These are times which try men and women's souls. Each day, tweets from the White House and statements by President Trump to the media parade an ignorance in the language one would expect from a fourth grader. (Nina Burleigh in Newsweek, "Trump Speaks At Fourth-Grade Level" 1/18/18, reported that Trump speaks at the lowest level of the last 15 presidents.) His most recent exhibition came during his joint news conference (Friday, 5/27/18) with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. During the conference, when a reporter asked about Ronny Jackson's decision to withdraw as nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Trump attempted to defend his choice by repeating that Washington is a "very mean place, a nasty place," that Jackson is a great man, that Jackson's son is at the Navel Academy, that Senator John Tester would pay for bringing forward the allegations that induced Jackson to resign, that the allegations are completely false, etc. But would Dr. Jackson have withdrawn if he were innocent and as wonderful as Trump claimed?
The past week offered at least a partial reprieve from the daily deluge of Trump's banality, vulgarity, and mendacity. After spending a day with Trump and enjoying a lavish state dinner, French President Emmanuel Macron in a speech he made to Congress, rebuffed several of Trump political positions. Among them were Trump's nationalism and his environmental policy. Macron's speech was a pleasure to listen to as he eloquently explained why the president is wrong on these issues. His speech lasted an hour, far too long for Trump's attention span; but even if Macron's speech were distilled down to a few sentences, it still couldn't penetrate Trump's obdurate and obtuse mind.
Macron's comments about isolation and nationalism provided an intelligent and thoughtful response to Trump's bromidic "America First." What might seem a simple, though shallow, statement of patriotism, "America First" expresses more than the worthy goal of protecting America and Americans. Its additional unspoken though unambiguous message is one of bigotry and chauvinism, designed to stir up the ugliest form of nationalism. Macron's vision of America and its role in the world transcends this simplistic, retrograde policy Trump has offered:
"Therefore, let me say we have two ways ahead. We can choose isolationism, withdrawal, and nationalism. This is an option. It can be tempting to us as temporary relief to our fears. But closing the door to the world will not stop the evolution of the world. It will not douse but inflame the fears of our citizens. We have to keep our eyes wide open to the new risks right in front of us. I'm convinced that if we decide to open our eyes wider, we will be stronger. We will overcome the dangers. We will not let the rampaging work of extreme nationalism shake a world full of hopes for greater prosperity."
Macron's words slice through Trump's America First agenda; his words recognize what Trump fails to: that erecting trade tariffs, stoking xenophobic fear and anger and pitting white majorities against black and brown minorities won't reverse the changes taking place in America and around the globe. Trump's policies and tweets only exacerbate the fear and anger such momentous changes brings and as Macron points out, "Anger only freezes and weakens us."
On the environment, Macron is equally incisive. He grasps the consequences of Trump's destructive environmental policies, while understanding the hardships faced by those working in industries that must be phased out to help ease the human causes of global climate change:
"Some people think that securing current industries and their jobs is more urgent that transforming our economies to meet the global challenge of climate change. I hear these concerns. But we must find a smooth transition to a low-carbon economy. Because what is the meaning of our life, really, if we work and live destroying the planet, while sacrificing the the future of our children. What is the meaning of our decision is to reduce the properties for our children or grandchildren? By polluting the oceans, not mitigating fuel emission, and destroying our biodiversity, we're killing our planet. Let face it; there is no planet B."
Macron also cleverly turned Trump's "Let's make America great again" into "Let us work together in order to make our planet great again."
Macron has returned to France. Three days have passed since his persuasive oration. His advice regarding Trump's policies didn't fade; we still hear it. But they never came anywhere near Trump's brain. And how could they? This is a man who cannot read memos. According to Patrick Radden Keefe, in The New Yorker, when Trump first received memos from the National Security Council, staffers who wrote the memos were told to "Thin" them "out." The staffers slimmed the documents down to a single page, but were told they were still too long. One of Trump's aides informed the "staffers that the President is a 'visual person,' and asked them to express points 'pictorially.'" Memos were reduced to cards, "with the syntactical complexity of 'See Jane run.'"
I wish Macron could have stayed longer. Or I wish someone with his intelligence could be president. Obama always demonstrated intelligence and a mature command of English. Whether one agreed with his views or not, he articulated his policies and positions without bluster or threats. He examined issues deeply and formulated policy after listening carefully to his advisers. The rest of the world must still be wondering how someone so strangely impulsive, so astonishing unqualified could become president of the United States. Mark Twain explains: "It is strange the way the ignorant and inexperienced so often and so undeservedly succeed when the informed and the experienced fail."
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