The responses to the two summit meetings involving our
erstwhile President have been legion, both on the news channels and feeds and
on social media. I made a Facebook post entitled “Every Picture Tells a Story, Don’t It?” a nod to a famous Rod Stewart line, without further comment.
Although this steps a bit close to my self-proclaimed FB boundary of commenting
on neither politics nor religion, I thought the title to be essentially
non-partisan.
Well, was I in for an awakening!
Of all the Orwellian events and quotes of the last week,
nothing struck me harder or made me sadder that the radically different
interpretations on both the photo that I posted and the press coverage of the
North Korea summit by both the supporters and opponents of our fearless leader.
Actually, “Orwellian” likely does a disservice to old George. We know that 1984
has come and gone when we read the post-Orwellian quotes and tweets from Mr.
Trump. Who could have possibly imagined in their most intense fever dream that
the president of the Untied States would call the leader of our closest ally,
with whom he had previously gotten along bromantically, “very dishonest and weak,” and then two days
later praise Mr. Kim, an international criminal and cold-blooded murderer that
Trump has previously directly threatened with nuclear annihilation, by calling
him “very smart,” “a very talented man,” and “a very good negotiator?” And the
one that would be hilarious if it wasn’t so frightening: “I trust him. I really
do.” At one point he even said M. Kim could be “very funny.” You can’t make
this stuff up. A quick look at Mr. Kim’s record of brutality towards his own
people will not conjure the word “funny” for many people.
But this frankly unbelievable behavior has been
dissected and analyzed by far more talented pundits than I. The absolutely
shocking treatment of our G7 partners and the even more unbelievable praise for
Mr. Kim has been and will be denounced
by all but the Fox news nutjobs. What makes me crazy and dispirited at the same
time is how people on both sides of American “politics” have interpreted the
events of both summits. The picture of German chancellor Angela Merkel leaning
on a table and staring down at a seated and arms-crossed Trump was seen by
almost everyone I know as one strong leader (Merkel) making a point directly
aimed at another leader who looked petulant and even childish. There were literally
thousands of comments on social media, initially almost all in that vein, but a
backlash started almost immediately by the right wing trolls. A comment from my
Facebook post is pretty typical:
She looks like she is begging for his
understanding which he is refusing. Thats what leaders of the free world do,
stand up a crowd mentality.
Will you continue to accept all of this? If so, you are
essentially complicit with the spineless sheep known as the republican congress.
And to those who blindly support Mr. Trump: Exactly how far does our leader
have to go before you realize that he is an unhinged would-be dictator who
cares not a whit about our beloved constitutional democracy? Canceled
elections? Maybe nuclear war?
My friend Roger Campana put it very eloquently in response
to the above comment, talking about leadership:
Your definition of leadership leaves a lot to
be desired. Leaders get results, not call people names, make personnel attacks,
and stomp off before the job is done. They put their feelings aside and
concentrate on the mission. History shows that isolationism and trade
tariffs/wars don't work. Leaders do their homework and create a call to action;
because the "only thing you get in a pissing contest is wet."
(Quote used by permission.)
Portland, OR
June 13, 2018
