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Vail Daily letter: All talk and no action

Butch Mazzuca suggests that “serious political figures, i.e. Democrats, gave us a $19 trillion national debt, a worldwide immigrant crisis, the targeting of cops, and the expansion of Islamic terrorism.” Does he think everything began with the Obama Administration? Has he forgotten the origins of the mess were in? Does the name George W. Bush come to mind?

He asks which of Trump’s deeds and actions support the contention that he is bigoted? Has he listened to or read any of Trump’s comments about women, the disabled, Latinos, immigrants, Muslims, LGBT, or anybody who disagrees with him on anything. By definition he is a classic bigot.

Mazzuca suggests that Trump must be intelligent because he finished first in his class at Wharton. Trump has indicated that he will slap a 35 percent tax on foreign imports that will make countries yield to his way of thinking. Does he think foreign countries won’t retaliate by putting tariffs on imported American goods thus creating disastrous trade wars? An eighth-grader could figure that one out. Trump must have skipped the class on tariffs and free trade.



Mazzuca concludes by saying we can “see, touch and feel” Trump’s accomplishments. What would those be: owner of the Miss World contest, overseer of the defunct Trump University, mastermind of his “Apprentice” TV show? Wait, he says: how about his accomplishments as a parent?

How pathetic that Trump had to trot out his children to tell us he’s a great father who instilled a strong work ethic, a sense of fair play and decency, along with noble ideals and values to his children. Hello! Isn’t that what all conscientious parents try to do? Is that supposed to be an accomplishment unique only to Trump?

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Mazzuca is right, however, that perhaps gaining a measure of a candidate’s character and accomplishments isn’t a bad place to start. We now know a lot about Trump’s character since he became a candidate. He has shown the country that he is a classic charlatan defined as a person who deceives others by falsely claiming to have expert knowledge or skills. He’s vain, pompous, a braggart, and a demagogic authoritarian bully. He clearly revels in his ability to speak and say absolutely nothing of substance. He’s all talk and no action. He has no plan for anything except perhaps building a wall with Mexico. Spoiler alert, Donald. Why build a wall when Mexican migration to the U.S. since 2009 is less than U.S. migration to Mexico? Duh! His primary goal, as he so often reminds us, is to maximize personal wealth.

As to leadership skills his strategy seems to be to browbeat, threaten, intimidate, and bully his opponents into submission; traits of a fascist that won’t be effective on the world stage.

The most obvious sham, however, is the hat logo “Make America Great Again.” Just when in the past history of the U.S. was our country greater than we are now? Trump won’t and can’t tell us because there never has been a time when we were greater than we are now. It’s all about moving forward, not backward.

Thanks for the suggestion to look at a candidate’s character and accomplishments, Butch. Guess who will get my vote?

Denny Geraghty

Denver


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