Trump Is The Ultimate Mirror Of A Mad America

By Robert Kimball Shinkoskey Photos: Wikimedia Commons Consider this, people. Without our 250-year-long way of life—our system of republican government—our entire nation is homeless. Our system of democracy is our home. It provides not only shelter, food, clothing, work, partners, and children, but also happiness, empowerment, and fulfillment. Without self-determination enacted by Congressional, state and local representatives, we have given over our resources, our power, our ancestral history to wealthy aristocrats who operate out of castles, rather than out of books of law. We got here by neglecting to teach our way of life to young people. They then grew up aimless, disappointed, and angry. Our public-school systems have not taught solid civics courses for generations. Our religious institutions, who claim stewardship over the scripture, have not adequately taught what is in the book. What is the scripture if not deep history, written law, and the science of human equality and righteousness? This expands the Bible’s purview far beyond personal repentance and church attendance to secular matters like economics and ethical government. I think the reason we have so much divorce, crime, mistrust of government, addiction, lack of integrity, and other bad stuff is our disappointment and anger over our nation’s unfulfilled promises to citizens. We as a people are disappointed with almost everything around us except puppy dogs. We are disappointed with our partners, our workplaces, teachers and education, God and church, politics and government, business and banking, apartment and condo neighbors, drivers on the road, and especially ourselves. We are told we can achieve anything, but we end up achieving very little except hurting or exploiting others. How disappointing is that? In the immediate post-World War II period young children were taught that anyone of them could become the nation’s president. That may possibly have been true then, but it is a total myth today. President Trump is the ultimate mirror of how angry and disappointed we have gotten. Anyone who does not bow down to his wishes is put on his “enemies” list and is hated, prosecuted, or bombed into oblivion. We recently learned Trump is placing his own threatening image on passports to replace an image of the Founders. Under the guise of celebrating our 250th year of democracy in America, he is celebrating his first year of despotism instead. Now that is disappointing. When four former pro-MAGA journalists came out against the Iran War, the President called them “low IQ.” Trump truly believes he is the smartest person in the country. Vice President JD Vance recently stoked the President’s immense ego regarding Iran by saying, “We have a smart president, whereas in the past, we’ve had dumb presidents.” Vance knows how to dig for MAGA gold. Just flatter his boss at every turn. What Vance did not say was that previous presidents of both parties have expressed little understanding of republican government. They have not taught the basic knowledge and participation requirements of democracy to the people. Those requirements depend upon a heavy dose of law, political science, and history, which our Founders had but modern Presidents have been lacking for a long time. Democracies of the past turned to wise old leaders who used history, political science, law and theology to help guide their nations through rough times. In Rome, those folks were called “augurs.” In Israel they were called “prophets.” In many other countries they were called “high priests,” because they were attuned to the morals, ethics, and theology of heaven as well as the science of nature. Where are our own wise men and women at a time when we need them? We have plenty of ambitious young leaders who just want to be a part of the action, or think they know a lot, or are popular, or who love money, power, fame, and exploitable interns. Hollywood-type sexy politicians don’t have what it takes to get the job done. We need deeply knowledgeable and ethical people who would rather be doing other things, like reading history, studying science, and raising families. They are better positioned to listen to the voices rising up from the graves of the past and the voices of the oppressed crying out across the land in the present. Robert Kimball Shinkosky is an award winning citizen editorial writer for Utah, west coast, and national newspapers. As a long time state government worker and student of the American presidency, he speaks out boldly about the need for citizen participation, a renewed democracy, and constitutional limits on absolute power. Kimball’s most recent book is a scholarly interpretation of the scope of the Ten Commandments, showing how those laws applied to government as well as citizens in ancient Israel. They match provisions found in the U.S. Constitution. and can help forge a path out of the wilderness of to