WORLD WAR TRUMP, PART 2

A year ago, on June 2, 2017, I wrote a piece I called "World War Trump." In it, I tried to give voice to my disgust and outrage at President Trump's decision to pull the United States from the Paris Environmental Accord, which pledged the world to attempt to meet certain targets of reduced emissions in an effort to combat the phenomenon of climate change. Trump's belligerent repudiation of the Paris Accord signaled to me that the US had begun a process of withdrawing from the rest of the world.

In this June of 2018, the spiral continues. Today, June 19, 2018, the United States announced that it was withdrawing from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. This announcement followed hard on the heels of the obscene Trump policy of separating children from their parents as they are detained at US border crossings. In some cases, it has been reported that the border authorities cannot account for some 1,500 of these seized children: where they have gone is completely unknown. The border fiasco has been widely condemned by everyone with a conscience. Former First Ladies have spoken out. Lawmakers have spoken out. Private citizens have spoken out. Despite all this, the Trump administration carries on with its barbaric practices.

That these items, plus others I wrote about a year ago, have been criticized comes as no surprise. But the strange and almost serene way that Trump and his supporters try to fight back must be understood. Using logic, or morality, or even history as weapons against Trump have been ineffective. Nothing seems to deter them from their path. Why is that ?

The answer lies in the events and words Trump uttered during the presidential campaign in 2016. In that odious campaign, he railed against the entire world, including elements within his own country. He raised the specter of hordes of illegal aliens swamping American cities, raping, forcing drugs onto gullible American youth, and embarking on a weapons-aided crime spree the like of which the nation had never seen. He constantly told his supporters that the US had been duped on every trade deal, every treaty, every multilateral initiative since the Second World War. The US had had its generosity and its ideals trampeled on, he insisted, by conniving and rapacious countries the world over. The only way to reverse this was his "America First" initiative, poorly articulated during the campaign, but now in full view for all of us to see.

This is red meat for his supporters. They believe every falsehood, every frightening image, every suspicion of their enemies. And Trump capitalized on all of it. Not only were foreigners suspects: Americans who hold international views, who are liberal in their thinking, who work in or consume main-stream media are also considered enemies. For the majority of Americans, who don't own passports, who have little or rudimentary education, who don't or can't read legitimate newspapers or watch legitimate news on television, who have lost their jobs to globalization and can't or won't upgrade their skills, the enemy is both without and within.

And therein lies the battle. Trump and his supporters are not only at war with the entire world, they are involved in an emotional and ideological civil war. The civil war pits rural against urban, southern or western against the two coasts, old against young, white males against everyone else, evangelical Christians against atheist and agnostics and Jews and Muslims and Hindus and …..  you get the point.

The stakes are high, for not only are asylum-seekers having their rights trampled and families torn apart. The world is now being forced to "circle the wagons" against the wild policies and actions of the US. And the states which did not widely support Trump in the election, or are going to be victimized by the impending death of NAFTA and the tariff war just now ramping up, are  being challenged like those states in the dark days before the actual Civil War who attempted to stand up for the concept of a strong and successful Union and who put an end to one of the worst human rights abuses in US history.

The end result will not only be the total isolation of the United States from the family of nations. It will also tear the country apart, socially, morally, financially and politically. And when the United States no longer exists, what then? What replaces it ? And what unspeakable horrors will a fractured and deformed American entity force upon the world?

Evangelical Christians are among Trump's greatest and most influential supporters. They believe in the "end of days", the impending end of the world. They believe that the final days will be violent, destructive and all-consuming. Only the elect, the righteous, the true believers will be received into the new order. For them, this is the beginning of the Rapture. And, because of this belief, they can blithely accept what Trump does, and defend all the horrible, insane, obscene, ridiculous things he does. The rest of us are just along for the ride.

God help us all.

INTO THE DARKNESS

I became a fan of Anthony Bourdain the first time I saw him on tv. It was an early episode of "Parts Unknown", his travel show on CNN. I think what attracted me to his persona was the irreverent and brash character. He was unafraid to use profanity when the situation called for it. He was honest about what he was experiencing. He seemed to jump into the situation fully and without reservation. He reminded me of …. well, in many ways … me.

Bourdain's show was a mish-mash of several things. Obviously, it was a travel show. He and his crew visited several locations, some familiar and comfortable, others rare and even dangerous. He was utterly fearless about travel. Secondly, it was ( also obviously ) a show about food. Bourdain was one of those strange creatures that have emerged from the primeval mass of modern television known as a "celebrity chef". To be honest, I never watched Bourdain cook very often on tv. He was more of a "foodie", although he hated that term. He loved food, but didn't fall into the trap of trying to find new, elaborate or poetic ways to describe it: it was either bad or good … if you got an "oh yeah, this is good" from him, you knew you'd done very well. Thirdly, and for me, most importantly, his show was a form of creative journalism. In many episodes, he tackled issues that were serious, deep-rooted, and often divisive. Again, he was utterly fearless in this. Some of his most memorable episodes were filmed in Iran, Israel/Palestine, Vietnam, Cuba, and the Congo …. not exactly on most Americans' bucket lists. He didn't care. He went there because they were difficult places and shone a light on the things that Americans had done to them, and to show that these people were, after everything was said and done, human.

I read his book "Kitchen Confidential" and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. Friends of mine who were chefs assured me that Bourdain had nailed their craft perfectly. The book showed the rough underbelly of the world of cuisine, all its dark secrets, all its vulgar characters, all its passions and all its dangers. It remains, for me, one of the best books I've read in recent years, and I encourage all to pick it up and read it.

Bourdain committed suicide yesterday in France at the age of 61. When I read this, I was initially shocked, then saddened, then vaguely understanding. Bourdain always projected an image of slight darkness, a feeling that it wouldn't take much to push him over the edge. He admitted to having demons: his battles with drugs and alcohol were well known. But he seemed to, at least on the surface, be happy. He had success, a family ( although he'd gone through a recent divorce ), and had gotten himself fit and healthy with strenuous martial arts work-outs. He had much to live for. But like Robin Williams, several musicians, Wade Belak and several hockey players, the pain became too much and the suffering had to end.

Years ago, I lost a friend and respected colleague to suicide. Although I hadn't seen him in quite some time, I and the rest of us who knew him had no idea what he was struggling with. The reality was hidden by a smile and a sense of humour as big as the world.

If you are struggling, don't feel as though you have to endure this alone. Reach out and talk to someone. Do it now. You are not alone, nobody ever is. Do not go into the darkness.