Speaking of Trump and Who He Really is!

Richard J. Garfunkel
December 20,2016

But, what of Trump and his lack of preparedness, his lack of reading, his paucity of knowledge and his untutored assumptions and conclusions? What of his public policy reversals, on Planned Parenthood, Choice, and foreign trade? What about his positions on his own work force along with his opposition to their right to organize? He states he is for the working person, but says wages are too high and opposes any increase in the minimum wage. But, aside from his ignorance regarding domestic policy, what about his lack of civility, his misogynist insults, his sexual harassment of women, his abuse of candidates in his own party, and his insults towards the disabled, the heritage of a Federal judge, and his collective bigotry and xenophobia towards Latinos, Muslims, Mormons and 7th Day Adventists? Who is next on his hate list?

When one talks of character with regards to the presidency, how can we exclude his lifetime of excess, his adultery, his 18 year old, who was born two years before his marriage, his abuse of his first wife (well-chronicled), his business practices and his myriad of failures? He has authored a post-war record of four bankruptcies, He and his representatives have been in court over 4000 times and has been in Federal Court over 160 times. He finally settled for $25 million the Trump University scam and is a party to a $250 billion suit regarding the evasion of taxes. Even his ghost writer, Tony Schwartz, the real writer of “The Art of the Deal,” says he and his book were a fraud.

Even billionaires, who know him best, Mike Bloomberg and Mark Cuban, question his judgment, his temperament and even his sanity. He has left a sordid record of economic and social wreckage involving bad debt (which he brags of) and unpaid bills. He has “stiffed” partners, investors, associates, vendors and clients. Aside from the settled litigation regarding Trump University, what about the Trump institute and his failures which include; the US Football League, Trump Airlines, all of his now closed casinos, his line of vodka, steaks, and other enterprises now hardly remembered. In the wake, of his business career, are the claims of hundreds of vendors who have sued him over unpaid bills. He just tells them to settle or wears them out in constant and ongoing court battles and delays.

If that was not enough, what of his foreign product lines, the hiring of foreign workers at his Mar-al Lago Play Pen and his use of illegal laborers on many of building projects? Is this good business or incredible hypocrisy? Why would any American worker or small business person believe this man, who opposes unions, supports “right to work” states, and refuses to pay his bills? With all this in mind, including his lack of integrity, his failed businesses practices, his false promises, his political payoffs, and his poor judgement, why is he getting support? Do his supporters know that he supports the repeal of the Federal Inheritance Tax Law which affects a fraction of 1% of the country or 5400 families and would cost the US Treasury upwards of $600 billion? Are they aware of his support for the flat-tax, which would give billionaires the same federal tax rate of the average working American? Aside for his support of Voodoo economics, what of his ability to lead a nation when he has insulted over 40% of the population, which includes, African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims and others?

But what of his mocking of the disabled, or his call for his supporters to beat up protester, or his promise to support them in court, if they are charged? Is this presidential? Aside from his total lack of knowledge regarding domestic affairs, he criticized former Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia for his “failed” administration in New Jersey. His knowledge of America has been pretty restricted to beauty pageants, country clubs, boardrooms and very expensive residences and restaurants. So where does he come off telling us that our society is failing, it is rife with crime, and we are on the verge of moral default? If anyone is morally defective, it is Trump. What contact or connection does he have with the average American? As for supposed generosity, where have been his vaunted and well-publicized charitable gifts? There are none of record. But, are they actually hidden in his Federal Income Tax returns? Why can’t the public look over his taxes? The Clintons have revealed 33 years of tax returns. What are those returns hiding?

All presidents, in this inter-connected world, must have more than a little foreign policy knowledge. He seems to know nothing of the history and importance of NATO, our support for our European allies for almost three-quarters of a century, our stand against nuclear proliferation, and the new threats regarding Russia and Eastern Europe or China in the Pacific. With this in mind, why has he been virtually endorsed by the mad dictator of North Korea and seemingly supported by the newest Russian Tsar, Vladimir Putin? Even today he gave another example of his ignorance with regards to Crimea and the Ukraine. He is practically persona non grata in Britain, Scotland, Germany, Israel, and for sure Mexico. Who else wants him?
His countless, gaffs, retractions, corrections, indiscretions, insults, misstatements and outright lies have been carefully categorized by media and fact-checkers all over the country. But what indiscretion can match his overt criticism and insult to a Gold Star Mother.

In the words of the late Joseph Welch, who took on Senator Joseph McCarthy, in the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, when McCarthy tried to renew his attack, Welch interrupted him: Senator, may we not drop this? We know he belonged to the Lawyers Guild … Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

With that in mind, I say the same to the Trump supporters. “Have you no sense of decency?” Are you going to be chastised by history as being either; uniformed, blind, a bigot, or just plain stupid? I ask?