This Los Angeles-based writer and comedian is a former reporter for The Detroit News.
By Eric Starkman
Donald Trump is a fraud. I knew that when I voted for him, but I regarded him as infinitesimally less deplorable than the Democratic alternative. I still do.
Eric Starkman
So, I’m saddened, but not surprised, that Trump has already demonstrated he is a bigger charlatan than I feared. For all his populist talk to make America great again, his cabinet choices and advisors are primarily elitist billionaires and multimillionaires, including four former executives from Goldman Sachs, a company that has been implicated in the economic rape and pillaging of American businesses and the exploitation and manipulation of our investment markets.
Another affront is Trump’s appointment of Carl Icahn as a special advisor on regulation: Icahn is a vulture investor whose greed and arrogance resulted in the destruction of TWA. Businessmen who bankrupt companies apparently are birds of a feather. I’m surprised Trump didn’t induce former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld to head up the SEC.
Rather than “drain the swamp” as he repeatedly promised, Trump is on track to restock it with a breed of crocodiles more toxic and rapacious than anything that has previously crawled on the banks of the Potomac.
My despair about Trump’s pending inauguration is only compounded by those whose protests are dominating the conversation and further legitimizing Trump in the minds of those who mistakenly believe his carnival barking Twitter rhetoric. The corporate mainstream media, who I hold responsible for the pathetic state of political discourse that led to the rise of the most distrusted presidential candidates in history, continues with its dishonest and shameful ways.
The drumbeat of media disdain for Trump and his supporters is as loud as ever, resulting in a continuous spate of stories that ultimately are proven false (some examples here and here). The media’s desperation to sully Trump at any cost was underscored last week when BuzzFeed published an entire intelligence dossier on Trump that it’s editor admitted “there is serious reason to doubt the allegations.” Any wonder why only six percent of Americans have “a great deal of confidence” in the press?
Hollywood Factor
Then there are dim-witted celebrities like Rosie O’Donnell, who has proposed invoking martial law to stop Trump’s inauguration, or abortion fantasist and false rape accuser Lena Dunham, who claims to have followed the Jewish seven-day mourning ritual known as sitting shiva to grieve “the loss of our country and the woman who inspired us.” Meryl Streep’s tirade against Trump at the Golden Globes is an example of Hollywood’s selective outrage; while she might indeed have been horrified about Trump’s mocking of a reporter’s disabilities, most Americans are more horrified by the Facebook video of four youths savagely pummeling a helpless disabled person.
Donald Trump at the Detroit Economic Club
The sad truth is that America’s political, business, media, and cultural leaders no longer represent the values and morals of most Americans, regardless of race or political persuasion. What attracted me to relocate to Detroit and eventually becoming a U.S. citizen was the fundamental decency and sense of fairness of most Americans, particularly those who don’t live in New York, Washington, San Francisco, and Hollywood. My time in Michigan will always rank among my best memories; I was always impressed how people immediately assumed I was a decent person unless I proved otherwise and by the help and support I received from individuals who didn’t even know me. I landed my job at The Detroit News because a local journalist offered to make an introduction after meeting me for a brief lunch at a cafeteria.
For some examples of how the media and our political leaders are out of touch with the values of everyday Americans, check out the outraged reader comments attached to this salacious New York Times story about Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s strained family relationships, or this Wall Street Journal article about U.S. Rep. John Lewis’s decision not to attend Trump’s inauguration. The Journal quotes Tawanda Carter, a 45-year-old Georgia department store clerk, disapproving Trump’s snide and inaccurate Twitter remarks about her hometown, but also of Lewis’s handling of the situation. “We need to stop these childish tantrums,” Carter said, referring to both.
Acts of Kindness
So here’s my proposal to meaningfully protest Trump’s inauguration and collectively shout, “A Pox on All Your Houses” to Wall Street, Silicon Valley, our political leaders, and the media: Massive demonstrations of old fashioned American kindness.
The kindness could include such acts as donating to charitable organizations, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or simply paying for someone’s drink at a coffee shop. The message would be simple but clear: kindness, decency, and fairness are the values Americans hold dear. There is nothing more anti-Trump than demonstrating class and compassion.
More than half the country views Trump’s transition to president unfavorably. As much as some people would like to deceive themselves by declaring that Trump isn’t their president, Friday they are going to have to face reality. But accepting Trump’s election doesn’t mean having to accept his mean-spirited and hateful ways. The civil rights movement was sparked by Rosa Parks, who bravely refused to give up her seat on the bus.
Simple but massive acts of kindness on Friday won’t stop Trump from assuming the presidency, but would serve as a powerful reaffirmation of what most Americans are all about.
