Editor,
Trump: Enough is definitely enough! Donald Trump doesn’t even espouse good Christian values and beliefs, and Trump’s speeches are cringeworthy. Example: Trump openly campaigned in 2016 as a “greedy man.” He boldly exclaimed, “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I’ve grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy. But now I want to be greedy for the United States.” He described himself as greedy, using the adjective not once but four times, which usually adds significant emphasis.
“Greedy” is defined as an intense, selfish desire, wanting more of something that isn’t fair or appropriate. Synonyms of “greedy” are avaricious, selfish and covetous. The last word, or a form of it, “covetous” can be found in the Ten Commandments, as one of the behaviors God prohibits. Americans apparently made an exception for Trump in 2016. As a result, we have seen families divided and friendships destroyed. It seems Trump is not only “greedy,” he is also very divisive.
By the way, “greedy” is an adjective that describes many a criminal, I know, as I spent years working in correctional treatment programs for convicted offenders of all types and ages. I worked with many sociopaths and career- or budding-career criminals.
Trump bent and broke a lot of rules while he has been “greedy” and has “grabbed all the money” he could, as evidenced by his recent court cases where he was found guilty of over-inflating his empire’s worth and of sexual abuse of a woman. In the former, Trump has been ordered to pay for his “ill-gotten gains” due to “fraudulent and misleading” behavior.
Journalist Ezra Klein stated in 2016, while referring to Trump’s self proclaimed value of greed, “This is a perfect distillation of Trump’s appeal — it’s how he’s turned a suite of noxious qualities into a powerful presidential campaign. Trump goes to voters who think rich guys like Trump have been screwing them over all their lives and promises to use his rich guy powers to screw other people over on their behalf. Trump positions himself as an advocate for the struggling by showing that he’s the kind of guy who knows the tricks to getting rich — and he’s willing to share his secrets. In a country where people increasingly feel the economy is rigged against them, Trump isn’t promising to be more compassionate or more generous; he’s promising to rig the economy against someone else instead. In a world where the greedy bastards seem to keep winning, a lot of Americans are concluding they’re going to need their own greedy bastard in order to stand a chance. That’s Trump’s pitch. It’s not that he’s a nice guy who cares about you. It’s that he’s a nasty, greedy guy who shares your enemies.”
And really, Trump doesn’t care about you or me. He cares about himself, first, last, always. It’s what a “greedy” person does. What a wrong message this was and still is for America.
The reasoning some have used for selecting Trump — that the country has numerous dirty jobs that need to be done, and, therefore, we should hire a despicable, dishonorable person to do them because only he can get the job done — is without merit. It’s terrible logic and destructive to the nation. Trump doesn’t believe in building a consensus or working with anyone who has opposing views. So, what can he do, working alone, without cooperation from others, subsequently allowing any predecessor to easily undo what he might do?
Trump’s negotiating skill set, viewed by some as legendary, can be described in two words: “You’re fired.” This is a poor and inadequate skill set indeed. It’s usually Trump’s way or the highway! That’s no way to run the most diverse, democratic nation in the world, third largest in area and population.
Lastly, Trump begins his current campaign speeches with a statement that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. This has never been proven, and there are no current court cases in deliberation to support this false claim. In fact, there is evidence that Trump attempted to pressure some state officials and his own vice president into overturning what clearly was a legal election. This is just one more lie by a person who has made a career out of lying to get what he wants.
Ronald Wall
Battle Ground
