The last week of May began with a public nightmare: the brutal murder of George Floyd caught on a cellphone for the whole world to see. Did our president reach out to calm the nation’s horror and grief, to console and to call for unity? Not at all. Instead, he continued to divide America, presenting us with yet another new rock bottom.
His daily indecencies and democracy shredding make us forget the transgressions he committed only days before. Thus, in the interests of documenting what must not be forgotten, I provide the list below.
Here is what the Leader of the Free World focused on during the last week of the decidedly un-merry month of May:
Trump’s entire attention was on these sickening stunts and shenanigans, anything to distract attention from the health emergency and resulting economic collapse that he has grossly mismanaged, and the challenging issues raised by Floyd’s murder. Instead of stepping up when leadership was desperately needed, he went AWOL, resorting to ridicule, insults, lies and avoidance of responsibility along with megadoses of distraction, deflection and distortion.
And how did Trump begin the following week? By stewing over reports of him retreating to the White House bunker during protests. To show what a macho man he is, he ordered federal law enforcement (the Park Police, Secret Service, DC National Guard, U.S. Marshals et al.) to use pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades to clear the 100 percent peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park so that he and his spineless sycophants—Barr, Esper and General Milley among others—could strut across to St. John’s Church for a nauseating photo-op of him standing in front of the church holding up a Bible. This is what we get instead of leadership.
I had the good fortune twice to work for bosses who epitomized real leadership. They instilled a sense of purpose in their organizations and employees; they had carefully thought-out goals; they inspired their people; they planned, including contingency and backup planning; they never disparaged or insulted anyone; they were disciplined; they worked hard; they were empathetic; they consoled when necessary; they took responsibility and were accountable for mistakes; and they never let their personal interests get in the way of our missions. They possessed all the leadership qualities that Donald Trump lacks.
So here we are, stuck with a fatally flawed and failed, insecure creature who regrettably still has many months to go at the increasingly unstable tiller of the ship of state he is doing so much to sink. The damage he could inflict in his remaining tenure could be even worse than what he has wrought so far.
Dick Hermann
June 5, 2020
His daily indecencies and democracy shredding make us forget the transgressions he committed only days before. Thus, in the interests of documenting what must not be forgotten, I provide the list below.
Here is what the Leader of the Free World focused on during the last week of the decidedly un-merry month of May:
- He falsely accused a cable TV host of murder, at the same time causing the family of the deceased greater pain and more suffering.
- He pulled the US out of the World Health Organization in the midst of a global health emergency.
- He encouraged law enforcement to shoot Americans looting stores during the nationwide protests of George Floyd’s murder.
- He claimed that violent protesters are from the “radical, Antifa left,” citing no evidence, and said nothing about the surge in white supremacist social media polemics urging violence.
- He threatened DC protesters with “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.”
- He falsely claimed that DC Mayor Muriel Bowser kept DC Police away from the White House demonstrations. They were there.
- He invited his supporters to confront protesters at the White House.
- He went to war with Twitter after the social media site labeled some of his tweets misleading (only two of his 84 lies for the week).
- He demanded that North Carolina allow the Republican convention to proceed with no masks or social distancing.
- He refused to wear a face mask in public in contravention of his own White House guidelines while ridiculing Joe Biden for wearing a face mask.
- He gratuitously insulted Stacy Abrams regarding her weight.
- He tweeted that Nancy Pelosi has a drinking problem (she doesn’t drink).
- He said “MAGA loves the Black people” (this from the Birther-Conspirator-in-Chief whose racist diatribes have continued).
- He said next to nothing about coronavirus deaths passing 100,000.
- He continued to promote a ridiculous, evidence-free “Obamagate” conspiracy.
- He re-tweeted a video of a man saying ”the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”
- He continued to falsely claim that absentee voting is rife with fraud.
- He threatened to eliminate the U.S. Postal Service.
- He said he wanted to invite our Russian enemy back into the G-7.
- He played two rounds of golf when not tweeting his lies and rages.
Trump’s entire attention was on these sickening stunts and shenanigans, anything to distract attention from the health emergency and resulting economic collapse that he has grossly mismanaged, and the challenging issues raised by Floyd’s murder. Instead of stepping up when leadership was desperately needed, he went AWOL, resorting to ridicule, insults, lies and avoidance of responsibility along with megadoses of distraction, deflection and distortion.
And how did Trump begin the following week? By stewing over reports of him retreating to the White House bunker during protests. To show what a macho man he is, he ordered federal law enforcement (the Park Police, Secret Service, DC National Guard, U.S. Marshals et al.) to use pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades to clear the 100 percent peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park so that he and his spineless sycophants—Barr, Esper and General Milley among others—could strut across to St. John’s Church for a nauseating photo-op of him standing in front of the church holding up a Bible. This is what we get instead of leadership.
I had the good fortune twice to work for bosses who epitomized real leadership. They instilled a sense of purpose in their organizations and employees; they had carefully thought-out goals; they inspired their people; they planned, including contingency and backup planning; they never disparaged or insulted anyone; they were disciplined; they worked hard; they were empathetic; they consoled when necessary; they took responsibility and were accountable for mistakes; and they never let their personal interests get in the way of our missions. They possessed all the leadership qualities that Donald Trump lacks.
So here we are, stuck with a fatally flawed and failed, insecure creature who regrettably still has many months to go at the increasingly unstable tiller of the ship of state he is doing so much to sink. The damage he could inflict in his remaining tenure could be even worse than what he has wrought so far.
Dick Hermann
June 5, 2020
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