Donald Trump V. Pope Francis
During the last days of September I followed the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Cuba, South America and here in the United States. If you watched TV, listened to radio, read the newspapers it was impossible to miss. The social media expanded the coverage even further. To tell the truth I loved it. I found his interpretation of the Gospel both refreshing inspiring. He spoke of the New Testament’s message of service to others explaining that it is through such unselfish acts that God’s children best serve Him and, in so honoring the Father, are drawn closer to him. Pope Francis reminded us of God’s unconditional love, compassion, and forgiveness. He called for all to extend the same to our brothers and sisters. To paraphrase President Teddy Roosevelt he spoke softly, through his humility, and carried a big stick, the power of love.
I thought about Pope Francis’ humility and his message of love and inclusion. His demeanor was the personification of the simple but essential teaching of the scriptures – God is Love. Sadly, for many, including even ‘professed believers’, the message has fallen on deaf ears.
That fact is dramatically embodied in speeches delivered by those aspiring to the highest office in the land. Most vocal among them is Donald Trump who is tapping into a broad spectrum of our citizenry who feel exactly like him. He is a ‘selfie’ in the flesh and is the complete opposite of Pope Francis’ embodiment of Jesus Christ. He is self-aggrandizing, he demeans anyone who disagrees with him, he makes fun of others frailties, he demonizes immigrants and minorities and makes vulgar comments about women. These careless, often dangerous, pronouncements only serve to fire up his base, many of whom as John McCain declares, are ‘wackos’.
Mr. Trump repeatedly describes President Obama as ‘stupid’ showing no respect for the office he is seeking. He reveals a shocking lack of understanding of his country’s constitution. Our three branches of government are controlled by a system of checks and balances. No single branch or individual can wield all the power. He claims if he is elected, “ It will make your head spin how quickly I can get Mexico to build a fence, and pay for it.” He claims ‘he’ will close the border, deport all illegals, and ban Muslims from entering the country. “ ‘I’ will bomb the hell out of ISIS. ‘I’ will bomb the hell out of oil sites.” He knows better but he also knows his audience and he is designing his message for them. That message, albeit relatively narrow in appeal, does inspire the support and allegiance of a certain minority of our citizenry. However, the presidency is not a one man show, or more more starkly put, not a dictatorship. His solutions give no thought to the repercussions of such dramatic actions. With China and Russia salivating for a chance to confront America, there is no doubt they would capitalize on any US involvement in the Middle East, and, not to our advantage.
Amazingly, in the midst of all this bluster he admires Putin for his toughness. “ [He] is a man…highly respected within his own country and beyond.” He admits Putin has his faults (euphemistically speaking) but he is a strong leader – the kind America needs! Given Trump’s intelligence, it is strange that he doesn’t even entertain the notions that he is being seduced by Puntin, perhaps because Putin sees a kindred spirit in him. Trump just may have met his match, maybe more.
I am convinced Trump has does not understand or dismisses the notion of the separation of three branches of government as outlined by the Constitution of the United States of America. Disturbingly, when he is interviewed by leading political commentators and he rattles on about how he will get. He is never challenged for side stepping the limitations placed on the Presidency by the Constitution. They smile and ask another soft ball question and he responds by ranting and raving about how stupid every other candidate is, how disgusting Mexican immigrates are and how he will get the fence built. He is like a 69 year old worn out Chatty Cathy repeating the same exaggerated stories about how great he is and how stupid every one else is.
As things look now, Donald Trump may facing a political wall that won’t be all that easy to overcome. It is the wall of those who are now saying after listening to him, “You have got to be kidding!” Some are beginning to question his veracity . In one interveiw he spoke of conversing with President Putin in the green room while they were waiting for their interviews on CBS’s “60 Minutes”. The fact is that Putin was in a green room in Russia and Trump was in a green room in New York. Yes they were in green rooms! It just so happened that those rooms were 10 thousand miles apart.
As Pope Francis left our country, he blessed us all and called on us to love one another as we are loved by God. One can only hope that is some time in his life Donald Trump will embrace this message and find the joy of living a life of humility and kindness.
