Now that the Republican National Convention is over, the arc of Donald Trump's story is complete. That is what these conventions usually signify. They complete the telling of the story of the presidential candidate in full to the American people ("Trump took aim at voters he already has, betting they will give him a November win," July 22).
That arc started with this businessman turned novice candidate for the most powerful and important job in the world. Then he went to spout lunacy after lunacy. Claiming that Sen John McCain, who was held captive by our enemy in North Vietnam and tortured for five years, was not a hero. Then he went on to actually make fun of a disabled person in public. That was followed by the gem of being fine with Japan and South Korea getting nuclear weapons. Then there was saying he would nuke ISIS in Syria — ignoring that nuclear radiation knows no borders and that wafting mushroom cloud of poison would be set off to Israel, our ally right next door. He urged that it is necessary to require all Muslims in this country carry a religious ID card. Most recently, he suggested in the clearest of terms that he would violate the NATO treaty by requiring any NATO ally invaded by an adversary to have paid up any past obligations in order for the U.S. to come to their aide. I am sure that one got a chuckle in Moscow — but not much of one in the United Kingdom.
The job of a president is to not just make "wonkish" policy proposals. The other very important aspect is to call us to action, to do something to make us a better people and nation, to lift us. Aside from all the above lunacy — which too many Republicans have turned a blind eye to — there was his convention speech that culminated this arc of his story. It was the yelling rant of teen issuing a word salad of a speech with platitude after platitude without any rational way to implement anything. What was the most striking was the absence of uplift. It was only dark distortions describing a nation seized with marauding gangs that he would lock up while building a wall to keep "them" all out.
The presidents that I remember tried to lead us to a better light. There was John Kennedy telling us that "the torch has been passed to a new generation" and leading us to a "new frontier" or asking us "not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." There was Ronald Reagan imploring us to aspire to become that "bright shining city on a hill." There was George H.W. Bush calling on us to aspire to become "a thousand points of light" to help others. There was Bill Clinton calling us to "follow the man from Hope" and all things are possible for a nation where "everyone counts because we don't have a single soul to waste."
There was even George W. Bush urging us to follow the "compassionate conservative." Barack Obama said "yes, we can" citing poet Maya Angleou's call for us to "get out from under the dark rock and look up to the light." But nowhere in Mr. Trump's speech was there any attempt to lead or to get us to be better as a people. No, all he offered was the yelling rant of fear and anger.
I urge everyone to shine a light onto their hearts and see who you want us to be.
Mel Mintz, Pikesville