The United States has always prided itself on being the best there is compared to the rest. We are the strongest, richest, most productive, most innovative and, well, just the all-around best at everything. We have told ourselves that for so long that most, if not all, of us truly believe that.
The problem here is I’m beginning to have a hard time maintaining that belief.
When I was young, I grew up believing that the president of the United State of America was a truly wonderful person, no matter which political party he (still waiting for a she) represented because, after all, we’re all Americans aren’t we?
And then it felt like someone flipped a switch and we weren’t who we were anymore. And then I began to think that maybe someone didn’t flip a switch. Maybe this change happened while I was off doing something else — like living.
And as I thought more about it I realized that well, yes, there was that war in Southeast Asia and we began to lose our young men to body bags.
And then we heard that the leaders of our country were lying to us and then, Kent State, and then, Richard Nixon.
And then, 9/11. Now, with 9/11, we had the Iranians, the Iraqis and all them Muslims coming over here to kill us.
The big question now was, was this fear we were feeling, or was it racism? Couldn’t be racism. We took care of that a long time ago, didn’t we? No, not really, it was just hiding out.
Enter Donald J. Trump, who had honed his rhetoric on Obama’s birth certificate and then got himself elected president by playing the “Us Against Them” card. Gonna build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it,
However, now we have a different problem — coronavirus. Don’t get me wrong here, the coronavirus was not Trump’s fault. His response to the problem is.
He disbanded the Infectious Pandemic Program started by President Obama. He denied that the U.S. had a problem, claiming that the normal flu virus kills more people (false). He claimed that the virus was a hoax propagated by democrats to make him look bad (false), claimed we had a handle on it and it would be gone by spring (false), railed against governors (Republican and Democrat) who instituted “social distancing” rules and business closures because it wasn’t his idea and, when asked by a reporter if he had any responsibility in the measures being taken he said flat out, “I have no responsibility.” He had demanded businesses re-open because no one had the authority to close them except him.
We’ve seen demonstrations by angry (and armed) Trump supporters yelling that this virus is a hoax created by Democrats. (Where did I hear that before?). That it’s unconstitutional (false), and a whole bunch of other stuff.
And now, just in the past few days, we are hearing that Trump’s administration is burying, hiding or refusing to release vital information from medical professionals and others at the Centers for Disease Control have created to help save peoples lives (yes, even the demonstrators) while businesses and others re-open (before the medical professionals recommendations) because he doesn’t agree with it.
So now, if you can get passed the lying, cheating, philandering, violating the emoluments clause in the Constitution, that’s up to you. However, can you look away while innocent people die because “he doesn’t want to look bad”?
And all of this is avoidable. So, you tell me.
What has this country come to?
Steve Booth
Steve Booth, Bountiful, is a former president and business agent for the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 382, and a retired certified pharmacy technician.