After a blog post from years ago, prior to the 2016 election, I supported Hillary Clinton but would give a Trump presidency a chance. Although I would be disappointed, I was willing to work for the better of the country in the long run.
I still have the same feeling, I am thinking of my country. For that main reason, for the future that includes my children, I must insist that this presidency must end as quickly as possible. There have been many volumes written about the absurdity, conspiracy, incompetence, and the genuine evil promoted by this administration. I will site a few now but please remember this list is not exhausted and will probably be outdated as new catastrophes emerge hourly.
- Immigration issues at the southern border, separation of families, children and cages and concentration camps
- Emoluments
- Financial malfeasance
- Conspiracy and obstruction of justice as outlined in the Mueller report
- Lying
- Fighting science and fact, promoting short-term beliefs and political considerations over the long-term good of all
- Nepotism
- Supporting authoritarianism
- creating virtual dumpster fires and then bragging for putting out that same fire
- Cheating on his family and an entire country
- Hubris
- And arguably the worst, hypocrisy (e.g., golfing)
A more recent and complete list is provided here by David Leonhardt.
I am proud of the title of this post as I think it captures my disappointment in the current president in so many dimensions. Firstly, it is ridiculous that this man is president of anything, let alone a country as great as the United States of America. From what I have witnessed, I would not trust this man with a goldfish.
Next, moron is contained in the last word and conjures up the appropriate image of not just a dumb person, but someone who thinks they’re smarter than they really are.
Lastly, that same word also contains ox, which conjures the image of a large brainless brute who bullies their way through their own incompetence.
It is always upsetting to see people rewarded for bad behavior. This is also a reminder that democracy is not a perfect system that is just better than all of the others. It is the approximation of the best by using the popular, and he had demonstrated here people can be confused, often conflating competence with confidence.
Presently many people are pushing for impeachment hearings to start. Others suggest waiting until he is voted out of office where he can then be in prison. I believe the best approach is to do both, begin impeaching hearings as well as continue to gather evidence so he can be prosecuted once he leaves office. I would also add that as soon as possible the policy to not prosecute a sitting president be eliminated — no one should be above the law.
Blame also goes to the Republican party for tolerating this behavior and enabling these bad outcomes for short-term gains.
Non-voters and those who simply do not participate in the process are also to blame. People need to prepare and to vote.
Finally, there is blame left for the Democrats who for decades chose civility over patriotism.
One should avoid any oxymoron, especially this one.
PS: Today, House Judiciary voted two Articles of Impeachment — here’s a list of GOP/Trump defenses and why they are wrong/silly.
jd 
JD, it is good to read your written word.
Although Trump enrages the soul, he is only a symptom of a disease spreading throughout the U.S. There is a deep current of racism in this country that shocks even me, a lifelong cynic. His dog whistles, false equivalencies, and unabashed racist comments enliven a behavior in certain of our countrymen that had, over the past 20-30 years, been relegated to the shadows. Racism is back – 1950s style. And it’s not just limited to the brown and black persons. It extends to all women, Asians, etc. – actually anyone who is not white and male. The rise of such an imbecile would not have been possible were it not for the successful striking of such a resounding chord. Trump’s instrument is the racist and he plays him like a siren sings.
The other factor at play here is not so easily identified. The industrial/commercial world is experiencing a declining need for people. Despite the low unemployment rate (fast food and Walmart jobs will forever be ubiquitous) the supply of high-paying intellectual jobs is declining. First went the factory jobs – not to China as much as to automation. Next comes the disappearance of the intellectual positions, to data algorithms that can duplicate 100 times what you and I do in a year in a split second. As the population became ever more disenfranchised, along came a grifter who promised to make it all stop, bring back your old job, at your old salary, with your old healthcare benefits – indeed, to make America great again. Of course, it was a con. Trump intended to do nothing of the kind. In fact he intended, and has done, the opposite.
But hope among the disenfranchised springs eternal. As the earth slips beneath our feet, Trump tells us it’s the _________ (fill in with your ethnicity or gender of blame) who are pulling the rug out from under us. It’s not us. Perish the thought. It’s them. And if we build a wall, everything will be okay. This demagoguery has been the thing that keeps Trump’s ratings at 42%.
My fear is that once we rid ourselves of Trump (and we will), the disease that let him rise will still be there.
Thanks, John, thjat English degree has served you well to express many of the same things I’ve seen much more eloquently and completely.
Part of the reason for my blog is to go on the record. I can do little directly given my current family situation to try and remedy this catastrophe in the making.
I would also add some of the more social sciency issues, including the backfire effect, Dunning-Kruger, confirmation bias and general short-term thinking over long-term strategy.
Regretfully, hard problems require hard solutions, I hope enough of us are up to the challenge. jd