CHILDREN WITH BOMBS
It is an irrefutable fact of life that adults who behave like children do adult damage. The greater their power, the wider their reach, the more damage they are likely to inflict.
At this time, we have two world leaders who became stunted at about the age of nine, whose toys are weapons of mass destruction that can literally destroy the earth, and who are more alike than either of them can admit. They are both bombastic, narcissistic, addicted to name-calling, quick to threaten, and they love their bombs. One was elected to lead, although not by a majority of the people; the other ascended to power because of a lineage of dictatorship. One scowls and growls and acts like he has this whole adult thing down pat; the other grins and claps his little hands as test missiles are fired off into the sky. In case that last sentence was confusing, the first description was of Donald Trump, the second was of Kim Jong Un. The little hands comment might have thrown you off.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have this in common: they both believe that having a big bomb and being willing to use it means they are masculine and strong and not to be messed with. Yes, this is where we have come to. The world could end because of two men each trying to prove he has the bigger penis.
May I remind you that Donald Trump requested a parade of military vehicles on Inauguration Day? You know, sort of like they do on a regular basis in North Korea. May I also remind you that he questioned why we have nuclear weapons if we aren’t willing to use them. This is a man who does not comprehend the fact that no one wins a nuclear war. I have long had a chilling feeling that Donald Trump wants to go to war, and will at some point find a way to start one. If he can’t goad his North Korean counterpart into starting a war, he’ll just push the button himself. Probably early some morning right after he sends out a few tweets.
In an unprecedented display of immaturity and idiocy, the President of the United States stood in front of the United Nations and threatened to annihilate North Korea, a country of 25 million people. To say we deserve better is obvious. But it needs to be said because America is sinking into a state of stress that could paralyze us and make us forget that, whatever mis-aligned forces put Donald Trump in the White House, we have the means to change that. The possibility of impeachment was written into the Constitution because the founders of our democracy assumed that sometimes we would make a mistake. Mistakes turn to tragedies when they aren’t addressed and remedied.
Donald Trump’s United Nations speech should make everyone realize how close we are to the brink of destruction. We still have time, but once the last line is crossed, once missiles are launched, time will just be a memory.
I love reading your posts, Patti. You are such a gifted and intelligent writer. I will admit that I, almost always, agree with you. This post is no different. With Donald Trump leading our country and acting like a child, I feel, somewhere along the line, we will be at war. And, that scares the hell out of me.
It’s an astonishing display of lunacy, one which we have never seen in this country. The truth is that there have been many insane foreign dictators, but they were never matched up equally to an American president. Modern times have yielded diplomats and plain talkers and thinkers, for the most part, and while we’ve had presidents who were over zealous, like LBJ in Vietnam, Nixon, too, no president has ever been on equal footing with a dictator from foreign soil. You nailed it, Patti, as is your usual, and we are all left moths agape, wondering just what this president is doing in our White House.