In November 2015 we were extremely fortunate to travel to Botswana where our safari guide, ‘Jim,’ showed us an amazing array of critters during the day and engaged us in worldly conversations around the nightly campfire. Although he grew up in Botswana in a home without electricity, Jim was incredibly well read and self-educated. One night he asked us what we thought of Donald Trump’s bid for the U.S. presidency, and we scoffed, saying he was just a celebrity entertainer. Jim disagreed.
Fast forward five years and we are experiencing beyond our worst fears of what a Trump presidency could bring: angry divisiveness, rollbacks in environmental and voting protections, and failed leadership during a pandemic when we so need strong national support for rapid and wide-spread testing, mask wearing, and other recommendations from our top health professionals and scientists. Not to mention how the world now sees us, as stated in a recent email from our friend Jim in Botswana: “I have always said for entertainment value, your politics take the cake.”
But this is not entertainment. The office of the most powerful nation on earth requires some level of seriousness and competence, which has been lacking in the current. Looking from outside, it is quite chaotic, and the American fabric looks to be falling apart at the seams. We see a highly divided nation that can’t seem to agree on anything let alone how to handle a virus that nations like New Zealand are beating up instead of the opposite — and this is disconcerting.
I weep for the environment because of lack of commitment from the Trump administration. Even lying about some commitment would be better than denying global warming.
If someone with a high school education from Botswana can see Trump’s failings, why does any American still insist on supporting him? We need a President who can preside, not divide.
Ann Rappoport
Anchorage
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