Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican presidential nomination, once again lauded deposed Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein during a campaign stop. Speaking at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday evening, Trump praised what he said was Hussein’s innate ability to kill terrorists “so good.” While it’s not the first time he’s mentioned the former leader, this time Trump elaborated that he appreciated Hussein’s authoritarian take on civil liberties…. “You know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good,” Trump said. “They didn’t read them the rights, they didn’t talk. They were a terrorist, it was over.”
Gentle reader: Please allow me to be up front regarding my own personal bias, in case anyone may be harboring any doubts. It’s my personal belief that Donald Trump is a revolting gasbag and demagogue. Hearing him speak makes me something close to physically ill. Completely lacking in humility and self-awareness, and suffering from a surfeit of hubris and egotism, Trump is Presidential timbre in the same way Pee Wee Herman is a role model for children.
Even if I was ambivalent about his political positions (such as they are), I’d be (and am) very concerned about his penchant for making it up as he goes. A President who lives constantly in off-the-cuff mode is generally not one given to sober reflection and consideration of all sides of an issue, something which in certain situations and circumstances might save lives. Trump’s (self-ascribed and delusional) public persona is someone who’s decisive, fast on the trigger, and impatient with things requiring extended attention and sober reflection and consideration. On the campaign trail, he’s prone to addressing intricate policy questions with a flippant, often ill-considered bon mot betraying a juvenile, in some cases infantile, grasp of the subject matter. Those who anger him are subjected to cheap, vile personal insults…perhaps because he lacks the wherewithal to rationally and intelligently counter whatever has angered him.
I suppose this is about the best we could expect from a candidate who aspires to be a dictator in his own right.
Being President is not like being a reality show mogul who entertains the fallacy that his power is absolute, unchecked, and unquestioned. You don’t get to say whatever pops into your head and expect it to be treated as the final and most authoritative pronouncement on a subject. F’rinstance, if you’re going to praise Saddam Hussein for…well, anything…you might want to slow your roll there, Sparky.
Hussein was a ruthless dictator who ruled Iraq through extreme violence and fear. Chief among his “greatest hits” is the 1988 gassing of Halabja, a Kurdish village in northern Iraq resulting in the deaths of 5,000 people, most of whom were noncombatants.
Praising Hussein for dealing swiftly and decisively with terrorists completely ignores the reality that he was a sociopath who valued no life beyond his own and those of his family. One (myopic) view of his legacy holds that he was responsible for providing (what passes for) stability in Iraq and the wider Middle East. The truth is that “stability” was purchased via fear, violence, and ruthless repression of anything even tangentially perceived as opposition. The man was a brutal, callous thug who proved his love for and devotion to Iraq by murdering large numbers of his subjects.
Holding up Saddam Hussein as a model for what he fancies as his own decisive strategy for dispatching terrorists to the Afterlife hardly inspires confidence in Donald Trump’s commitment to following the Constitution and respecting American values.
Of course, this is hardly the first time Donald Trump has praised a ruthless dictator. In January, he expressed approval for the brutal, bloody manner in which Kim Jong-un took power and killed his (real or perceived) rivals.
Stay classy….
Being President is not about being a “strong man.” It’s not about bullying others to do your will or, failing that, killing them in order to remove them from the equation. America doesn’t kill others without just cause…and the definition of “just cause” falls within very narrow boundaries.
My differences with Trump’s politics aside, I can’t see how America can afford a President so ill-prepared, uninformed, reactionary, and willing to make it up on the fly as the leader he promises to be. Not only do we deserve better in a President, much of what he’s proposing is either illegal and/or in violation of international treaties and diplomatic norms. We cannot credibly demand that other countries respect international law, diplomatic treaties, and human rights when our President is among the worst offenders.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
