Trump is a bully, and like all bullies, he is weak
Donald Trump is a disgrace of staggering dimensions, but if there were to be a single quality in his Mount Everest of character deficits that render him utterly unfit to be president of the United States it is his cruelty.
Cruelty and power are a terrible combination. When they combine, terrible things happen. It is why I write so often about the most momentous event in human history — World War II — which remains humanity’s last and final warning. I would encourage you to (re-)read this essay, which includes General of the Army Douglas MacArthur’s radio address to the American people on September 2, 1945:
This is why Joe Biden’s speech impediment matters.
The most important political story of the day appears in the Washington Post, written by Matt Viser. It documents Trump’s viciousness, nastiness, dishonesty and cruelty.
The focus of the story is Trump’s adolescent ‘mean girl’ mockery of Biden’s stutter, which documents the Trump enterprise’s stench and rottenness. Notice the quotes in the story from Trump spokesperson Jason Miller, who is emblematic of the depravity that swirls around Trump like a raging river of sewage:
President Trump has never mocked Joe Biden’s speech impediment. He’s simply called out the fact Biden is a cognitively impaired, low-IQ individual.
And this:
Joe Biden can’t put two sentences together. It’s not President Trump’s responsibility to diagnose what’s wrong with Biden. He’s simply observing what every other American sees, that Joe Biden is a shell of his former self and unable to lead our country. This weakness has emboldened our adversaries and led to death and destruction at home and abroad.
Miller, you might recall, impregnated a fellow campaign staffer, who is now accusing him of rape, lied about his employment status to avoid paying child support and slipped an abortion pill into a former lover’s smoothie.
Every American presidential election is a choice. The most fundamental misunderstanding of US presidential campaigns by the media and scores of commentators is the idea that they are referendums on the incumbent’s past performance, as opposed to choices about the future. Don’t get me wrong, the record matters, but not singularly. The choice matters more.
The choice in the election ahead is between cruelty and compassion.
The president of the United States will never be a flawlesss person, but shouldn’t they be a good person. Shouldn’t they have empathy, compassion and love in their heart? Shouldn’t their instinct be to lift up, as opposed to tear down?
The character of the president of the United States matters, and Trump has none. Biden has substantial reserves, and the evidence of that are his interactions with the children who are inspired by him, holding up signs announcing they have stutters at his rallies. When President Biden sees those signs and those children, he goes to them and lifts them up. It will be a moment that defines their lives, and fuels them with resolve and hope. It matters a great deal. It should matter to all of us.
Struggle forges character, and so does overcoming difficulties. Joe Biden has endured great tragedy and hardship in his life, and through it, has come an exquisite wisdom that is essential for the president to have. President Biden understands something about all of us because — unlike Trump — he is in our side. He is on America’s side. He is on your side. What he understands is very simple, and it should be the only issue that really matters in the end.
Here is another excerpt from the story:
He [Biden] recalled as a high school freshman being embarrassingly exempted from a public speaking assignment. “But I realized it was a great lesson I learned, because everybody has something they can’t fully control — everybody,” Biden told Cooper. “And so it turned out to be a great gift for me that I stuttered.”
This is a key insight about life. Joe Biden turned a disability into a gift. He understands his obstacle was a gift. There is a word for that. It is called strength. There is another word for that. It is called wisdom.
Trump is a bully, and like all bullies, he is weak.
America should have a strong president, and there can be no strength with the absence of love, compassion and wisdom. Trump has none. He is a brittle man and a bad one.
This is an election about America’s destiny. Do we want to send our children into a future where compassion and love are weakness, and cruelty is strength?
Steve, you hit the nail on the head. Your post describes the essence of what this election is about. Compassion over cruelty. Thank you!
Trump is truly a coward and a snowflake. The problem is that we have been way too polite and gentle with him. Trump only punches downward. He never faces any confrontation. When confronted with his lies he raises his volume and talks over the person but more frequently runs away. Ask Leslie Stahl about her interview.
Trump really can’t take a punch. Like all bullies, if a number of people stand up to them, they slither away.
Trump needs to simply be outed for the coward, not strong man he’d like you to believe he is.
His talk of a 100% tariff on foreign cars was literally stupid. “You do realize Mr Trump that your idea is absolutely stupid.” You do realize it would give domestic makers the ability to raise the price of cars not lower because there would be no competition?
“Hey Dumbass, you still don’t understand that the consumer not the producer pays the tariff raises ultimately!”(okay dumbass is not the word to use but the point is that he only understands strength and when directly confronted he cowards and runs from it.
When he says you are stupid or your question is nasty, simple say you’ll dummy it down so he can try to understand it or you’ll try to explain it in simple words for him.
The bottom line is that you don’t give respect unless you get respect. Allowing Trump to take all the oxygen in the room only encourages his vile rhetoric. Confront him directly. The Afghanistan withdrawal has come up, confront him that it was based on his stupid terms not Biden’s .
Confront him with the $7 trillion deficit he racked up in 4 years. Confront him with the fact that during his term, it was the first time in a half century that there were fewer jobs in America, he didn’t create more jobs.
Stop being nice. A bully only gets worse when you don’t confront him directly.