So You Think ‘4 Years of Trump’ Won’t Be That Bad…

I have a degree in Political Science. And an MA in International Relations. And a healthy interest in politics, both foreign and domestic, with more of a focus on foreign. So you can imagine this election has already been giving me heart palpitations and anxiety.

I’ve watched as the general population of the United States has gone from Trump is a joke to Trump as a nominee means an automatic Democrat win to four years of Trump won’t be that bad.

It’s terrifying.

I have friends overseas who have been peering across the ocean in horror and disbelief that we, as a nation, are entertaining the idea of a Trump presidency. Completely disregarding his domestic plans (I use the term ‘plans’ here loosely because I have yet to see him actually deliver a competent or comprehensive outline on how he’ll enact his policies except for the tried and true ‘I’ll just do it’), my focus and concern has been mostly foreign-based.

Why? Because I have faith in the American public; faith that we’ll survive what’s thrown at us domestically because we have before. Because our economy is the strongest, our army is the largest, and we’re founded on principles of freedom. We have our own issues and problems to deal with, don’t get me wrong, but we generally have the resources to ensure our domestic survival.

Okay, so that’s promising — then why am I so concerned?

Because a Trump presidency would unravel decades of American foreign policy starting with Friday, January 20th, 2017. Why? Well, let’s see…

1. Small Hands

We’ve all watched John Oliver’s Donald Drumpf segment and if you haven’t, you saw Marco Rubio allude to small equipment on Trump. How was this criticism taken?

Not good, friends, not good. Trump is so thin-skinned he cannot handle the allusion that he may be less than impressive down under. Now imagine a man being unable to handle such critiques being Commander in Chief, or Head of State. Meeting with Putin or Merkel or Cameron or Rouhani or Kim Jong-un. You have a human that cannot take the slightest hint of ‘disrespect’ without going nuclear (luckily, right now it’s only with his words but that could change).

But wait — isn’t a good thing to have a president that won’t allow disrespect? is the argument I (terrifyingly) hear.

No, no it is not. This isn’t a game of Civilization where if you destroy your country you can go back and rebuild it. Words carry weight and if you cannot be diplomatic in dealing with others, there are consequences — dangerous ones.

2. America First!

Great idea, right?

WRONG.

We haven’t been on our own since we were founded. Might I remind you that the French (the FRENCH!) helped us win our own revolution? And since 1776, the world has only gotten smaller. No, we aren’t physically shrinking but have you ever stopped and thought about how you can FaceTime your friend in Australia? Or hear about an earthquake in China that occurred two minutes ago? News like that used to take weeks to reach every corner of the globe and now it takes seconds.

We’re not alone. The actions of America affects the rest of the world — as so helpfully demonstrated in the economic crisis of 2008. Our economy’s collapse nearly took down the entire world’s (and actually did manage to take down a country’s — big ups to Iceland for rebounding a bit). We’re indebted to China, we have military obligations in countries around the world, we’re financially invested in the development of so many nations. You cannot just pull out (hah, that’s what she said) of these obligations.

Can you stop showing up in conflicts? Sure you can, but be prepared for more Syrias or Libyas. You can’t dip in and out of conflict (subtle dig at Obama…) and expect things to change. You cannot just represent your own interests and say fuck the rest of the world. Because guess what — those people being oppressed or slaughtered or starved in Syria and Libya and Nigeria and Somalia and so many other countries — they’re not staying put anymore. They’re getting on planes. They’re escaping by boat. Or driving across deserts. And when they get to the West, they’re less than impressed with our not-so-sympathetic views. And then we have an issue on our own land.

3. Obama is a Muslim!

Besides the fact that no, he is not, why would it be so terrible if he was?

There are 1.6 billion practicing Muslims around the world — that’s over 22% of the world population. The tiniest fraction of that 22% are extremists. The rest are people, like you and me, who mostly want to survive and not starve and see a better future for their children.

But yeah, Trump doesn’t want them in this country. Needless to say there are about two million that already live in America — and are citizens. Because it’s this funny thing: America was built on immigration. My grandfather came over from Greece, my other grandfather’s father was from Ireland. My best friend’s parents were both born in Korea. You can’t walk down to the corner store without tripping over someone who is first-generation or even ‘straight off the boat’.

Do you know any Muslims? Because I do and I can say without reservation they are some of the most hard-working, dedicated and respectful individuals I’ve ever met. So fuck you, Donald Trump for saying they can’t come into my country.

4. Speak First, Think Later

We’ve seen it time and time again, a soundbite of Trump laying into someone or something without having any of the facts. He attacks Elizabeth Warren and calls her Pocahontas. He tweeted about the EgyptAir crash as terrorism within minutes of hearing about it. He tweeted (again with the Twitter) about Obama neglecting to mention Pearl Harbor while visiting Hiroshima...because somehow honoring foreign lives lost somehow means disrespecting Americans. There is little to no regard for how his words will be taken, always operating under the assumption that he can just say ‘oh, I didn’t mean that — the media twisted it’.

There’s something called credibility. Here, let me define it for you:

cred·i·bil·i·ty
ˌkredəˈbilədē/
noun
the quality of being trusted and believed in.

When you have the leader of the free world making snap judgements and even snappier statements, what does that do for American credibility and integrity? And when you have someone that has a fundamental misunderstanding of how international relations and global politics operates as president you risk decades of paying for it.

Did I agree with President Obama’s policies? Nope. Do I think there were multiple failures? Yes, because when he was being nominated 9 years ago I said the same thing — it’s not domestic anymore, it’s foreign. Let’s not make the same mistake again.

I could go on, I could keep ranting but I’m tired, so very very tired of it all. I have never — ever — in my life been ashamed to be American. That day has come and I worry it will only get worse.

Note: I wrote this all very quickly, as a gut reaction (lucky I’m not running for President!). I’ll likely be back with a more researched article because god knows I’ll hear about how I’m an idiot and lying and don’t understand how great Trump with make America.