Yes, I am a Canadian conservative who would no doubt have voted for Donald Trump in the most recent U.S. presidential election. Yet my support for much of his agenda in no way deters me from reviling his obvious personal flaws. His National Mall speech of July the 4th in which he celebrated the glories of America’s status as the most powerful nation on earth, reeked of the very sort of arrogance and disdain for others which seem to be key features of his personality.
America’s significance in the evolution of out Western Democracies is beyond debate. That it has been the most powerful nation on the planet over the last century is equally inarguable. But it has become so as a result of the Western European Culture of which it is a product, a culture whose Enlightenment philosophers articulated the very principles which led America’s founders in their formulation of the U.S. Constitution. Yet rather than acknowledging America’s affiliation with various Western Nations, including Canada, Trump chose to celebrate it as a unique Human Achievement, the Ideal to which all others must humbly submit!
America, he said, is “the crowning achievement of human history,” “the most extraordinary, most exceptional, most incredible nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.” “Nobody can be like us,” he said, insisting that no other people had done more for the good of the species.
While I appreciate his desire to celebrate the 250th birthday of his country, these statements are simplistic exaggerations implicitly insulting to his Western allies! It has always amazed me that the philosophers of Ancient Greece, 2500 years ago, speculated on Women’s Rights and the Equality of all Peoples, while actually considering Democracy as a political alternative! At the same time, the world-wide impact of the relatively small country of England is truly astounding. That the U.S., while rejecting English rule, nevertheless based its Democracy on the rational speculations of people such as John Locke, often referred to as the father of Liberalism, is but another example of the superficiality of Trump’s testimonial.
While the vast majority of Canadians cherish their neighbors to the south, a certain % have always found Americans to be consumed by a repulsive sense of self-importance. Trump’s MAGA movement would seem to be so infected. Unfortunately, his condescending approach even to his closest allies makes fruitful negotiations with them difficult if not impossible. Your tariff deals with Canada and Mexico, Mr. Trump, must be mutually beneficial. You can’t simply bully your neighbors into submitting to your every wish!
A lengthy Opinion Piece published by the N. Y. Times on the weekend of May23-24 was entitled: “Trump Misunderstands What True Power Is.” Its basic premise was that the U.S. President’s assumption that the rest of the world will simply surrender before America’s power, is grossly simplistic. It cites the many negative repercussions of his assault on Iran as an example. The Times, I know, is decidedly to the Left, yet its criticism of Trump seems reasonable. While many of his goals are worthy of pursuit and he is clearly motivated by what is best for America, his personal limitations hardly seem likely to produce his intended results. Do his Chauvinism and Aggressiveness make him, as the Left likes to contend, the worst president in U.S. history? I think not. Indeed his predecessor seems a likely candidate for that distinction. At the same time, however, he is clearly not the greatest president ever, as has ludicrously been claimed by some on the generally rational, political Right!