There are unwritten rules of conduct between civilized people. When we
ignore these rules, we do so at the risk of descending into anarchy. Several
politicians have destroyed what should be the decorum and gravitas of
presidential politics and brought it down to the level of crude, middle school
name calling.
This descent into chaos is not limited to presidential politics. Maine
Governor Paul LePage compared the IRS to the Gestapo and said that President
Obama “hates white people.” When the assistant senate majority leader Troy
Jackson said the governor was “delusional,” LePage replied that Jackson was “the first to
give it to the people without providing Vaseline.” When the governor thought
that Democratic Representative Drew Gattine had called him a racist, he left a
message on Gattine’s answer machine. The message contained these words: “you
little son of a bitch, socialist, c*ck sucker.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is another politician who finds it
easy to come up with nasty words to express his thoughts. When he was mayor of Davao City,
an Australian woman was gang-raped and murdered. Duterte made a joke about it.
More recently, when he was scheduled to meet President Obama at the ASEAN
conference, Duterte made a reference to Obama as a son of a bitch. He later
apologized and said he hadn’t meant it personally. Nevertheless, Obama
cancelled the meeting.
The outrageous things that Donald Trump has said are too numerous to
mention, but here is a sampling: He has insulted woman many times as well as
Muslims and Mexicans. He has used offensive language to describe all of his
opponents in the Republican primary elections as well as his opponent in the
general election. He called Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg an incompetent
judge. He mocked disabled reporter Serge Kavaleski. Trump belittled John
McCain’s military service and attacked the parents of a fallen American
soldier.
So these three men have shown themselves to be crude, uncivilized
bullies. Does that mean that they are unfit for high office? Yes, it does, and
not only because they lack the dignity to represent the constituency they
serve. If they cannot or will not follow the rules of civil intercourse, then
they cannot be trusted to follow the larger rules which they must. Otherwise
the result is anarchy.
Last year Governor LePage proposed an amendment to the constitution,
which would abolish the state income tax. The House of Representative voted
82-64 against the amendment. In a snit because his proposal had been voted
down, the governor for a while vetoed all bills, regardless of their merit, if
they had been sponsored by Democrats.
Last year Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves was hired by hired by
Goodwill-Hinckley as president of the charitable organization that works with
at-risk youth. Because of the governor’s dislike of the Eves, he threatened to
withhold $500,000 in state funding if they hired Eves. The intimidated board of
Goodwill-Hinckley withdrew the job offer.
At the very least these actions are abuse of power or failure to
perform his duty as governor of the state.
Since Duterte became president hundreds of people suspected of being
drug dealers or even drug users have been killed. This is not new. For several
years, While Duterte was mayor of Daveo City,
there were over a thousand extra-judicial killings of people believed to be
involved in drug traffic. According to the State Department, the U. S.
government has “solid evidence that Duterte was responsible for these
extrajudicial killings.”
So here is a man who “Gets things done.” But at what cost? People
suspected of crime were killed without benefit of a trial by jury. Where is the
protection to ordinary citizens in this kind of government?
Donald Trump has never served in elective office, but he has shown his
true colors in many ways. He has already told us what he would do if he had a
chance.
In the face of Russian intransigence, Trump would have us renege on our
pledge to NATO allies unless they begin paying more for the maintenance of NATO
forces. After that our word would mean nothing.
He would reduce the national debt by getting the people we owe to
accept pennies on the dollar. It worked for him in his many bankruptcies. Paul
Krugman said that Trump wants to run the U S Treasury like a falling Atlantic City casino.
This action would destroy the confidence in American currency that was
established by Alexander Hamilton.
He would use nukes against our enemies. During his security briefing,
he asked three times whey we couldn’t use our nuclear bombs. Trump would be
willing to launch a nuclear holocaust, which could mean the end of humanity on
earth.
He would subject suspected terrorists to waterboarding and worse. John
McCain, who was tortured while he was a POW, said that torturing prisoners was
not what this country is about.
Finally Donald Trump would get revenge on terrorists by assassinating
their families. Here is still another example of his willingness to commit
illegal acts to get what he wants.
Donald Trump’s unwillingness or inability to follow the rules of civil
discourse are indications of his unwillingness to follow the laws of the land
or international law. To put in his hands the power of the presidency would be
the first step toward a descent into anarchy.
