In this era of one “crisis” after
another, it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of “leadership.” It used to
be that in times of crisis, people in this country put aside their differences
and put their faith in the president’s leadership. Presidents who didn’t show
leadership in time of crisis, like Herbert Hoover, were soon out of a job. Donald
Trump has so sought to divide this country that outside his base of fanatics,
few trust his judgment, and unfortunately, that distrust at the top is gathering
moss on its tumble down the pyramid. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey may be a
Republican, but that doesn’t mean Republican voters in his state think his
“leadership” is any more worth obeying than if he was a Democrat. Mark Lamb,
sheriff of Pinal County, decided he wasn’t going to enforce the governor’s
stay-at-home order, because he and others of like mind have the “constitutional”
right to do as they damn well please, to hell with everyone else’s well-being.
That is the kind of “leadership”
that appeals to Trump, which is why he invited Lamb recently to the White
House. The problem is that like with many fools who think scientists and medical
professionals are no more to be respected than gun restriction advocates, Lamb’s
stupidity was no defense against the COVID-19; he never did get the “honor” of
meeting Der Fuhrer, because he tested positive for the virus. Lamb assumes that
he came into contact with an infected person at a campaign event; stupid is as
stupid does.
Of course, even in “progressive”
states like Washington, there are those numbskull law enforcement types like
Lewis County Sheriff Robert Snaza, who told his flock not to be “sheep,” and to
ignore the governor’s mandate to wear masks in public spaces; one shouldn’t be
too sorry for him if he catches the virus and passes it on to those other tough
dudes standing around him. But I also wonder about all those people in Seattle
who are not taking the governor very seriously either; I saw two white females
walking shoulder-to-shoulder along a Seneca Street sidewalk, neither one
wearing masks, and the one with short blonde hair actually breathed just inches
from the other woman’s air-intake orifices. Well, as long as they don’t get too
close to me I don’t care what they do to each other.
In the face of all
of this, we ought to expect leadership from the tippy-top to provide some form
of “guidance,” and obviously there is very little of that coming from Trump. As
I mentioned before, the “buck” always passes Trump like a freight train. Trump
does not care about anyone but himself, period. He doesn’t care about the
128,000 people who have died from the COVID-19 thus far, he doesn’t care that
states following his “leadership”—or lack thereof— are seeing record daily increases
in virus cases. And if he doesn’t care about that, why should he care about a
few U.S. service members killed by Taliban militants for bounties placed on
them by Russian intelligence operatives?
“Bountygate” is
obviously something that Trump wants to go away real soon. The Associated Press reported that a Navy
Seal team discovered a stash of $500,000 in a Taliban hideaway after three U.S.
Marines were killed when their car was ambushed; captured Taliban militants
admitted under interrogation that the money came from Russian operatives paying
them to kill American troops even while “peace” negotiations were going on. I
don’t know how much more “corroboration” you need for this to rise above the
“suspicion” level, but what is particularly disturbing about this is that this
information was discovered more than a year ago, and was reportedly transmitted
to Trump in writing. John Bolton supposedly spoke to Trump about these
suspicious activities, although mention of them was reportedly excised from his
book for being “classified” information.
Trump’s stooges
both in and out of intel expressed “outrage” that this leak of “classified”
information is compromising American counterintelligence operations. But who
are they trying to kid? Trump has repeatedly denied knowing of such things in the past, only to have his lies found out later. How many more
service members needed to die before Trump got “mad” at his pal Vladimir Putin?
Trump wouldn't want this kind of compromising information coming out, which is
why he tried to hide his infamous phone call with Ukraine’s president in a
classified computer system—and who knows what other such compromising
information he is trying to hide because of his deep “understandings” with
Putin. Putin hates the United States, and he sees Trump as the willing fool who
will help him in his quest to undermine this country domestic stability and its
international interests.
Trump has betrayed
this country’s principles at home and abroad for nothing more than his own
personal interests and dislikes, and now it appears he has even betrayed the
service members he claims to “honor” to save both his skin and that of his
friend, Putin. Just because his supporters are like flies attracted to his
moral and ethical dung pile doesn’t mean the rest of the country should follow
suit.
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