Thursday, March 26, 2020
The Easter Bunny
The wisest fool in Christendom.
Henri IV, referring to James I of England.
At first blush it seemed like nothing more than a coincidence. And the first reaction was to think he had not even thought of it since he is not a religious man. Sober reflection and awareness of the high esteem in which he holds himself, repeatedly assuring us that few, if any, are, or have been, as brilliant, selfless and talented as he, however, gives rise to the thought that it is more than a coincidence. It is deliberate, symbolic, and comports with his view of himself, a view shared by his devoted followers who cheer for him at rallies, and his devoted disciples, such as Mike Pence and Ben Carson, who stand behind him at press conferences gazing admiringly at their beloved leader. And here it is.
The same day that Christians the world over will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the trump has decreed that he, like Christ, will be celebrated throughout the United States-Christ for religious reasons and the trump for ending the mandatory quarantining in the United States that was designed to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 in the United States. Just as Christians resume normal activities after celebrating Christ’s resurrection, the people in the United States will be able to resume all their normal activities, thanks to the inspired leadership of the trump and his proven ability to solve what, to lesser mortals, seem like intractable problems.
The trump can see the similarity between himself and Christ as he stands at the podium and makes statements about how quickly the pandemic will be over. Of course there are a few non-believers standing next to him who contradict him when he finishes speaking, but the trump and his disciples all know that the trump knows best. The trump is not, nor should he be, offended by comments made by the non-believers standing next to him any more than Christ was offended by those who crucified him. Indeed when considering those who publicly contradict him, it might serve the trump well to recall Christ’s words when he said: “Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.” Those in need of forgiveness are those who rely on science rather than the trump’s optimism.
The trump has many reasons to be satisfied that by ending the quarantine on Easter Sunday he is doing what is in the best interests of his people. As he observed, the number of deaths that may be caused by the pandemic in the United States, is nothing when compared with the number of people killed each year in car accidents in the United States. In the United States, 90 people die every day in car accidents. Three million people are injured of which two million have permanent injuries. As of the date the trump was explaining why the country should reopen on Easter Sunday, fewer than 200 people in the United States had died from the coronavirus. On March 23 he told a gathering that: “You look at automobile accidents, which are far greater than any numbers we’re talking about. That doesn’t mean we’re going to tell everybody no more driving of cars. So we have to do things to get our country open.” And he’s absolutely right that no one is suggesting that cars be banned to save lives. Viewed in that light the pandemic is, as the trump knows better than the scientists who stand behind him at his daily briefings, there is no reason to continue to keep the country shut down.
And if the comparison to car deaths is not enough for the trump, he brings up another reason that the country must reopen. If the lockdown continues, as the trump explains, “You’re going to lose more people by putting a country into a massive recession or depression. You’re going to lose people. You’re going to have suicides by the thousands.” At another appearance he said: “I’m talking about where people suffer massive depression, where people commit suicide, where tremendous death happens…I mean it definitely would be in far greater numbers than the numbers that we’re talking about with regard to the virus.” Of course he’s right. As of March 25, an estimated 928 victims of CoVID-19 in the United States have died from this virus. By comparison, in 2017, 47,173 American died by suicide and that figure goes up annually.
With less than two weeks until Easter Sunday, believers and non-believers alike can look forward to that day. Believers, of course, may have more reason to rejoice since their belief has sustained them throughout their lives and they can find joy in celebrating the event that took place many years ago. Non-believers should not become too excited about the prospects for celebrating on Easter Sunday. The trump is no match for Jesus, contrary to what he may believe, and there is an outside chance that none of what he has promised will happen.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Nobel Oblige
Men prize the thing ungain’d more than it is.
— Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
It’s hard not to feel sympathy for him. It is so coveted, yet so elusive. And all his efforts to get it seem to be thwarted by events beyond his control. As he observed at a rally in Toledo in January of this year, “I’m going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize. I’ll tell you about that. I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, “What, did I have something to do with it? Yeah but you know that’s all that matters. . . .I saved a big war. I’ve saved a couple of them.” In making those remarks the trump was thinking of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed. He is the youngest head of government in Africa having assumed office in April 2018.
Since becoming prime minister President Ahmed has inaugurated major liberalizing reforms, freed thousands of opposition activists from jail, and made it possible for exiled dissidents to return to the country. In awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize the Nobel Committee said it was because of his “decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.” According to reports, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia played important roles in helping to resolve the border conflict. The trump had very little to do with it. But that, of course, is not how the trump sees it, and, to make matters worse, it is not the end of the indignities which are dashing the trump’s Nobel Peace Prize hopes.
Another was achieving a durable and lasting peace with North Korea. Using the negotiating skills of which the trump is so proud, Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, became the president’s new VERY best friend after the trump became president and the two men exchanged what the trump described as “love letters.” That those letters and the deep personal friendship that were created between the ruler of a country in which millions of people are starving, and a man who is the least intelligent and least capable person to have ever sat behind the desk in the Oval Office, was astonishing and hard to believe. But there it was. And it brought a sigh of relief to those who had feared that at some point there might be a conflagration between North Korea and the United States. And there can be no denying that as soon as the peace treaty is signed, it will provide the impetus for the Nobel committee to consider awarding the Peace Prize to the trump and Kim.
The only thing is that the two best friends have had a bit of a spat, as sometimes happens with best friends, and to let his friend know how he feels about the spat, on November 28, 2019, Kim watched as two rockets were launched by a “super large multiple rocket launcher” from North Korea’s east coast. And to give further vent to his petulance, on March 2 and March 9 Kim launched multiples projectiles off its east coast.
It is hard to believe that after such a fervent friendship between the trump and Kim, the firing of a few rockets would end their friendship, but should that happen, that friendship will no longer be a path to the longed-for Nobel Peace Prize.
And then, of course, there’s Afghanistan. Just a few days ago what looked like a sure route to the prize was announced when a U.S.-Taliban agreement was announced. That agreement will, among other things, reduce the level of violence in the country and lead to the eventual withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. It is conditioned, however, on many things, one of them being the “expeditious”release of 5000 insurgents held by the Afghan government. That may be one of many sticking points, and hostilities have resumed, although at a reduced scale. Nonetheless, unless the disputes are resolved, another possible route to the trump longed for Nobel Peace Prize will have been blocked.
And, as if those potential blocks to the trump’s receiving the longed-for prize, were not enough, another indignity was bestowed on trump by Time magazine. Remember Greta Thunberg? She is the 17-year-old environmental activist who spoke at the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland in January. Trump told the Wall Street Journal that “I really don’t know anything about her.” What he might have known (and been bothered by), was that in December 2019 she received Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” award, the same award the trump got in 2016. When the trump learned of her award, even though he knew nothing about her, he said that she “had an anger management problem.” (If there is one thing the trump is undeniably qualified to identify, it is people who have “anger management” problems.) From the trump’s perspective, to have a 17-year old child receive the same award he received in 2016, not only lessens the value of the award, but is almost as bad as finding that the road to the Nobel Peace Prize seems to be blocked at every juncture.
The foregoing notwithstanding, it’s hard to feel sorry for the trump unless of course, he is not reelected president. Then we can feel sorry for him and happy for the rest of the world and the country.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Modi's Muslims
Happily the Government of the United States which gives to bigotry no sanction. . . .—George Washington, _Letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport Rhode Island (1790)
If he was envious it didn’t show. Envy would have been unseemly given the joyfulness of the occasion. It happened when the trump took advantage of a 36-hour gap in his busy White House schedule to hurry off to India to celebrate his presidency in the presence of, the trump had said before leaving, 10 million Indians at the world’s largest cricket stadium. (According to reporters present at the event, it turned out nine million of the attendees the trump said would be in attendance were otherwise occupied, so they had to miss the event. The remaining million loved it, although many of them left before the trump had finished bloviating.)
The trumpian envy that he did not allude to during his visit, was inspired by events that had taken place in India eight months and two months before the trumpian visit of which even the oblivious trump should have been aware.
The first of the events took place on August 5, 2019. That was when the Indian government rushed through a presidential decree from President Modi that revoked Article 370 and 35A of the India Constitution. Those articles pertained to Jammu and Kashmir, a region governed by India and inhabited by 7 million Muslims.
Article 370 was designed to insure that Jammu and Kashmir would always be a Muslim majority state and that Hindus from elsewhere in India would not be permitted to go there and enjoy the same rights guaranteed the Muslim majority. Among the rights guaranteed the Muslim-majority were the right to their own constitution, the right to own property, and the autonomy to make laws on all matters except defense, communications and foreign affairs. Article 35A permitted the local legislature in Kashmir to define permanent residents of the region.
Modi’s assault on Muslims did not end in August. In December 2019, two months before the trump visit, India’s parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019. It extends Indian citizenship to all immigrants from neighboring countries unless they are Muslim.
Although he pretended not to notice, the trump is almost certainly envious. His dislike of Muslims is well known.
Prior to his election, in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, he said: “I think Islam hates us. We have to get to the bottom of it. There is an unbelievable hatred of us-anybody.” On December 7, 2015 his campaign said: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.” On March 9, 2016, the trump said: “I think Islam hates us. . .We can’t allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States and of people that are not Muslim.”
As soon as he was sworn in as president, the trump issued the first of many bans that were to be stricken down by the courts because of their anti-Muslim effect. It was entitled: “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” Later he said everyone knew its meaning and said it’s a “TRAVEL BAN.”. . .Great surveillance and vigilance must be adhered to. We want to be very fair but too many bad things are happening, and the percentage of true hatred is too great.” On May 20, 2017, the Washington Post published a timeline of Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric beginning in 2011 and continuing through the date of the publication. The list is exhaustive.
On November 1, 2019, former Majority leader of the House, Harry Reid wrote an op-ed lamenting the damage Trump’s anti-Islam rhetoric and actions have done to the United States. In addition to the trump repeatedly saying that Muslims hate us, Mr. Reid observes that: “He pushed for the surveillance of Muslim houses of worship and the creation of a database of Muslims in the United State.”
The foregoing is perforce a limited description of trump’s repeated expressions of hatred for Muslims. It does, however, help explain his lack of concern for Modi’s treatment of Muslims. At the conclusion of his visit, the trump said of Modi: “The prime minister was incredible in what he told me. He wants people to have religious freedom and very strongly. . .He said that, in India, they have worked very hard to have great and open religious freedom. And if you look back and you look at what’s going on, relative to other places especially, but they have really worked hard on religious freedom.”
Perhaps the trump was unaware of the protests that were going on all over India because of the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 giving citizenship to certain refugees if they are not Muslim. If he was not aware of what was going on, he is, as in most things, dismally uninformed. If aware but unconcerned, we can only fear what this country will become should he reign another four years.