Accidental Truths

I’m not sure President Trump’s statement, as he was preparing to leave for a meeting with Xi Jinping in China, landed the way he intended.

“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” he said. “I don’t think about anybody.”

Does that come as a surprise to anyone?

Since he was sworn in for his second term, he has made clear his goals: to enrich himself and his family, and to create the United States in his image. The latter means that he must plaster his name and his likeness in as many ways and places as possible. What he hasn’t done is help people at the bottom of the economic latter get a step up, make healthcare more accessible and more affordable, or improve the country’s image on the world stage.

He wants to portray himself as a strongman, but that isn’t working when it’s clear that he can be conned into a war by Netanyahu and seems to be more in tune with Putin’s methods than in abiding by the Constitution to which he swore an oath.

Remember when Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were willing to do the right thing even if it meant losing their seats in the next election? Remember in his first term when members of the president’s cabinet were willing to give him advice that he didn’t want to hear?

Unfortunately, he learned the wrong lesson from that experience. Now, he only surrounds himself with people who do his bidding without any backtalk. The results are the gutting of the federal workforce, a war that should never have been started, rising inflation, and allies that no longer trust us to do the right thing.

For a while there was a glimmer of hope that the midterm elections might offer some relief, but that hope is dimming with his redistricting scheme. How do we get out of this mess?

We can start by talking honestly to the people around us. We can make sure that people are aware of the stakes, and we can head to the polls in November armed with information and the will to make changes for the better.

It’s going to take all of us speaking up and showing up if we have any chance at all.