酷我-北美枫

[anna]

January 20, 2017


Dear Anna,

Here we are, Inauguration Day 2017. Having listened to President Trump’s speech, with The Cookers on the stereo, and a glass of Elijah Craig Straight Bourbon at hand, I welcome our new President with my second Trump letter. (My first Trump letter was well received, except by a couple of Trump supporters. But, hey, you can’t please everyone.) Eleven days ago Senator Sanders made an important observation:

“Donald Trump did something extraordinary. Trump took on the Republican establishment, took on the Democratic establishment, took on the media establishment and he ended up winning the election to become President of the United States.”

— Bernie Sanders, January 9, 2017

What the good Senator does not comment on is why. First off, Secretary Clinton lost because she deserved to lose. She carried too much personal and political baggage, she represented “more of the same” when voters were looking for change, she failed to campaign well and her style was off-putting and elitist, and finally, she — and the Democratic Party brass — developed a poor election strategy. She was Washington “royalty” when that was poison to many citizens.

Mr. Trump won because he was the other choice. That is perhaps mainly true, but it cannot be, and is not, the entire truth. Three people went after the chance to stand for office as a Democrat. An amazing 17 people sought the Republican nod. Yet, no one but Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders spoke to the American people about the issues that mattered to them. Of twenty possible presidents, only two — only two — consistently addressed the citizens of their nation. The other 18 candidates, including Mrs. Clinton, were content to speak to and for the political establishment and the coastal elites. Candidates Trump and Sanders were the only ones who seemed to be concerned with the citizens in “fly-over America”. But “fly-over America” is where national elections are won and lost.

In my view, this election would have been more interesting if it had been Trump vs. Sanders. But the Democrats went in for “royalty” and that truly sealed their fate. Once I saw what was happening, I called for a Trump victory.

When I said above that Hilary Clinton lost because she did not deserve to win. That was true. But that does not mean that Donald Trump deserved to win. My view is that neither deserved to occupy the highest office in the world. But, of course, like it or not, one of them had to get it.

If Trump’s speech this noon is anything to go by — and no one but Mr. Trump knows if it is — things might not be quite as bad as many liberals think. Then again, it is one thing to announce policy and another to enact policy. Much of what President Trump proclaimed will have a difficult time with Congress. I strongly expect that there will be very few drastic changes in the status quo before the congressional elections of 2018. Major change will only come after the 2018 elections, and only if the Republicans do better in both the House and the Senate.

So be happy. The world does not end tomorrow. Nor next year, either. The sun will rise. Trust me on that.

While I am not pleased with a Trump Presidency, which could prove to be dangerous, it has brought my on-again/off-again romance with the United Stated to its conclusion. Finally, after 47 years, I am a Canadian (not an American ex-pat living in Canada or an American-Canadian). Since my wife is a Canadian and my three daughters are Canadians, I am OK with this. And, really, all but three years of my adult life have been spent in Canada. So claiming some sort of “Americanism” was quite a stretch.

While I am unhappy placing “President” before “Trump” as I have been doing, would being able to write “President Clinton” make that big a difference? And at least I can say “I called it right.”

Cheers!

. . . James
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

January 20, 2017


Dear Anna,

Here we are, Inauguration Day 2017. Having listened to President Trump’s speech, with The Cookers on the stereo, and a glass of Elijah Craig Straight Bourbon at hand, I welcome our new President with my second Trump letter. (My first Trump letter was well received, except by a couple of Trump supporters. But, hey, you can’t please everyone.) Eleven days ago Senator Sanders made an important observation:

“Donald Trump did something extraordinary. Trump took on the Republican establishment, took on the Democratic establishment, took on the media establishment and he ended up winning the election to become President of the United States.”

— Bernie Sanders, January 9, 2017

What the good Senator does not comment on is why. First off, Secretary Clinton lost because she deserved to lose. She carried too much personal and political baggage, she represented “more of the same” when voters were looking for change, she failed to campaign well and her style was off-putting and elitist, and finally, she — and the Democratic Party brass — developed a poor election strategy. She was Washington “royalty” when that was poison to many citizens.

Mr. Trump won because he was the other choice. That is perhaps mainly true, but it cannot be, and is not, the entire truth. Three people went after the chance to stand for office as a Democrat. An amazing 17 people sought the Republican nod. Yet, no one but Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders spoke to the American people about the issues that mattered to them. Of twenty possible presidents, only two — only two — consistently addressed the citizens of their nation. The other 18 candidates, including Mrs. Clinton, were content to speak to and for the political establishment and the coastal elites. Candidates Trump and Sanders were the only ones who seemed to be concerned with the citizens in “fly-over America”. But “fly-over America” is where national elections are won and lost.

In my view, this election would have been more interesting if it had been Trump vs. Sanders. But the Democrats went in for “royalty” and that truly sealed their fate. Once I saw what was happening, I called for a Trump victory.

When I said above that Hilary Clinton lost because she did not deserve to win. That was true. But that does not mean that Donald Trump deserved to win. My view is that neither deserved to occupy the highest office in the world. But, of course, like it or not, one of them had to get it.

If Trump’s speech this noon is anything to go by — and no one but Mr. Trump knows if it is — things might not be quite as bad as many liberals think. Then again, it is one thing to announce policy and another to enact policy. Much of what President Trump proclaimed will have a difficult time with Congress. I strongly expect that there will be very few drastic changes in the status quo before the congressional elections of 2018. Major change will only come after the 2018 elections, and only if the Republicans do better in both the House and the Senate.

So be happy. The world does not end tomorrow. Nor next year, either. The sun will rise. Trust me on that.

While I am not pleased with a Trump Presidency, which could prove to be dangerous, it has brought my on-again/off-again romance with the United Stated to its conclusion. Finally, after 47 years, I am a Canadian (not an American ex-pat living in Canada or an American-Canadian). Since my wife is a Canadian and my three daughters are Canadians, I am OK with this. And, really, all but three years of my adult life have been spent in Canada. So claiming some sort of “Americanism” was quite a stretch.

While I am unhappy placing “President” before “Trump” as I have been doing, would being able to write “President Clinton” make that big a difference? And at least I can say “I called it right.”

Cheers!

. . . James
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

Dear Anna,

Deplorable (a thing, person, or action that is exceedingly bad, O.E.D.), an odd word for a politician to use concerning the American people. (Could this explain the Clinton defeat?) Although it is true that Donald Trump was actively supported by the K.K.K. and other white-supremacist groups, various neo-fascists and their attendant militias, the American Nazis, .-bashers, and several outlaw biker gangs — all of them deplorable — not every Trump voter was a Klan or fascist sympathizer.

While it was Secretary Clinton who actually used the word “deplorables” to refer to her fellow citizens, the elites of both the Democratic and Republican Parties have treated the American people as deplorables for several election cycles.

It so happens that about half of my American friends and relatives in the U.S. voted for President Trump. Even one of my ex-pat friends here in Canada can be counted among the Trumpists. I know these people well and they are all decent people. The fact is that many Trump voters are decent Americans. They are people who care about their country and about their communities and neighbours.

Does this suggest that Trump’s election is a welcome event? Of course not. It is surely clear to even the blind that Trump is in haste to establish the Imperial Presidency. Others have attempted this kind of power play in the past: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for one. Trump has often expressed his admiration for F.D.R., perhaps for this very reason. Whenever a President tries to rule as an Emperor it is up to Congress to hold him in check. So far Congress has done little to restrain The Donald.

In addition to his Imperial ambitions, President Trump believes that reality is what he claims it to be and not what it actually is. This is magical thinking, and extremely dangerous. Most people make decisions based on how they see the world and how they understand the situation they are in. Their decisions are usually at least somewhat rational. If one’s view of the world is seriously distorted, only bad decisions can result. When a powerful man, like a President, makes decisions based not on reality but on what he wishes reality to be, the world is in a frightening position.

To be generous, we might assume that President Trump is a genuine populist and not a fake populist. We might also assume that he is deeply concerned about the United States and the American people. All to the good. Nonetheless, his trend towards magical thinking will surely lead to disaster.

It is important to understand that President Trump’s ideas are truly American. They go right back to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and behind Emerson to the Puritans. They are just as American as the ideas expressed by President Obama during his eight years in office. They are but a different branch of the same tree. This is to say that Donald Trump is not, as the Liberal media suggests, anti-American or un-American.

Even the President’s assertion that reality can be changed simply by insisting that it has been changed, as odd as that may seem to most people, is rooted in American philosophical and spiritual traditions going back into the 19th century. Despite this long-standing tradition, President Trump is not a traditional conservative, even though the National Post as recently as yesterday made exactly that claim. Rather, Trump taps into a different tradition that is not as old as Toryism, and much more American in origin. (Anyhow, there hardly were any true American Tories, and those few that existed left soon after the Revolutionary War.)

President Trump does, however, represent what might be referred to as the “ugly side” of Americanism. Trump is hard while Obama was soft. Trump is mean while Obama was kind. And I do indeed find it deplorable that a white supremacist and purveyor of anti-Semitism serves as a top Presidential advisor. I find it deplorable that a member of the U.S. Cabinet has been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.

But we will do well to remember that millions of good people elected Mr. Trump, people who are not white supremacists or neo-Nazis. And they are Americans, too, just as American as those who oppose the President. Perhaps, those Trump voters are Americans who have simply grown tired of being deplored by the political class and its operatives.

Most sincerely,

. . . James


x
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

Dear Anna,

Deplorable (a thing, person, or action that is exceedingly bad, O.E.D.), an odd word for a politician to use concerning the American people. (Could this explain the Clinton defeat?) Although it is true that Donald Trump was actively supported by the K.K.K. and other white-supremacist groups, various neo-fascists and their attendant militias, the American Nazis, .-bashers, and several outlaw biker gangs — all of them deplorable — not every Trump voter was a Klan or fascist sympathizer.

While it was Secretary Clinton who actually used the word “deplorables” to refer to her fellow citizens, the elites of both the Democratic and Republican Parties have treated the American people as deplorables for several election cycles.

It so happens that about half of my American friends and relatives in the U.S. voted for President Trump. Even one of my ex-pat friends here in Canada can be counted among the Trumpists. I know these people well and they are all decent people. The fact is that many Trump voters are decent Americans. They are people who care about their country and about their communities and neighbours.

Does this suggest that Trump’s election is a welcome event? Of course not. It is surely clear to even the blind that Trump is in haste to establish the Imperial Presidency. Others have attempted this kind of power play in the past: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for one. Trump has often expressed his admiration for F.D.R., perhaps for this very reason. Whenever a President tries to rule as an Emperor it is up to Congress to hold him in check. So far Congress has done little to restrain The Donald.

In addition to his Imperial ambitions, President Trump believes that reality is what he claims it to be and not what it actually is. This is magical thinking, and extremely dangerous. Most people make decisions based on how they see the world and how they understand the situation they are in. Their decisions are usually at least somewhat rational. If one’s view of the world is seriously distorted, only bad decisions can result. When a powerful man, like a President, makes decisions based not on reality but on what he wishes reality to be, the world is in a frightening position.

To be generous, we might assume that President Trump is a genuine populist and not a fake populist. We might also assume that he is deeply concerned about the United States and the American people. All to the good. Nonetheless, his trend towards magical thinking will surely lead to disaster.

It is important to understand that President Trump’s ideas are truly American. They go right back to Ralph Waldo Emerson, and behind Emerson to the Puritans. They are just as American as the ideas expressed by President Obama during his eight years in office. They are but a different branch of the same tree. This is to say that Donald Trump is not, as the Liberal media suggests, anti-American or un-American.

Even the President’s assertion that reality can be changed simply by insisting that it has been changed, as odd as that may seem to most people, is rooted in American philosophical and spiritual traditions going back into the 19th century. Despite this long-standing tradition, President Trump is not a traditional conservative, even though the National Post as recently as yesterday made exactly that claim. Rather, Trump taps into a different tradition that is not as old as Toryism, and much more American in origin. (Anyhow, there hardly were any true American Tories, and those few that existed left soon after the Revolutionary War.)

President Trump does, however, represent what might be referred to as the “ugly side” of Americanism. Trump is hard while Obama was soft. Trump is mean while Obama was kind. And I do indeed find it deplorable that a white supremacist and purveyor of anti-Semitism serves as a top Presidential advisor. I find it deplorable that a member of the U.S. Cabinet has been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.

But we will do well to remember that millions of good people elected Mr. Trump, people who are not white supremacists or neo-Nazis. And they are Americans, too, just as American as those who oppose the President. Perhaps, those Trump voters are Americans who have simply grown tired of being deplored by the political class and its operatives.

Most sincerely,

. . . James


x
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

my haiku

the Year of the Rooster
crown on Trump
alternative facts
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

my haiku

the Year of the Rooster
crown on Trump
alternative facts
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com