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| Netanyahu and Trump at the Abraham Accords signing ceremony (CTV News) |
I say this in spite of the fact that former President Trump was the most pro Israel President in American history. I realize of course that the virulent Trump haters cannot handle that fact. Choosing instead to minimize or even condemn much of what Trump did as counterproductive and ultimately harming Israel. But anyone with the slightest bit of objectivity - not blinded by that hatred can see the truth. As does the vast majority of Israelis - the people most affected by those policies.
It isn’t only Israel. Most (but certainly not all) of Trump’s foreign and domestic policies were very favorable to those of us that lean conservative. Some of which have actually been retained by the current President. (It’s just too bad Trump’s green lighting the transatlantic pipeline was not one of them. Biden’s cancelation of that project did not help prices at the gas pump. Adding to the current high rate of inflation caused by the pandemic. But I digress.)
If I could vote for policies, Trump’s policies would get my vote. But it isn’t Trump’s policies that will be running. It will be Trump. A man that is (still) unfit to be the leader of the free world. That has never been clearer than it is right now.
And yet there is a good chance that he will not only run but win the next election this time. While we might be getting those polices back, the price of giving a man like this 4 more years of power is too high. Even if one overlooks his personal attacks at people that he believes betrayed him. It is more than that. This is a man so blinded by his ego that he actually still believes the election was stolen despite the strong evidence to the contrary. That makes him delusional. Either that or simply one of the most brazen liars to ever grace the public stage. (I believe the former is the case. I think he actually believes it!)
That Trump keeps perpetuating that belief impacts his supporters. They believe it because he believes it. It isn’t only radical fringe racists and antisemites that support him. Most of his supporters are mainstream Americans. People that are otherwise decent law abiding citizens with conservative values and contribute to society. Among them many (most?) Orthodox Jews.
I am shocked at this. I can’t really explain it. Other than to say that Trump’s policies have blinded them to the reality of who this man really is. An unprecedented egomaniac who should not be in charge of a dog pound let alone have his finger on the nuclear trigger. Trump is without a doubt the most divisive President of modern times. To Trump the only real Americans are Republicans. And not even all of them. Only Republicans that support him. The rest of the country (which is probably the majoirity) are irrelevant to him. Or worse - enemies!
The only thing that matters to Trump is loyalty. NOT to the country or the constitution. Loyalty to him! It doesn’t matter how close he was with someone. If he smells disloyalty he will turn on them as though they were Jack the Ripper. As former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just recently learned.
What was Netnayahu’s sin? He was the first to congratulate Biden upon his election as President. I can understand why a man with Trump’s oversize ego might be hurt by that. But to publicly use the kind of profanity he did about a man whose friendship with him lasted over decades is not only petty. It is evil.
Trump should have understood what Netanyahu did - even if he didn’t like it. Biden was going to be in charge of foreign policy for at least the next 4 years. It was in Israel’s national interest to congratulate the incoming President. The sooner the better. Being silent was not a option. But Trump is not capable of understanding that. He turned on his friend on a dime! Just as he did on his own Vice-President when he certified the results of the election.
The biggest problem with Trump is what happened on January 6th of this year. When during a rally supporting him, a large segment of those people stormed the Capital building where the House and Senate meet. It is almost irrelevant whether Trump had anything directly to do with that. He clearly inspired it – directly or otherwise. His reaction to it at the time was tepid - even praising the people attending that rally.
Now it is true that most of them were good people duped by the President into thinking the election was stolen. They were there just there to protest. But when those walls were breached by radical fringe Trump supporters some of those good people stupidly followed them in.
Trump has still not let go of his fantasy. And neither have his supporters. And as I indicated - some (many?) are mainstream Americans who are otherwise decent people with fine conservative values. They support his policies and want to see them reinstated.
My hope is that Trump doesn’t run. We need sanity in the White House. Not the insanity that characterized how Trump ran things when he was there. There are some really qualified conservative candidates that would have similar polices if they were elected. If Biden runs again, there is a good chance any of those conservative candidates will win.
Whatever policies Trump would bring to the White House should pale in comparison to the lack of integrity and insanity that will accompany them. As will the not insignificant collateral damage of emboldening his radical supporters - the bigots and racists that are on the fringes of society.
I do not want to see that man in the White House again. And it remains shocking to me that so many of my coreligionists do. None are so blind as those who WILL not see! That this is the case scares me more that Trump himself does.