In a Washington Post article last week George Will wrote of Donald Trump: “…the problem isn’t that he does not know this or that, or that he does not know that he does not know this or that. Rather, the dangerous thing is that he does not know what it is to know something.”
When someone as conservative as George Will makes a statement like this, you have to ask yourself, “How did Donald Trump ever become president of the United States?”
As usual, the answer to that question is not simple and has a long history that places responsibility on all of us.
Let’s begin with a summary of essential background information that provides the political context for understanding why there is a Trump presidency.
In response to the Great Depression of 1929, President Franklin Roosevelt got Congress to enact federal programs called the New Deal that exponentially expanded the federal government’s role in American life.
Republicans fought him every step of the way, believing that the free market would eventually recover and get things back on track. Roosevelt, however, saw millions of Americans standing in bread lines and decided the government had to act.
This has been the center of conflict between Republicans and Democrats ever since, and is why Republicans continue to oppose Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Unemployment Compensation, Obamacare, Wall Street Reform, Food Stamps, and other federal programs.
When Bush’s two unfunded wars and a disastrous tax cut mainly for the rich ran the economy into the ditch, they opposed President Obama’s recovery program as well.
It’s what Republicans do.
When Ronald Reagan declared government to be the problem rather than the solution, Republican politics got worse as that comment laid the foundation for an aggressive anti-government sentiment to gain significant influence in the party and push it to the far right.
That shift is why Senate Republicans under Mitch McConnell’s leadership chose to oppose everything – absolutely everything – President Obama proposed, an unprecedented level of obstructionism that produced legislative stalemate. Hardly anything of consequence got done for almost eight years.
Most Americans didn’t care whose fault the stalemate was. They just wanted something done about the problems we faced as a country, especially an economy that was not working for the average family.
When that didn’t happen, they became disillusioned with both parties, as the approval numbers for Congress hit all time lows.
That opened the door to an outsider who had money, name recognition, and a simple message: “Everything is a disaster and I am the one who can make things great again.”
From that point on Donald Trump controlled the political narrative of the campaign. Washington was corrupt and inefficient, made worse by a “fake news” press that criticized outsiders like him who wanted to “drain the swamp.”
Trump quickly realized that he could tap into the angst of middle class voters without knowing anything about the issues. His appeal was all emotional, playing on their fears rooted in changes in American culture and exploiting their frustrations over an economy that no longer gave them a chance to improve their lives.
Republicans didn’t know what to do with or about Trump, and Democrats thought he would undo himself either before he got the nomination or afterwards. Both responses played to Trump’s favor.
In the end Trump got votes no one ever thought he would: 88% of traditional Republicans voted for him; 81% of evangelicals, and a close to a majority of so-called “Reagan Democrats” who vote either Republican or Democratic depending on the candidate.
Still, even with that it was his victories in a few key electoral college states that put him in the White House.
But here is the point to bear in mind. Going forward those of us dismayed by Trump’s unthinkable victory must remember that he not only lost the popular vote, but currently has a majority of the country opposed to him and his policies at unprecedented levels.
That includes Republicans as well as Democrats, conservatives and liberals. So the hope for the country is that all of us who are anti-Trump will put party and ideology aside and do what is right for America.
We can ill afford for partisanship or political ideology to determine how we view Trump. All of us who know deep down that he is unfit for office must be as firm in our opposition as his supporters are in standing behind him.
That is the only hope for forcing Democrats and Republicans in Congress to put country before party. We cannot afford to think in usual ways about Donald Trump. As I have said before, these are no ordinary times and he is no ordinary president.
This man has the power to create chaos here at home and abroad and has already shown that he is willing to use his power to that end. The next step is for him to get us into a war.
What George Will was underscoring, however, is that Trump does not know anything and does not care that he doesn’t know anything because he doesn’t know the value of being knowledgeable.
That is why he denies that facts are facts and calls any news story critical of him “fake news.”
The future of our country lies in the 60% of Americans who disapprove of Trump’s leadership realizing that opposition to him is now a moral imperative. That is because what governments do and don’t do involves right and wrong, justice and injustice, truth and falsehood, all of which makes citizenship a moral responsibility.
A minority of Americans made an immoral choice in voting for Donald Trump regardless of the reason why they did. The rest of us cannot let that immoral choice stand.
That is why George Will called for action in the article mentioned above when he said: “So, it is up to the public to quarantine this presidency by insistently communicating to its elected representatives a steady, rational fear of this man whose combination of impulsivity and credulity render him uniquely unfit to take the nation into a military conflict.”
Quarantine Trump. What an excellent idea.
Politicians may not pay attention to you and me individually, but they do pay attention to numbers, and if contacts with them run against Trump and polls support that sentiment, it will get their attention.
I suppose, then, that everything I am suggesting comes to down to moral engagement. To say and do nothing is to become complicit in political immorality.
A minority of voters elected a spoiled teenager as president. Our nation deserves better than that, but we are the only ones who can make sure we get it.
It is still true in spite of everything that our democracy is of the people, for the people, and by the people. We just have to vote to prove it, and I believe we have a moral obligation to do so.
linnposts.com 
Absolutely agree Jan. Well said. No time to sit back and just expect things will turn out ok. Trump reveals his incompetence nearly on a daily basis. He did seem to “drain the swamp.” Unfortunately the swamp was Wall Street not Washington and all the alligators ended up in his administration.
Well said, Wilbur. The situation we face is too serious to do nothing. Hopefully we have the moral courage to speak and to act to quarantine this president.
Another of your CLASSICS. Well done and Thank You!
Thanks, Wally. Your assessment of what I write always matters.
Just recently signed up for your blog, Jan. Don’t know how I’ve missed doing that for so long. Your writings encourage my spirit and enlighten my mind, as you’ve long done. Thank you, and thank you for this latest contribution. Peace to you.
Thanks for signing up, Mark. Would welcome comments anytime.
Great piece . Thanks
Thanks, Jack. Good to hear from you!
Biked over to White House to support any daily protest there. Another day another rally….
The secret service did not want us to stand in front of the fence b/c tourists need to take un obstructed views.
I challenged the SWAT -like officer with the bomb dog ( they were everywhere now) and argued that protesters have always been able to stand here for a century. Starving women chained themselves to the fence to be able to vote.
I told him that the student tourists need to take their photos of the real image of a White House blanketed by resisters and moral citizens. He was getting pissed.
I asked the officer if he was a afraid of what true democracy looks like? He walked away with his vicious dog…
Good for you, Dixcy. That is another way we quarantine this man. I know no one who is more principled than you are. It’s a wonderful gift to be inspired by one of your former students. Thank you.
Trump lacks social graces, most would agree. He tweets too much and he’s not “careful” what he says and verbally “offends” some people. I HAD to vote for him because the alternative (Hillary) was so much worse. She is corrupt, stupid, up for investigations, etc. So far Trump has impressed his White House group visitors from many occupations and countries to work on jobs, costs, trade, and other economic issues. He has vehemently told the international community not to “mess” with the USA by attacking the airport that shipped serin gas to kill Syrian citizens. He has put the MOAB in Afganistan out there to tear down ISIS tunnels, and not killing a single civilian. He is having our congressional laws on immigration ENFORCED! So, it’s not what he says, tweet-wise or in speeches; it is what he DOES that makes him a strong leader. (BTW, on climate: one volcano erupting can put more yuk into the air than a year of L.A. CA car fumes. Many volcanos around the earth, one blowing up somewhere every year; so stop the volcanos, please.) Your statements (Dem. statements) mostly are based on emotion. Rep. plans are based on facts, logic, and action. “Playing nice” with other countries of the world gets you the reputation of being a woosie. Help for the poor comes in the form of jobs, self respect.
I am allowing your comment only so others can hear from someone living in an alternative reality. Nothing you have said about what Trump is doing is true. That is why you talk in generalities, but cite no specific examples of what he has done on jobs, trade, “other economic issues,” because he has in fact done nothing. Moreover, he has reversed himself on NAFTA and NATO, hasn’t yet “knocked the hell out of ISIS, accomplished nothing with the bombing in Syria, immigration laws were already being enforced (did you know Obama’s administration deported record numbers of illegal refugees?) and only fools believe climate change/global warming is not real. As I said, I am allowing your comment to post just so others can see how absurd Trump supporters actually are.
Patience. Only 120 days (??) so far. Reversing oneself can be considered a “good” thing; new information perhaps. How much time will you allow to “knock the hell out of ISIS” ?? Obama’s deportations were the ones who crossed the border and were turned back–those were his “deportations,” not getting that group Something 13 out, which is happening now in the N.Y. area. Authentic, legal deportations for criminal behavior. Climate has changed for the last 100,000 years; nobody is denying that. It warms and it cools–the question is “how much is REALLY due to human intervention?” and that is the part in question. Some of the “environmental agencies” are passing a narrative that will give them $$$ funds for continuing to exist. Still up for debate, because OTHER agency studies, just as legit, say otherwise. Politics as usual. I read, check things out on internet, but I will not waste time writing a M.A. thesis for you. Thank you. You’re welcome.
Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to WriterBeat.com? I’ll be sure to give you complete credit as the author. There is no fee, I’m simply trying to add more co6ntent diversity for our community and I liked what you wrote. If “OK” please let me know via email.
Autumn
AutumnCote@WriterBeat.com
I didn’t vote for Trump. But now that he’s my country’s President, I need to pray that God will use Trump for HIS purposes. I hated his campaign rhetoric..it was hateful & downright un-Christian all across the board, no question about it. But, just because my candidate lost does not give me the right to NOT pray for the person I didn’t vote for. For better or for worse, he is now my country’s president. And I think it is my responsibility to pray that God will change his heart & use him for the greatest good…just like he used Obama in his time in history & every other president before him. I’m not sure any of us has given him a chance to govern yet because we’ve been so pre-occupied with what he said during his campaign. We’ve just been waiting for him to fail so we can say, “See…I told you, you voted for the wrong person.”
I think its time to shed ourselves of the prejudices we have of Trump & Pray for him to succeed & to have a change of heart and then lets see how God works even through a person like Trump to accomplish his purposes. Afterall, throughout the Bible, time & time again, thats how God has always worked. He took a scoundrel like Jacob who cheated his brother out of his birthrite, lied to his dying father and yet God was able to change his heart and name to Israel & he became the father of the 12 tribes that formed the country of Israel.
God is able to transform every tragedy humankind has caused into something good.
Trump’s presidency is no exception. To continue to resist the reality of Trump bring president bring rather than embracing it is creating a new kind of bigotry among the Left that encourages the “my way or the highway” kind of thinking and in turn gives license to anarchy & divisiveness.
Anthony, your sincerity notwithstanding, your believing God can work in the worst of situations is not justification for passivity in the face of evil. Trump is all the things you said, and so much more, most of all he is dangerous. Heeding the wisdom of old that says all evil needs to be victorious is for good people to do nothing is also doing what is right. No one is criticizing Trump for what he said in the campaign. We are criticizing him for what he has said and done since becoming president. Not sure how you could miss that fact. Since taking the oath of office he has told one lie after another, called people names, labeled the press as the enemy of the people, pushed a healthcare bill that will leave 27 million people without insurance who now have it, proposed a budget that cuts services to the very poor, and proposed tax code reforms that will reward rich people like himself while hurting everyone else. Instead of defending him because he is president, I suggest you critically evaluate what he is saying and doing as president. God doesn’t override individual human will, so Trump will be who he is no matter how much you pray unless and until he has the will to be different. Don’t expect God to overcome the damage he is doing. That is our responsibility. It strikes me as irresponsible to sit by and give him a chance to do all the things he wants to do that are racist, disrespectful to others, discriminating against other religions, and beating the drums of war with N. Korea and Iran. That is no my understanding of how God works. .