OPINION: The Wicked Stepfather Of Our Country

The Trump administration probably hoped its military extravaganza would distract Americans from its assaults on the economy, education, the environment, civil rights and the Constitution.

Or maybe it squandered tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on Donald Trump and the U.S. Army’s joint birthday celebration on Saturday to intimidate anyone who’s thinking of resisting its horrific agenda.

With all the controversy, I almost forgot that this is also Father’s Day weekend.

We all know that fathers, like all human beings, run the gamut. Many deserve to be honored for the time, love and support they give their children, sometimes putting aside their own dreams and desires. But there are also many abusive and deadbeat dads.

Still, I’m probably not the only American who was brought up to believe that fathers always know best. To some extent, this notion has fallen out of favor as women have demanded and gained more opportunities and autonomy, but it persists in some circles and is making a comeback in others.

So it’s understandable that many of us, even we who know full well that adult males are as fallible as anyone else, sometimes wish for a father figure to make life fairer and safer. What’s incomprehensible is that all too many Americans still see Trump as one.

After watching three seasons of “The Apprentice” recently, I can understand why he won over voters in 2016: Despite his real-life bankruptcies, his two divorces, the numerous lawsuits against him and his company, and the substantial help his successful father provided, NBC had manufactured a reality-TV Trump who’s not only a self-made tycoon but also a formidable yet benevolent patriarch.

The producers let audiences assume he was too busy making deals and inspecting massive projects to watch contestants struggle to complete the tasks he assigned them. Near the end of each episode, he’d reappear, often to dramatic music, to reward the winning team and bash the losers, who kowtowed to him and tattled on each other in hopes that they wouldn’t be fired this week.

It was sad to see ostensibly successful men and women behaving like children striving for a parent’s approval.

But in the political arena, Trump has revealed himself as a wicked and not-too-bright stepfather, spewing hate speech, enriching himself at us taxpayers’ expense, funneling tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, needlessly tearing up agreements with other countries and lying about everything from COVID to the 2020 election. He capped off his first term by inciting terrorists to try to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

During last year’s campaign, his cognitive decline was obvious. It’s not clear who’s now in charge, but in Trump 2.0’s first five months, the administration has committed acts that were previously unthinkable — gutting funding for safety nets, disaster response management, hurricane forecasting, disease prevention, tax collecting and other programs.

Just days ago: Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California was shoved to the ground and handcuffed for attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem. Trump staged a political rally before reportedly handpicked troops at Fort Bragg. And he sicced the military on mostly peaceful L.A. protests against ICE’s detainment of immigrant workers.

As Trump’s Father’s Day eve ego trip approached, I found myself thinking of George Washington.

He was a man of his time, when slavery was acceptable and most states limited voting rights to white male landowners.

But although he was widely known as the father of our country, he declined to seek a third term as president.

“Domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension” leads to “a more formal and permanent despotism,” he warned in his farewell address.

“The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual.”

We can’t pick our fathers, although the U.S. was lucky to have Washington, who didn’t want absolute power and had faith that our country could manage without him.

Now more than ever, we voters must heed his words. As adults, we don’t need a fake sugar daddy claiming to be the only person who can heal the wounds that he and his allies themselves are inflicting. 

Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.

Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.

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