There are many reasons that prove Donald J. Trump is not only completely unqualified to be president of the United States, but is also a threat to our democracy. These reasons include:
1.The president is suffering from narcissistic personality disorder; he is psychologically ill, is filled with anger and cannot think beyond himself. “Trump has been resentful, even furious,” the Washington Post reported on Jan. 23, “at what he views as the media’s failure to reflect the magnitude of his achievements, and he feels demoralized that the public’s perception of his presidency so far does not necessarily align with his own sense of accomplishment.” He has ordered “a major investigation” without citing any evidence into voter fraud, following through with baseless claims he has made alleging millions of illegal votes cost him the popular vote.
2.He lies. He uses, as he states proudly in his book “The Art of the Deal,” “truthful hyperbole,” which he describes as a “very effective form of promotion.” His counselor Kellyanne Conway calls them “alternative facts.”
3.He has absolutely no experience in managing any kind of enterprise approaching the complexity of the U.S. government.
4.Trump is a business man.
There are many other reasons, but it is reason number 4 that is the primary one which should disqualified Trump from being our president. That is because it is founded on a popular myth that we the people need an experienced “businessman” to steer the ship of state.
That myth is horse hockey, but understandable within a belief system in which profit comes before anything else including people.
Question: what is the number one priority for any major corporation?
Answer: the bottom line. The bottom line above anything and everything else. It should be called the top line.
America is not a for-profit corporation. It is a nation whose “incorporation” document, the Constitution, is a mission statement that calls on its leadership to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our children.
Just as the Gross National Product — the market value of all the products and service in a given year — cannot measure our general welfare, the “bottom line” of America’s constitutional mandates cannot be measured in a profit and loss statement.
That said, to achieve the mandates our founders established for us in 1789 America needs sufficient funds to pay for the people and materials necessary to provide for our system of justice and our common defense. And the funds to operate the programs necessary to promote our general welfare which includes social security, Medicare, health insurance for all, the arts and humanities and myriad of other programs.
America is the world’s largest non-profit organization with a double bottom line: our U.S. constitutional mission and the financial capability to support that mission.
Our recently inaugurated president has not been able to operate his own non-profit foundation ethically. The Donald J. Trump Foundation, whose stated purpose is to provide funding “primarily for health organizations, youth development, and social services,” has admitted to the Internal Revenue Service that it violated a legal prohibition against “self-dealing” which bars nonprofit leaders from using their charity’s money to help themselves, their businesses or their families. One of the president’s self-dealing expenses was for a portrait of himself which can be found hanging on the wall of the sports bar at Trump’s Doral golf resort outside of Miami.
Non-profit organization leaders report up the hierarchal organization chart to the Board of Directors and must also manage down the line with his/her staff. In the case of America, that would be like reporting to the Senate and House while managing downstream to a basic federal workforce of more than 1.4 million people. Donald Trump not only has zero experience in managing more than the few people around him including family members, he does not “report” to anyone including his transition team. It’s not in his nature.
Lastly, non-profit organizations are founded to achieve a vision articulated by the founder(s). A number of years ago in my consulting work with non-profits I searched for exemplary vision statements to show my various clients. The strongest, simplest and most effective vision statement was that of Planned Parenthood. “Every child a wanted child” was the vision statement that preceded the mission statement and objectives of every Planned Parenthood chapter.
I abhor what I see as Trump and his extremist sycophants’ bottom line for their “vision” of America.
Having been privileged to be among the half million people who gathered in Washington on Jan. 21, my despair is lightened by the emerging of public protests country-wide targeting both political parties in the aftermath of the Woman’s March. Many elected officials’ jobs are on the line.
Nearly half of “we the people” were conned by the ultimate con man. I am heartened by the fact that there is now a Facebook page and other web sites for people who regret voting for Trump.
John Bos is a resident of Shelburne Falls. He invites dialogue at john01370@verizon.net.