A Tale of Two Summits ... or, "Every Picture Tells a Story, Don't It?"

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