his captors to be set free because of his father’s military status as an officer. McCain declined, refusing to be put above his fellow POWs and chose instead to remain imprisoned. Approximately forty years later, during the 2008 presidential campaign between Obama and McCain, McCain did it again. At a town hall style campaign event, a woman stood and parroted lies she had heard during the campaign. She was very afraid that Obama would ruin the country because “you know, he’s an Arab and a Muslim!” McCain held up his hand and stopped her. “No! No, ma’am. That’s not true! He’s an American! And a Christian. He’s a good man. A loving husband and a good father. We just have different opinions about politics. That’s all.”

That’s character. That’s integrity. I never voted for McCain, but I respected him. It’s easy to imagine Trump in both scenarios, saving himself in the first instance and fanning the flames of xenophobia in the second.

In contrast, when McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three different sources with direct knowledge of this event, “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral.” Trump became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff, and shouted, “What the f**k are we doing that for? Guy was a f***ing loser.” Character matters. McCain had it. Trump couldn’t buy it with all his billions and Musk’s as well.

“Hitler Did Some Good Things”

Trump sees himself as a dictator. Frankly, the similarities between Trump’s language and that used by Hitler are too obvious to ignore. Worse, Trump appears not to mind the comparison. Otherwise, he would not keep using Hitler-like language. At one rally, Trump echoed Hitler, saying he wanted to cleanse America of “vermin,” referring to immigrants, refugees and political opponents. “Vermin” was frequently used effectively by Hitler to dehumanize people and encourage his followers to engage in violence. In an interview with the far-right website The National Pulse, Trump said that immigration is “a very sad thing for our country; it’s poisoning the blood of our country.” The “poisoning” comment is a straight-up white supremacist/neo-Nazi talking point. More recently, General John Kelly, Trump’s White House chief of staff, reported that Trump told him that “Hitler did some good things” and that he “needs the kind of generals that Hitler had.”

That’s What Friends Are For.

In fairness, there may be some truth to the point that many who supported Trump in 2016 might not have known what a horrible person he is and what a horrible decision they were making at the time. The same cannot be said for those who continued to support him in 2020 and support him now. None of the well-reported lies appear to matter much to Trump’s supporters.

What if the folks who worked closest to Trump during his White House years decided to risk their own careers and livelihoods and come forward to say whether he should be trusted? Would that make a difference to Trump supporters? No fewer than 91 people who served with Trump in the White House or were members of his own party have come forward to publicly state that Trump lacks the character and fitness to serve as President. A few are worth mentioning. Mark Milley, retired 4-star general of the US Army and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump.” Trump’s former White House chief of staff, General John Kelly, stated that “the depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. . . . He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.” Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump supporter, referred to him as “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a current candidate for US Senate, said Trump is “toxic . . . for the country.” Other prominent Republican senators have called him “a con artist” and “a phony, a fraud.”

Apparently, by all accounts, none of this has moved Trump supporters to re-evaluate their allegiance to him.

Suckers and Losers.

What about Trump’s disdain for America’s war veterans? Millions of American families have loved ones who served in the Armed Forces and became casualties of war. For years, Trump has repeatedly disrespected and dishonored the memories of fallen, wounded, and captured veterans. General Kelly, a retired Marine 4-star general and Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, whose son was killed while serving in Afghanistan, described Trump as a “person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’” and “rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.” Unlike most of Trump’s rants, I take this one personally. My brother was in the 101st Airborne. My dad was a 100% disabled World War II veteran of the US Navy. My uncle was an Army medic who was killed on a beach at Okinawa in the final days of WWII. My great-great grandfather was a POW. To Trump, who famously received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, they were all “losers.”

Surely, Trump’s callousness on this point offended American veterans and their families who have supported Trump in the past, right? It appears not, as one veteran after another appears on Trump television ads and at rallies proclaiming their support of him.

Trump the Anointed.

It also shocks me to hear people use religion as a basis for supporting Trump, who once touted himself as having been anointed by Jesus Christ to Make America Great Again. I’m not a biblical scholar, but that alone seems blasphemous to me. Seriously, nothing about Trump appears Christ-like. His actions stand in contrast to innumerable biblical teachings, such as those calling for humility, service, care for the poor, and the rejection of idolatry, pride, and self-interest. Support for Trump doesn’t come from a rational place, much less a Christian one. After all, we’ve been pointing out how unchristian he is since the Access Hollywood “grab them by the pussy” tape came out. By all accounts though, his supporters are unconvinced. It’s sad that well-constructed Christian arguments against Trump have no effect on them. Yet, many conservatives and evangelical Christians ostensibly rejected Bill Clinton’s candidacy twice on moral grounds.

Bringing Hatred to a Boil.

For nine years, Trump and his supporters have effectively normalized dishonesty, bullying, mocking, ridiculing, racism, anti-semitism and misogyny. Together, they are accountable for the complete loss of civility in every facet of American life and for making character and integrity irrelevant in politics and in our culture. You’d think they’d want to do something about that.

Do Trump’s supporters really believe all this is okay or do they have collective amnesia, forgetting Trump’s bad character and the chaos of Trump’s presidency, including the Covid-19 pandemic that Trump refused to acknowledge or act on for months, leading to so many deaths. Trump would have been a footnote in history if Republicans had chosen someone more qualified in 2016. Instead, Trump seized on the simmering hatred of a significant part of the electorate and brought it – and the country – to a boil. Worse still, some of his supporters feed off of his immorality. To me, the strongest argument against another Trump Presidency is not that he is despicable, but that he brings out the absolute worst in many of us – supporters and critics alike.

A couple of examples. I recall a conversation with one of my sisters back in 2020 as Biden challenged Trump. My sister is probably the sweetest person you could ever know. Generous to a fault. She has never, to my knowledge, turned away anyone in need. She had stopped at a restaurant to pick up something for dinner. As she waited, a man entered the restaurant and began arguing with patrons about the election. He was a Trump supporter. My sister was so terrified that he was going to turn violent that she left. This was hardly an aberration. A few months ago, as my wife was driving home from a medical appointment in Nashville in my car, which had a Biden sticker on the back, a large pickup pulled beside her in the middle lane of I-40, in heavy traffic. A man, probably in his mid to late 30’s, stuck his head out of the driver’s side window and started blowing his horn and screaming at her, “F**k Biden! F**k Biden!” He kept doing this for miles. It wasn’t Trump who terrorized my sister and others in that restaurant or who chased my wife down I-40.

Accountability for What Happens Next.

If you’re a Trump supporter and you help put him back into office, you are accountable for whatever happens next. The signs are there. The knowledge is there. Were Hitler’s supporters in any way responsible for Nazi atrocities? History lays that question to rest. After all, Hitler attained the influence to become Germany’s Chancellor via public support in the 1932 German elections. Until May 1945, hundreds of thousands of German citizens actively participated in carrying out Hitler’s Final Solution. From railway workers who had a role in transporting Jews, their belongings, and their corpses for disposal, to German neighbors of displaced Jews, who purchased their homes and furnishings at auction, all shared some responsibility for Nazi war crimes.

Here, we all know what Trump has done. And we’ve all heard what he says he’s going to do. That’s bad enough. Do you really want to give him license to make you complicit in whatever he has in store for the country?

Not a Brilliant Mind.

While my focus has been on Trump’s character and his unfitness for office, Trump supporters who claim to support him based on his business chops or on policy grounds are no less misguided than those who support him for less ideological reasons. Trump’s more discerning supporters, i.e., those who realize supporting him might undermine their reputations, vow to support Trump for policy reasons, overlooking his character. As one man put it, “Trump may be a horrible person, but he’s a brilliant businessman and his policies are good for the economy.”

What? Newton, Edison, da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo were brilliant. Lincoln, Hamilton, Jefferson and Franklin were brilliant. Trump? For the life of me, I cannot understand why so many Trump supporters admire him for his so-called business success. He bankrupted six businesses. Brilliant? He proposed using a nuclear weapon on a hurricane and said that if Californian forest rangers raked leaves it would decrease forest fires by “a tremendous amount.” More than that, most historians agree that Trump is easily one of the three worst Presidents in American history, with his only competition being James Buchanan, who led the country into Civil War, and Andrew Johnson, who, by many accounts, was the most incompetent man ever to serve in the office.

It’s the Economy, Stupid.

Trump will be good for the economy, huh? Some awfully smart folks – 23 Nobel Prize-winning economists – recently signed a letter that called Harris’ economic agenda “vastly superior” to Trump’s. Would you really trust him to run your household, much less a country of 330 million souls with a $7 trillion budget? Besides, Trump presided over a net loss of 2.9 million American jobs – the worst recorded jobs numbers of any U.S. president in history.

Nearly four years after his exit from office, The Economist – a newspaper known for having little reporting bias – recently reported that “the American economy has left other rich countries in the dust.” In fact, America’s real growth since 2020 has been three times the average for the rest of the G-7 countries. Among the G-20 group, which includes large emerging markets, America is the only one whose output and employment are currently above pre-pandemic expectations, according to the IMF. In short, the US economy is strong. Inflation has declined in response to the Federal Reserve’s actions and the economy is benefitting from a boom in factory construction. What’s more, a month ago, the US added a staggering 254,000 jobs, blowing past economists’ expectations, while the unemployment rate ticked lower to 4.1%.

Better Off Now.

Back in the Spring, Trump posted: “ARE YOU BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE FOUR YEARS AGO?” Easy enough, right? Four years earlier, the Covid-19 pandemic was raging, the economy was cratering, deaths were mounting in every state, and anxiety across the country was at a fever pitch. Trump – with the full power of the Presidency in his hands – responded erratically, downplaying the threat, pushing conspiracy theories, and undermining scientific officials and public health recommendations. In his last year in office, more than 450,000 Americans died of Covid, at a rate that was 40% higher than the death rates in similar countries. Many of those US deaths could have been averted had Trump handled the crisis responsibly. Trump’s failed pandemic response is estimated to have led to hundreds of thousands of needless deaths. By the time Trump left office, roughly 3,000 Americans were dying of Covid every day. That’s a 9/11-scale mass casualty event every single day.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

One of the most quoted sentences ever written by a philosopher is George Santayana’s observation that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” These words serve as a dire warning to Americans ahead of the election. Historians agree that Trump is easily the most corrupt and immoral president in history. When Nixon, Harding, and Andrew Johnson are among your crowd, that’s saying something.

Trump hopes voters will choose not to recall the Covid horror of 2020 and his record. There is actually a basis for that. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine discussed the “collective inability among many people in the United States to remember and mourn what was endured during the pandemic,” i.e., a collective amnesia. That may explain why half of those polled last Spring said they were no better off than they had been “at the height of the deadliest epidemic in the country’s history.” The authors likened the finding to studies that found many post-World War II Germans “had seemingly lost the ability to acknowledge the atrocities” perpetrated by Hitler.

And so, while Trump’s fate depends on the willingness of tens of millions of voters to forget what Trump did in the past, the fate of America depends on those same voters forcing themselves to remember all of that. If you’re a Trump supporter and your conscience is causing you to check yourself, think about whether you and America are better off now than you were four years ago. To do that, you might have to remember some horrible truths. It’s like having suffered a trauma and not wanting to recall it because of how it will make you feel in that moment. Still, you owe it to yourself and the children of America to do it.

Let’s Do This, Not That.

Folks, I’m so tired of incivility and hatefulness. Let’s stand up for what’s right, fight for moral reasons and pass and strike down laws for moral reasons. Let’s wage war on poverty, not poor people, and on cancer, not the weak and powerless. Let’s have the courage to make sacrifices, care for our neighbors, put our money where our mouths are, and not beat our chest about it. Let’s build great things, make other-worldly technological advances, explore the universe, and cure diseases. Let’s do all of that, but let’s not do all of this any longer.