The Romance That Threatens Us All
The seduction of Donald Trump.
The first headline I read early this morning was the most accurate, and courtesy of The New Yorker:
Other papers were less honest, with headlines like,
Except we didn’t. Only Congress has the authority to declare war. Trump briefed Republican leaders, but didn’t brief Democrats until after the fact.
In Donald Trump’s mind, Congress is surplus to requirements.
We don’t live in Donald Trump’s mind.
It almost feels like 9/11 to me.
I realize if I link yesterday to 9/11 in any way, I’ll be crucified by a bunch of people, most of whom were nowhere near lower Manhattan that day. They’ll think I’m comparing Donald Trump to Osama Bin Laden, and they’ll think I’m accusing an American president of being a terrorist who kills innocent people.
That’s not what I’m writing about. If anyone infers I’m comparing Trump to Bin Laden, I suppose they’re simply collateral thoughts.
Almost twenty-five years ago, I stood with a doctor at the Staten Island Ferry terminal and watched for a boat to bring in the wounded. What had been the Twin Towers just a few hours before was now a gaping black hole.
We ended up treating only a handful of people. The minor league Yankee Stadium next to the ferry terminal was turned into a rest station for our firefighters.
After I looked at the first firefighter’s face, I was a changed person.
I watched tremendous clouds of oily black smoke billow above the harbor. I could not fathom the enormity of what we were experiencing. I just stood and watched lower Manhattan burn. I experienced the feelings of disbelief in waves, like nausea.
We were told to never forget. I couldn’t possibly. That day is singed into my DNA.
I remember exactly how I felt. What is reminiscent is living in a world I no longer recognize.
I’m writing about events changing in an inexorable way. The feeling that comes when givens no longer apply. The feeling of living in relative safety, then suddenly being in terrible danger.
It’s twenty-five years later, and I no longer live in yesterday’s world. I now live in a world which, as a friend of mine notes, feels like the Archduke of Austria has been shot.
But here’s the difference between now and then: Congress was at least given a chance to weigh in before we invaded Iraq the next year. It was a disastrous mistake, but it came with Congressional approval.
Now I’m being terrorized by my own president. Who knows what he’ll do next?
I cannot think of a decision which needs more sober consideration than getting involved in the Middle East again. If I’m not mistaken (and I am not) Trump campaigned against going to war in the region.
As a reminder, when so many people were furious with Joe Biden for our withdrawal from Afghanistan, few recalled the deadline was negotiated by Donald Trump and the Taliban. Trump had called for an even swifter withdrawal—four days after he lost the election to Biden.
Pundits on the radio this morning debating whether or not bombing Iran was a good decision are missing the point.
Today we live in a country where Donald Trump bombs a nation because he thinks it’s a good idea. He did so even as resolutions were being drafted to obtain congressional approval.
We’re being governed by whim.
I’m convinced the most dangerous thing about Trump is what you see is what you get.
When he addressed the nation last night, I was struck by his use of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname, Bibi.
Trump relishes being the most powerful man in the world. He thinks highly of his own intellect. He’s vindictive, full of resentment. He responds best to flattery.
Using the nickname of a Prime Minister at such a grave time suggests familiarity. I think it’s intentional.
Look at me, I’m on a nickname basis with Bibi Netanyahu.
Bibi and me.
Don’t mess with us, we’re the world’s strongmen.
We decide.
There’s a recent book about how the people around Joe Biden wrongly protected him as he was showing signs of aging and decreased mental acuity. I do hope Jake Tapper writes a book about how the people around Trump didn’t let him know he was being played by Netanyahu.
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, reported the opinion of the intelligence community was that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. She was rewarded with being frozen out of this decision.
Tulsi ruined the mood.
Netanyahu’s lifelong obsession is the destruction of Iran. He’s just never had anyone gullible enough to help him achieve his goal.
Bibi flattered Trump with his attention, and the bombing of Iran is the result.
When you think of the amount of suffering these two men are causing the world, it does beg the question of why we stand it. I can think of nothing that’s left me at more of a loss than what to do about Trump.
Nothing I did worked. I voted, called my Senators, called my Representative in Congress, wrote essays, and I protested.
Nothing changed. Nobody with the power to end the Trump presidency did anything about it.
Today, I woke up and he’d bombed Iran. He did what he wanted and nobody stopped him.
The Republicans in power will have to own this, because they did have the power to stop him and didn’t.
Even so, I feel deep regret I couldn’t do more. It feels like personal failure. After a preventable disaster, isn’t the question always,
How could you let this happen?
One of the few people who were evacuated to Staten Island on 9/11 was a Muslim woman in a hijab.
She didn’t speak much. She was in a terrible state of shock, wandering around, eyes vacant. She should have been hospitalized, but it was before we knew there wouldn’t be an influx of wounded who needed beds more desperately.
I was only able to get from her that she had been on the street shopping when the planes hit. Then,
“I slipped on somebody’s liver.”
I think of her all the time.
In Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, there are countless people who are often at the mercy of seemingly insane leaders.
We are more like them than we realize.
We know how his bromances end. Wonder what’s going to break them up. I also wonder if Putin is getting jealous that little Donny’s found a new sweetheart.
Thank you for finding the words that I can't. In this insane time, I don't have a grasp on how to write about it and writing about anything bu seems frivolous and self-indulgenet. So thanks for doing what I can't at this moment.