Copyright cleveland.com
In Donald Trump’s first term as president, The Washington Post reported tallying 30,573 false or misleading claims. The media and the public found it challenging to know how to confront such an overwhelming pattern of dishonesty, and became rather numb and acclimated to it. In Trump’s second term, there has been a dramatic shift from deceitful rhetoric to a barrage of actions as the president began implementing a deliberate plan -- Project 2025 -- to alter our institutions and our culture to align with his personal beliefs and to cement his political power. If it was important to track the president’s lies in his first term, it is even more critical now to follow his actions. Uncovering lies tells us what not to believe. Recognizing the intent behind actions gives us a blueprint for what to accept and what needs to be resisted. The president has proposed or enacted multiple ideas that are in clear contradiction to other of his ideas, which raises doubt about his true motivation. One example is his assault on foreign aid and elimination of the U.S. Agency for International Development and its programs to help developing countries. How does his recent decision to purchase $20 billion in pesos to stabilize Argentina’s economy fit his skepticism about foreign aid? After seeing the level of homelessness in the U.S. capital, Mr. Trump decided to rid the streets of homeless people. He proceeded to drastically cut or freeze funds for housing. Providing housing is recognized as the priority for effectively dealing with homelessness. President Trump has promoted the notion of ending the use of voting machines because he doesn’t trust them to be secure, yet he wants the United States to lead the world in the development and use of artificial intelligence and opposes restrictions on AI. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks of relying on scientific research as the “gold standard,” but doesn’t accept the established science on vaccines. Funding for research being done at multiple universities has been frozen as a cudgel to force them to comply with ideological changes Trump desires them to make. The Department of Defense, or of War, as Trump prefers, is being pushed to focus on lethality, on killing terrorists, and the president suggests the military use our cities as training sites. Is the intent to create a more effective military or to suppress dissent and attack adversaries? The president has long sought to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and to be regarded as a peacemaker on the world stage and yet he continues to wage war on his domestic opponents. Raising the specter of an “enemy within” promotes not only divisiveness in the political arena, but also aggressive and even violent opposition. There is an illogic or even irrationality to the broad inconsistency in much of what the president seeks to accomplish, unless we unmask it for its true intent. The goals are not truly meant to make America great, but rather to implement a plan for authoritarian rule, a plan to make the president all-powerful and to ensure that people of wealth are in control. We need to attend to what he does, not what he says. In Oscar Wilde’s novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a young, handsome man makes a Faustian bargain to stay young and beautiful forever, while only his portrait ages. President Trump has a vision of himself and our country going back to an illusory state of affairs. As with Dorian Gray, he wants his vision to be what everyone sees, even as a darkness grows in the soul of the country. Gordon is a retired psychologist and writer who lives in Shaker Heights. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.
