The conduct of President Trump has obviously raised the ire of many people, although now, it has garnered criticism from two ex-presidents.
This past week, two former occupants of the White House got political again, and sounded off on how much things have deteriorated since Trump announced that he was running for president, and ultimately won the election.
Since then, of course, Trump has reached all sorts of new lows that the country, and indeed the world, has not seen in such a powerful leader for a long, long time. And this has generated criticism lately from George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the two previous men to have occupied the Oval Office before Trump got in.
It is not surprising at all that Obama criticized Trump. After all, he is a Democrat, while Trump is a Republican. Obama actively campaigned against Trump right to the end, and even though some cordial meetings took place between the men after the election, Trump has made all sorts of claims about Obama since, and has attacked and tried to dismantle his policies consistently since.
That Bush criticized Trump is a bit more surprising, although also not very surprising. After all, Trump seriously attacked Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, during the Republican primaries, singling him out specifically. He also was critical of George W. Bush in the past, including with the Iraq war, and Bush clearly never likes to be criticized for the invasion of Iraq. However, he laid some serious and heavy criticisms on the country as a whole in this age of Trump, and although again, he never mentioned Trump specifically by name, most people seem to understand that this was hardly a veiled attack on Trump and his style of leadership.
Let's take a closer look at what these two former presidents said earlier this week:
It is not surprising at all that Obama criticized Trump. After all, he is a Democrat, while Trump is a Republican. Obama actively campaigned against Trump right to the end, and even though some cordial meetings took place between the men after the election, Trump has made all sorts of claims about Obama since, and has attacked and tried to dismantle his policies consistently since.
That Bush criticized Trump is a bit more surprising, although also not very surprising. After all, Trump seriously attacked Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, during the Republican primaries, singling him out specifically. He also was critical of George W. Bush in the past, including with the Iraq war, and Bush clearly never likes to be criticized for the invasion of Iraq. However, he laid some serious and heavy criticisms on the country as a whole in this age of Trump, and although again, he never mentioned Trump specifically by name, most people seem to understand that this was hardly a veiled attack on Trump and his style of leadership.
Let's take a closer look at what these two former presidents said earlier this week:
President Obama addressed a Democratic campaign event in Newark, New Jersey, on Thursday, and here is a summary of some of what he said:
- Americans should "send a message to the world that we are rejecting a politics of division, we are rejecting a politics of fear".
"What we can't have is the same old politics of division that we have seen so many times before that dates back centuries.
"Some of the politics we see now, we thought we put that to bed. That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st Century, not the 19th Century. Come on!"
Later on in Richmond, Virginia, he reiterated many of these same points:
"We've got folks who are deliberately trying to make folks angry, to demonise people who have different ideas, to get the base all riled up because it provides a short-term tactical advantage."
Obama also urged Democrats to ignore the polls. People laughed as he slowly said these words, clearly reminding people of what happened in the 2016 election:
"I don't know if y'all noticed, but you can't take any election for granted. I don't care what the polls say. I don't care what the pundits say."
In the meantime, these comments by Obama came hours after George W. Bush lashed out at many of the troubling trends that he sees within the country today. Here are some of the main points that generated a lot of headlines in his roughly 16-minute speech:
"Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.
"There are some signs that the intensity of support for democracy itself has waned - especially among the young." Americans, he said, have "seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty".
"At times it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together.
"We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America."
"We've seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty ... Argument turns too easily into animosity."
"It means that bigotry and white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed, and it means the very identity of our nation depends on passing along civic ideals."
"Bullying and prejudice in our public life ... provides permission for cruelty and bigotry."
"The only way to pass along civic values is to live up to them."
While never mentioning Trump by name, Bush did criticize the growing presence of "bullying and prejudice" in America today. Most people took away that he was at least criticizing Trump to some degree, although his criticisms were not merely restricted to Trump.
It seems to me that President George W. Bush seems far better at being a former president than he ever was actually as president. These criticisms may be self-serving, as Trump obviously has had a feud with the Bush family now for some time, and really attacked Jeb Bush without pulling any punches during the Republican primaries last year.
That said, while I do not want to go too far with this whole Bush being anti-Trump thing, since Bush himself was rather guilty of some of the same things that he is criticizing America, and particularly Trump, for her, it nonetheless seems to me that Bush is right to criticize the conduct of a man who has other world leaders worried because he reminds them of Benito Mussolini in his conduct.
Let me be clear: I did not agree with almost anything that President George W. Bush did or stood for while in office, and frankly, abhorred his policies. His environmental policies were overly self-serving and betrayed his clear cynicism of climate change, and the invasion of Iraq was outright immoral. Also, the intolerance that he seems to dislike and distrust in Trump was something that he himself was guilty of when he received significant opposition to his own policies. Plus, he was an elitist, with a typical elitist agenda, and advanced, rather than tried to scale back, the glaring inequality that has become such a huge problem in America today.
All that said, Bush seems mild by way of comparison to Donald Trump. It seems that there were at least some standards back then, and these seem completely absent these days. Trump represents an attitude where anything goes, and as such, he represents the ugly face (literally) of American excess and the worst attributes of American exceptionalism. Those are things that go beyond political differences, and so, on this one issue, I applaud Bush for taking a stand that is likely to draw criticism from his fellow Republicans.
Many people feel that Trump is a disaster for this country. I agree, although my take is a bit different than how most people feel, because I have long felt that a Donald Trump (that is to say, someone as polarizing, crude, arrogant, ignorant, and obnoxious as Trump) was inevitable. And I have said this before, but it bears repeating: Trump is, in many ways, the most fitting leader for the country today.
Whoa! How can I possibly say that, when I have completely trashed the man time and time and time again?
Well, because even though I do not like the man - and have not liked him since I first learned about him way back in the 1980's - he still symbolizes much that is true about America today. He built a fortune and for many, he is the very model of a success, of a man in action. Yet, his success was largely because of scams, of hurting others and ruthlessly using people's lives as mere opportunism to build his financial empire. These days, this is the reality of how the American economy works. He claims to be an expert at everything, and has a greatly exaggerated sense of self-worth and expertise, so that he feels he is at the center of everything, which itself is a reflection of the country that he comes from. He cynically claims to be the president for all Americans, a unifier, even while he clearly and shrewdly uses division to pit one group of people against others. He wears his patriotism loudly and proudly on his sleeve, while actually busily dismantling so much of what was indeed great about the country. he pretends to be a man of faith, even though his lifestyle, both in the past and in the present, contradicts this serious faith. In both patriotism and in religion, though, Trump embodies the nation that he now leads, because while these things are generally accepted and even required for politicians, most people do not even bother trying to live up to the ideals that either espouse.
As I have said many times before, Trump is a phony, a fraud. The ultimate con artist. Frankly, there seems to be nothing that is real or sincere about him. From the overly glitzy appearance of incredible wealth, only to find out that it is all gilded and phony, to his promises, which he regularly breaks (not that his supporters notice or seem to care), to his loudness and crass and classless behavior, to the need to have his name up high and lit up brightly above city skylines, to his obviously fake tan and positively bizarre hair, to his pretended values and respect, this man is a fraud and a master con artist. Quite probably, he is the greatest business con artist in world history.
Indeed, so much about the man is fake, including his very presidency. He pretends to have reverence for the country and it's institutions, but he has done everything to erode both the country and it's institutions.
So, is there anything real about Donald Trump?
Yes, there is. His addiction to greed and excess is all too real, as is his own overly high opinion and love of himself. His ability to con people, time and time again, is also very real. He was a master of doing it shrewdly throughout his life before the presidency, and he successfully managed to employ these same tactics to bilk millions of people from what would have been in their own best interests, and got them to support him, even while the policies that he is pursuing greatly - even exclusively - benefit wealthy people just like himself. And the damage that he is doing to the country, both domestically and with America's reputation around the world, also is all too real. Already, I fear that the Trump legacy will linger for many years to come, because people will not forget. Trump is a horrendous leader, but he was elected by the American people, even if he did not receive the majority of votes. After all, he is the man in charge now, isn't he?
And that, too, is quite fitting on so many levels, as well.
Many people feel that Trump is a disaster for this country. I agree, although my take is a bit different than how most people feel, because I have long felt that a Donald Trump (that is to say, someone as polarizing, crude, arrogant, ignorant, and obnoxious as Trump) was inevitable. And I have said this before, but it bears repeating: Trump is, in many ways, the most fitting leader for the country today.
Whoa! How can I possibly say that, when I have completely trashed the man time and time and time again?
Well, because even though I do not like the man - and have not liked him since I first learned about him way back in the 1980's - he still symbolizes much that is true about America today. He built a fortune and for many, he is the very model of a success, of a man in action. Yet, his success was largely because of scams, of hurting others and ruthlessly using people's lives as mere opportunism to build his financial empire. These days, this is the reality of how the American economy works. He claims to be an expert at everything, and has a greatly exaggerated sense of self-worth and expertise, so that he feels he is at the center of everything, which itself is a reflection of the country that he comes from. He cynically claims to be the president for all Americans, a unifier, even while he clearly and shrewdly uses division to pit one group of people against others. He wears his patriotism loudly and proudly on his sleeve, while actually busily dismantling so much of what was indeed great about the country. he pretends to be a man of faith, even though his lifestyle, both in the past and in the present, contradicts this serious faith. In both patriotism and in religion, though, Trump embodies the nation that he now leads, because while these things are generally accepted and even required for politicians, most people do not even bother trying to live up to the ideals that either espouse.
As I have said many times before, Trump is a phony, a fraud. The ultimate con artist. Frankly, there seems to be nothing that is real or sincere about him. From the overly glitzy appearance of incredible wealth, only to find out that it is all gilded and phony, to his promises, which he regularly breaks (not that his supporters notice or seem to care), to his loudness and crass and classless behavior, to the need to have his name up high and lit up brightly above city skylines, to his obviously fake tan and positively bizarre hair, to his pretended values and respect, this man is a fraud and a master con artist. Quite probably, he is the greatest business con artist in world history.
Indeed, so much about the man is fake, including his very presidency. He pretends to have reverence for the country and it's institutions, but he has done everything to erode both the country and it's institutions.
So, is there anything real about Donald Trump?
Yes, there is. His addiction to greed and excess is all too real, as is his own overly high opinion and love of himself. His ability to con people, time and time again, is also very real. He was a master of doing it shrewdly throughout his life before the presidency, and he successfully managed to employ these same tactics to bilk millions of people from what would have been in their own best interests, and got them to support him, even while the policies that he is pursuing greatly - even exclusively - benefit wealthy people just like himself. And the damage that he is doing to the country, both domestically and with America's reputation around the world, also is all too real. Already, I fear that the Trump legacy will linger for many years to come, because people will not forget. Trump is a horrendous leader, but he was elected by the American people, even if he did not receive the majority of votes. After all, he is the man in charge now, isn't he?
And that, too, is quite fitting on so many levels, as well.
The quotes used above were taken from these following sources:
Obama and Bush decry deep US divisions without naming Trump 20 October 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41689805
Obama slams state of US politics in 1st post-presidency campaign stops, calls for rejection of Charlottesville hate By JOHN VERHOVEK ALEXANDER MALLIN Oct 20, 2017:
Commentary: George W. Bush's unmistakable takedown of Trumpism — and Trump by Aaron Blake, October 19, 2017:
Also, even though I did not actually get much of a chance to actually look at this article, the title and the source were intriguing enough that it seemed worth a look. It seems to me that indeed, the lowering of the bar by President George W. Bush allowed the bar to be lowered even further down with President Donald Trump. I have long felt this way, but this article at least suggests that I am not the only one who feels that President George W. Bush made President Donald J. Trump possible, and perhaps even inevitable. Take a look:
No Bush, No Trump Our previous Republican president fails to own up to his responsibility for our current one. By Reihan Salam, October 20, 2017:
Obama slams state of US politics in 1st post-presidency campaign stops, calls for rejection of Charlottesville hate By JOHN VERHOVEK ALEXANDER MALLIN Oct 20, 2017:
Commentary: George W. Bush's unmistakable takedown of Trumpism — and Trump by Aaron Blake, October 19, 2017:
Also, even though I did not actually get much of a chance to actually look at this article, the title and the source were intriguing enough that it seemed worth a look. It seems to me that indeed, the lowering of the bar by President George W. Bush allowed the bar to be lowered even further down with President Donald Trump. I have long felt this way, but this article at least suggests that I am not the only one who feels that President George W. Bush made President Donald J. Trump possible, and perhaps even inevitable. Take a look:
No Bush, No Trump Our previous Republican president fails to own up to his responsibility for our current one. By Reihan Salam, October 20, 2017:
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