Helsinki – Oscar Valdes

The End of Trump

Continues to unfold.
The House of Representatives commission investigating the events of January 6th 2021 has dealt him a serious blow.
Their findings are being forwarded to the Justice department for further examination, which may lead to charges. Among them is the very serious matter of insurrection.
Trump had good people around who could tell him, ‘You lost. Get over it. Have to move on.’ And there were those who couldn’t stand up to him, who couldn’t say ‘you have to regroup, to examine what went wrong and correct it’. They just didn’t have it in them.
The voters know who they are.
Lots of Republican Senators are in that bunch.
Trump failed because he couldn’t adjust to reality. His message to those who were bitter and were left behind, though propelling him to the presidency in 2016, needed to be modified.
In a pluralistic society such as ours the emphasis is on inclusion, which presupposes dialogue, which presupposes tolerance. But Trump couldn’t see it.
I still remember his reaction to a reporter’s question about a former White House staff member, a lady, who had quit and was being critical of him. The reporter asked what he thought of her. Trump’s answer – ‘A dog.’
Trump failed because of his character.
There’s no way back now. He will not be president again. He should heed the advice of those who are now telling him not to run. But he won’t.
And so he will lose in the primaries to another Republican candidate.
His base deserves blame for his undoing. They did not examine the messenger carefully.
They chose to not be critical. They bought into the message of sectarianism and intolerance.
They thought Trump would be the magician who would empower them.
But there’s no easy way to empowerment in a pluralistic society. Compromise is the norm. Give and take. Gradualism.
It’s not about building walls but about building bridges. And it takes longer to build bridges.
Trump’s shortcomings ran deep.
On July 16th 2018, in Helsinki, Finland, early in the morning before meeting with Putin, Trump tweeted, ‘Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse, thanks to many years of US foolishness and stupidity…’. A bit lopsided to say the least. Had Putin not annexed Crimea in 2014, also grabbing Ukraine’s territory in the East?
And yet that same July 16th, at the press conference following the meeting with Putin, after reporter Jonathan Lemire asked Trump, ‘Every US intelligence has concluded that Russia did interfere (in the 2016 US elections). Who do you believe? Would you now, with the whole world watching, tell president Putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016, and would you warn him to not do it again.’
Trump replied, ‘… my people came to me, Dan Coats came to me and others, they said they think it’s Russia… I have President Putin (Putin stood nearby behind another lectern) … he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this… I don’t see any reason why it would be… I have confidence in both parties… I have great confidence in my intelligence people… but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. (Questions and answers as reported by the New York Times)
Trump failed because of his character, the same character who let himself be tricked by Putin.
We can only speculate what kind of a man Trump would have been if he had engaged in a productive dialogue with himself, where he showed willingness to acknowledge his flaws.
But he did not and that’s who we got for president.
That’s the man who faced Putin on our behalf and let him get away with the denial.
Had he not let Putin get away so easily, would there have been a war in Ukraine?
Putin didn’t just become a thug overnight, he has been a thug for a long time.
Seeing that an American president could so easily be bamboozled, surely contributed to his thinking that he could get away with invading Ukraine.
It’s been very traumatic for America to process Trump and his behavior.
We need to learn from it so we won’t make the same mistake again.

107 Days to the Inauguration of Joe Biden.

A new dawn is upon us, a new set of possibilities, a new chapter in our history.

Every one of us can be part of this moment. It is up to us to be a participant.

Our future is in our hands.

What we saw in the first presidential debate in Cleveland – likely the only one we will have – was reflective of what has happened during the past 4 years.

We need dialogue in the nation, dialogue between Americans no matter how far apart in views we may be.

We have not had that for the past 4 years. We have not because our leader did not make it a priority.

We have not because our leader is not suited for it.

Trump has fallen short when it comes to confronting thorny matters.

On July 16^th 2018, when sharing a stage with Putin in Helsinki, he was asked by a reporter to confront Putin with the ample evidence gathered by our intelligence services that there had been Russian interference in the 2016 elections. But Trump replied that, while he believed American intelligence reports, he also believed Putin’s denial of involvement.

What does that mean?

If you cannot confront a foe, then, what can we trust you to do?

Trump could not reach across the enormous divide in our land and say to the opposing parties,

‘We have to put aside the anger and hatred that is consuming us,’

‘We have to stop thinking in black and white.’

‘No one owns the truth, no one.’

‘We all contribute to this great land and so all must be heard.’

‘And I will be the great mediator between the divided parts of this land, because I am convinced that if we learn how to talk, then we will find the fullness of our strength.’

But he couldn’t do it.

He could not because it is not in him.

That’s his truth. But he does not own up to it. He does not come clean with himself and with us.

As a result we are less than we can be.

And that has to stop.

How do we stop it? By voting for change.

It is our task to do so, our national duty.

You don’t have to believe in what I say nor I in what you say, but we must concede that we have to talk to each other to find out where we can agree.

It is up to a thoughtful leader to bring us to the table and to moderate such dialogue.

Trump didn’t even try.

Biden is committed to the task.

Oscar Valdes

Oscarvaldes.net

The Helsinki Moment Redux. Trump’s Silence.

He can’t stop tweeting, giving us his opinions about when the virus will leave, and how well he managed the pandemic (The Chinese, meanwhile, are so far ahead of us that they have started vaccinating people in the Middle East and South America. Two doses, one month apart).

He will carry on about our racial protests and how his way to go about them is the way to do it (‘hit them hard, like animals’).

In his dreams, he sees himself being awarded the Nobel prize for facilitating diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. An honorable mention, of course, would have to go to his son in law and advisor. Or maybe they’ll share the prize.

The fires in the West coast have destroyed homes and lives but is there a connection to climate change? Not at all. The forest service has to do a better job of keeping the land clean, he says.

And then, news about Russia’s efforts to interfere in our upcoming election comes up and what has he said?

Nothing.

Microsoft has documented efforts by the GRU, a Russian military unit, attempting to hack into our internet services, but our president has stayed mum.

Zippo.

He cannot stand up to Putin and Putin knows it.

On 7/16/2018, at a press conference in Helsinki, right after he’d held a meeting in private with Putin, Trump is asked by a reporter in the audience if he would ask Putin, who’s standing next to him, to not interfere in our elections, in light of evidence provided by American intelligence services.

Trump’s reply, ‘I believe our intelligence services… but I also believe Putin (and his denial that he had nothing to do with it).’

Yep, he said it. In front of the whole world.

For such a verbose person to not find words to comment on Russia’s renewed interference in our election process, is quite a feat.

And he is getting away with it.

Is Biden Harris waiting for a sign from heaven to call Trump on it?

Are they saving it for the upcoming debate in Cleveland on 9/29 and then bring it up?

Or will they just let Trump get away with it?

I don’t get it.

That Trump’s silence is being greeted by silence in his supporters is understandable, given their absolute devotion to their leader. ‘Why, surely, it is part of the conspiracy against him.’

But the silence on the part of Biden Harris?

I don’t get it.

Maybe they’re just waiting for the right time. What do you think?

Oscar Valdes is the author of Psychiatrist for A Nation and other books. Available in Amazon.

Oscarvaldes.net