Robert Reich gets it as he not only explains who Donald Trump is but the reason that Trump became the President of the United States. His words should resonate with most Americans.
Many continue to wonder how people who least should have voted for Donald Trump did, expecting that the selfish billionaire would be their answer to prosperity. Reich’s post points out much.
Donald Trump becomes president. This is a sickening event in the history of the United States, a tragedy for America and the world, and a victory for hatefulness, racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism.
Tomorrow we say farewell to the first African-American President —a man of decency, integrity, and dignity — and turn the national reigns over to a thin-skinned, vindictive, impulsive, sociopath. Trump is a conman and bully who is ignorant about democracy and disdainful of its basic institutions. He lies constantly. He has cheated his customers, investors, and contractors. His countless tweets and stream-of-consciousness statements at his rallies reveal a nasty, greedy, mendacious, bigoted human being, with a level of egotism and narcissism rare even among politicians and celebrities.
Reich explains how Trump channeled the economic angst of Americans into the hate that was just enough to give him the election in just the right places.
Trump fueled his campaign with the sense of dispossession and anxiety found among millions of voters—most of them white – many of whom voted for him because they thought he would carry their resentments and fury to the nation’s capital, and make our political economic system work for them instead of the privileged few. Some say Trump rose on racism. But racism has been with us since the founding of the nation. Trump rose on downward mobility and economic fears, which allowed him to exploit racism and as well as fears of foreigners and Mexican immigrants, Islamophobia, and the rest of his hateful arsenal.
Trump is the ultimate price our political establishment pays for doing almost nothing to improve the plight of the bottom 60 percent of Americans for over thirty years.
As David Remnick has written, the most hopeful way to look at this grievous event is that it and its consequences in coming years “will be a test of the strength, or the fragility, of American institutions. It will be a test of our seriousness and resolve.”
Every decent American – regardless of political party, or wealth, or race – must now commit herself or himself to combating Trump’s authoritarianism, calling out his lies, protecting the weak and vulnerable among us, keeping hope alive, and preserving what we can of what is best about America. It is a tall order, but there is no choice.
The majority of voters, the majority of Americans do not support Donald Trump nor anything he stands for. Reich is correct. It is incumbent upon us to ensure his authoritarianism is not realized. The grassroots must not allow him any time to settle in. He must be kept unbalanced throughout his administration lest we regress into the America of the past, an America where only a few have the opportunity to succeed.
Viewers are encouraged to subscribe and join the conversation for more insightful commentary and to support progressive messages. Together, we can populate the internet with progressive messages that represent the true aspirations of most Americans.
