Daily Times

At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam, US president Trump met with his Russian counterpart and as many believe, his kingmaker. Trump comfortably believed Putin about the election meddling issue. Trump said of Putin, “Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.”

Trump attracted massive criticism at home for believing Putin over the findings of his own intelligence agencies: that Putin meddled in the US presidential elections of 2016 that got Trump in the White House – much to the chagrin and shock of much of the world. I remember that horrifying night I was glued to the TV and watched most of the states colored red as if someone had mistakenly poured tomato ketchup over it. The CNN commentators and anchor persons awkwardly started babbling about the election outcome. Awkward because almost everyone had prepared a talk for a Hillary winning scenario. Anyway, we’ll find what Bob Mueller III finds.

By announcing that he was sold on Putin’s assurance, Trump inspired ridicule from Democratic lawmakers. The prominent one is Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the election. He said on Twitter, “You know who else is insulted by it, Mr. President? The American people, You believe a foreign adversary over your own intelligence agencies.” California Democrat Representative Ted Lieu called Trump “dumb as a rock”. Lieu also said, “Trump knows the Kremlin hacked America last year.” Trump criticized back at the politicians in his usual trash talk manner.

However, he criticized the former spymasters in quite an interesting manner by saying, “I mean, give me a break – they’re political hacks,” Mr. Trump said. “You have Brennan, you have Clapper, and you have Comey. Comey’s proven now to be a liar, and he’s proven to be a leaker, so you look at that.” Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper criticized Trump by saying that the Chinese and the Russians could easily maneuver Trump since they could get him excited with the rolling out of the red carpet. Former CIA chief John Brennan’s reply to Trump’s critique was classic. He said, “Considering the source of the criticism, I consider that criticism a badge of honour.”

Today, Kim appears to be a thinking guy. Kim or Bush or the spymasters sound heroic when they criticize Trump. It doesn’t require much intellectual capabilities or moral character to be fit to criticise Trump. There is no doubt that these people are criminals, but Trump’s behaviour has transformed them into responsible men

Brennan’s statement is reminiscent of Dick Cheney calling Edward Snowden a ‘traitor’. Snowden replied, “being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give an American.” Today Brennan sounds like Snowden. And that exactly is my point. Trump sanitizes people’s image. People who until recently were known as criminals indulging in unconstitutional, illegal, immoral activities have suddenly become quaint, intellectual defenders of  American values. President Bush waged two major devastating wars. He ordered detainees to be tortured, had US citizens’ communications compromised to name a few of his crimes. Furthermore, Bush was considered unintelligent and a war monger. Trump with his racist, mood swings driven, and hatred laden rhetoric makes Bush appear as a humanity loving sage. Bush’s speech after 9/11 where he made a distinction between Islam and those who pervert Islam to kill innocent people makes him sound like a great statesman.

Until quite recently, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appeared every bit of erratic, irrational, and crazy. Kim’s unpredictable, incalculable, and self-destructive image was not just his claim to fame but also his true source of defense. Provoking the crazy Kim was seen counterproductive because the fear was that he could resort to unleashing his nukes. Guess who fits that description now? Today, Kim appears to be a thinking guy. Kim or Bush or the spymasters sound heroic when they criticize Trump. It doesn’t require much intellectual capabilities or moral character to be fit to criticize Trump. These people are doubtless criminals but Trump’s magic wand transformed them into today’s serious and responsible men.

It is reminiscent of a story where a man who made a living by stealing coffins from corpses, earning immense hatred. When his end came, he was talking to his two sons from his deathbed. He advised them not get into the same business as his only legacy was hatred. The sons promised their dying father that they would behave in a manner that will earn him respect posthumously. After his death, the sons started stealing coffins from corpses just like their father, except they would also use a stick to beat the dead. After finishing their business every night, they would walk home but before leaving the graveyard, all the dead would cry out with nostalgia. They would all shout in an orchestra that the father was such a great man and that they all missed him since he only stole their coffins and never ever beat them.I am no fan of Trump. However, my suggestion would be not to fall in the trap of forgetting the crimes of all those that Trump seems to be sanitizing. Humans have this tendency to forget the crimes of the yesteryear. One example of it is Charles Manson who was responsible for the murder of 9 people. Henry Kissinger ordered “Anything that flies on everything that moves” for massively bombing Cambodia. Kissinger alone is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Yet, ironically Manson is the dangerous criminal who should be hated.

The writer is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Houston, and he teaches political science at the Lone Star College in Houston

Published in Daily Times, November 25^th 2017.