Trump: Driving Us Nuts?
It’s not too early in President Trump’s administration to be able to say with some degree of confidence that the man is literally driving a good part of the nation crazy.
You can see it almost anywhere you look. On television, reporters for ABC, NBC, CBS and MSNBC seem stunned — completely and utterly stunned — that Trump is actually doing things he promised to do during his campaign. In our “mainstream” national newspapers — the New York Times and the Washington Post — several columnists each day reliably post diatribes against Mr. Trump and his actions. They viscerally hate him and his policies, and it shows in their writing.
And what’s driven these folks stark, raving mad?
For starters, Trump has given a green light to building the Keystone and Dakota Access oil pipelines. He’s said “no way” to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade treaty. He’s taken the first steps toward building that wall on our border with Mexico. He says he’ll move to deny federal funding for so-called “sanctuary cities” in the U.S. He’s signed an order that will cut off American funding to overseas organizations that sponsor abortions.
Each and every one of these actions is consistent with his campaign promises. And each and every one of them have been treated as if it’s the end of the world as we know it. The oil pipelines will destroy the environment and increase global warming. Not joining the trade partnership will destroy the world’s economy. Building the border will is not just cruel but it will destroy relations with Mexico. Coming after sanctuary cities is cruel. Cutting off funding for overseas abortions is cruel and will result in more abortions and the deaths of many, many women.
You get the idea. Trump is cruel and he is a destroyer. End of paragraph. End of story.
Now, all of this — all of it — is sheer hysteria coming from the men and women of the mainstream media who tried oh-so-hard to, yes, destroy Trump during the presidential campaign. Failing that — and they’ve never gotten over their failure — they are now vindictively trying to de-legitimize his presidency. So every day — every single day — the Washington Post sends its liberal op-ed writers to the front lines, denigrating the president, his actions and his supporters.
They’re backed in their efforts by those all-knowing, all-seeing, incredibly intellectual Hollywood actors and actresses and writers who know, in their big hearts and enormous minds, that they are the sum total of all knowledge and that the rest of us are idiots. Morons. Imbeciles.
So there’s Meryl Streep — a fine, fine actress — lecturing the “rest” of the nation about our stupidity during a televised awards ceremony. And there’s the amazingly intellectual Madonna, telling folks attending a women’s march in Washington that she’s thought about blowing up the White House. And there’s that oh-so-smart writer for “Saturday Night Live,” taking aim at Trump’s 10-year-old son.
What in the world has happened in this country? Yes, yes, I know that we’re all in uncharted waters here — that Mr. Trump is a loose cannon and that millions of people just loathe him. But in their effort to oppose his every move, why have so many people seemingly lost their minds? Opposing him on specific issues is one thing — and I certainly expect to do that often. But reflexively opposing him — trying to block his ability to even choose his own cabinet or try to set his own policies — simply makes the person doing it seem mindless and hateful and spiteful.
And to be clear, there’s a lot of that — mindlessness and hatefulness and spitefulness — going around. Just check your Facebook page and see how it’s been polluted by haters from both sides — people who just can’t help passing on the hate of others, whether they’re pro-Trump or against.
Of course, Mr. Trump has done himself no favors — in fact, he’s harmed himself — by deciding to go to war with the news media and by defending statements that are obvious lies or which have no basis in fact. Fighting the media over the size of his inauguration crowd is mindless. Continuing to assert that Hillary Clinton only won the popular vote because of illegal votes is stupid. For the record, former President Obama’s crowd was bigger than Mr. Trump’s — and there is no factual basis — none, zero — for claiming there were millions of illegal votes cast in the last election. Even Mr. Trump’s own lawyers said that when they opposed recounts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
What Mr. Trump is demonstrating with these mindless claims — and with his never-ending tweets — is an astonishing inability to transition from Candidate Trump to President Trump. He’s acting as if he’s still running against Hillary — not as if he actually won the White House.
So here’s where we are at, one week after Mr. Trump’s inaugural speech (a terrible speech, by the way — one completely devoid of grace and vision and one filled with anger and hate): The president and the news media are at war, and neither side shows any sign of restraint — or, for that matter, intelligence. Mr. Trump is carrying out many of his campaign promises, much to the astonishment of some and the horror of others.
And our country remains more deeply divided than at any time in my lifetime. I cannot see how this ends well for anyone concerned, and I also cannot see any way out of this mess. Mr. Trump was duly elected, and now we all get to see what that means for our future — for better or for worse.