Your Mother Wears Combat Boots

Times change.  But not always that much.  Back at P.S. 153 when one kid insulted another by accusing his mother of wearing combat boots, the victim was often too tongue-tied to muster an adequate defense. 

Enter Donald Trump—the new schoolyard bully.  He calls people stupid, weak, and fat with reckless abandon; hence many of his victims do not know how to respond.  They don’t want to sink to his level, but neither do they want to alienate his supporters.

Nonetheless The Donald deserves all the invective hurled his way.  He is worse than a clown: he is a clown who wants to be king.  That anyone would consider him a superior replacement for Barack Obama speaks exceedingly ill of the American electorate.

What are Trump’s qualifications for president?  His supporters claim that he tells the truth.   Assuming for a moment that this is the case (which I do not), is this sufficient?  Hitler told the truth when he said he would kill the Jews.  ISIS leaders did the same when they declared they would behead American captives.

In short, the nature of the truth matters.  If a husband honestly tells his wife that she is ugly, this is not apt to improve their relationship.  He needs to express something more helpful.  In other words, the truth is not enough.

The Donald is also praised for not being PC.  Guess what?  The KKK wasn’t PC.  Nor are the Iranian mullahs.  Merely violating the standards imposed by liberal hooligans does not convert a person into a statesman.

Or perhaps we should elect Trump because he is a marvelous negotiator.  His business triumphs suggest that he would obtain better deals from Mexico, China and Iran.  In fact, he is now negotiating with the Republican Party.  He is trying to get preferred treatment by threatening to run as an independent.

In this, Trump is on to something.  Negotiators get superior terms when they are prepared to walk away from a bargain.  So why don’t Republicans turn the tables and threaten to walk away from him?  Is he really that indispensible?

Well then, what about Trump’s excellent judgment.  After all he did have the foresight to pull his money out of Atlantic City before the gambling bubble burst.  Yet where was his common sense with Megyn Kelly?  Insulting a well-loved media figure on national television is not the best way to win hearts and minds.

Lastly, Donald praises himself for introducing important topics, such as immigration, into the nominating process.  No doubt he has.  But he has also done this in a manner that precludes serious debate.  Merely calling others names does little to advance a thoughtful solution to a knotty problem.

When I was a small boy, my parents taught me the virtues of tact.  They explained that offending people to their face was neither nice, nor productive.  Indeed, gratuitous vilification was hurtful and off-putting.  How did Trump escape learning this lesson?

Do we genuinely want his brand of rudeness on the world stage?  Will enemies like Putin take kindly to be called idiots?  Will friends like Netanyahu appreciate being dismissed as spineless fools?

And what about congress?  Will members of either party be inclined to cooperate with a president who treats them with contempt?  Obama has had a difficult time cultivating bipartisan collaboration.  Can Trump do better?

We are in the process of electing a new president—not a new class clown.  Eight years of mismanagement of domestic and foreign policy will not be corrected by selecting someone who is less mature than our current chief executive.

Voters may be angry.  They have every right to be.  But throwing a collective tantrum is unlikely to improve our situation.  Trump has had his moment on the stage.  We have all been duly entertained.  So let’s get down to business.  The issue of who will lead us is too significant to leave to a shoot-from-the-lip jester.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University