Opinion: Who is really in charge?

Doug Lowe, outdated lighting consultant, lives in Concord.

Observation of the events unfolding in the Republican Party would lead a citizen to pose a question: Who is running this show? It is an important question. The most obvious answer is Donald J. Trump. He has a clear lead in all the polls measuring candidates for the Republican Party nomination for president. It seems clear that he has control of the extreme right-wing members in the House of Representatives. It is also clear that those folks have no interest in governing. They only want to rule.

Examination of Mr. Trump’s career teaches us much. He was known in New York as an innovative real estate investor, but that was only local fame. He emerged as a national figure when he was retained by TV to play the part of a business leader in The Apprentice. The show was a great success and his weekly fee went from $50,000 to $2,000,000. He became famous for his “Your Fired” line. He established a following. He skillfully contributed as an interesting character by creating an image of decisive leadership. But, important to note, is that he had no hand in the preparation of the script. He was merely acting out what the network wanted. So, looking at The Apprentice, is it not fair to ask that question? Who was in charge?

Another aspect concerns his reputation as a brilliant business executive. We should consider that he filed for bankruptcy several times. By the use of bankruptcy Trump avoided paying bills to suppliers. Some of those suppliers were forced into bankruptcy themselves. That caused a loss of jobs and, in some cases, financial devastation. He reached the point wherein the only bank in New York that would do business with him was Deutsche Bank. Banking has become a competitive business. Why, I wonder, would so many banks ignore his business?

My concern with all of this is that Mr. Trump is seen, by many, as a leader.­ Leadership, in any complicated and challenging position, is heavily dependent on a dedicated and competent staff. Look at Trump’s history with staff. He hires individuals as “the cream of the crop.” But, they are not permitted to adopt any opinion at odds with his dictates. He goes back to his TV days and fires them. He also subjects them to harsh criticism. In effect, he “throws them under the bus.” Another thing: On January 6, while the mob was assaulting the building that houses our Congress, he delayed any action to stop that assault. He was watching it unfold on Fox News. There were several deaths. Is this a demonstration of leadership?

He continues to rant concerning his ability to guide America “back to” a better place. We have little to evaluate how he would do that. When he ran in 2020 there was no party platform. Nothing specified what the Republican plan might be. The skilled professionals in the Obama administration were waiting to hear from their incoming counterparts: they had files on many current issues to orient their successors, but nobody came. One could say the party was stating “we will do whatever Trump wants.” That sounds, to me, like “we look forward to a dictator.” This is scary. In the plans that he has already announced in the event of his obtaining a second term, a clear path to autocracy is laid out. He will replace all government employees with sycophants.

One of his helpers, Steven Miller, addressing the border crisis, has already spelled out plans for giant detention camps. That reminds me of the colonists who put the indigenous Americans into reservations and the WWII leaders who put Japanese citizens into barbed wire compounds. A ban on Muslims is also a part of that plan.

A fundamental precept of American democracy goes back to Thomas Hobbes. He observed that the human race, when living in a state of nature, experienced life as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. He recommended government be created to provide the structure, processes, and attitudes to protect all citizens. Hobbes favored a monarchy. Our founders decided to try democracy. Our American democracy has been referred to as an experiment. That experiment is now under threat of elimination by a fascist dictator.

There is a solution. And it is in our hands. We have a hard core of probably 67 million voters committed to Trump. They will never be moved. We had over 150 million voters in the last general election. That was 66% of the eligible electorate (Brookings Institute, Pew Research). We can save our system with a response at the polls in November by folks who see through Trump’s lies and deceit.

As Shakespeare said, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.”

Let us not squander our democracy!