In the 60’s many of us were reading the novel “The Ugly American”. It is still one of the most politically successful novels written about American diplomacy overseas. It was written by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer.
The novel takes place in a fictional nation called Sarkhan (an imaginary country in Southeast Asia that somewhat resembles Burma or Thailand, but which is meant to allude to Vietnam) and includes several real people, most of whose names have been changed.[citation needed] The book describes the United States's losing struggle against Communism due to the ineptness and bungling of the U.S. diplomatic corps[2] stemming from innate arrogance and their failure to understand the local culture. (Quote from Wikipedia)
I think this book still describes much of American behavior overseas. Here in America we have a whole new set of ugly Americans. They are called Republicans with the top ugly American being Donald Trump, The book talks about how we deal with other countries but the new ugly Americans have turned on their own nation. Their interaction right here is arrogance gone haywire. They refuse to try to understand every day Americans. For months, now, we have watched as they insult all races, cultures and genders except white males. Even Ben Carson, a black man stands against his own race. He paints a picture of himself as the worst of the worst stereo-type of the young black violent male (much of what has been questioned whether it really happened) and shows how white he has become as an adult. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz have turned their backs on Hispanic immigrants that their own parents were.
Donald Trump, however, is the worst of the worst. As my grandson puts it he is like a mini-nazi with a brain problem. I think that puts it in a nutshell. Mr. Trump spouts out and out lies to fit his agenda and if challenged about them throws temper tantrums and doubles down on them. He hates everyone that is not him. He hates Hispanics and calls them criminals and rapists. He hates blacks and puts out bogus statistics about black on black crime. He hates Syrians and calls them all terrorists though there have been no attacks in the US by any Syrian immigrants. He hates women and shows nothing but disrespect for them. He hates his opponents and talks about their lack of energy and threatens to run as an Independent because they are mean to him. Almost all of the reasons for his hatred of other races have been proven to be false. He spent much of President Obama’s years chasing the false rumor that President Obama was not born in America even though there is plenty of proof that he was born in Hawaii.
He chooses not to understand other people. His arrogant stances on all issues is not backed up by facts or solutions. He has decided things will be fixed the way he wants them to be because he wants them to be fixed. He talks about how wonderful he will be in foreign and domestic affairs but instead of giving solutions he says childish things like he will be the best and toughest leader ever in America. He will be the muscle against Putin. He will be the best business man to fix the economy. He will make things organized. Not one solution just infantile braggadocio. He feels he can say anything nasty about any competition but if the others say something he does not like about him he says they are being mean to him. He acts like a bully trying to threaten and intimidate anyone who does not agree with him or says that what he says is wrong. He is ignorant of the Constitution and the Bible. He could not even name a passage that had affected him. He is ignorant of history and just about everything he talks about. His theme that he served the country in the military by going to military school is just one of his nonsensical justifications about why he would make a good president. It is also terribly disrespectful to the veterans in this country who have put their lives on the line in the wars that this country have been involved in.
If he gets caught out for something he says he adds more lies to shore up his stance. He has no sense of decency for what he spouts. It is as if he was never taught right from wrong, manners or proper behavior when dealing with others. He seems to have no impulse control. He has failed in several of his business dealings but says he will be the best ever on the economy. He opens his mouth and pretends that there are pearls dropping from his tongue when they are actually just juvenile spit balls. If someone shows him what he thinks is disrespect for his ideas or musings he sues them. It seems that he cannot take rational challenges to his nonsense.
He has started talking about registering and tracking certain races. He talks about bringing back torture which is illegal by all standards. He does not seem to care that he is talking like the worst of the Nazis and how dangerous his rhetoric is. It is frightening to think how he would do on international relations when he is so verbally irresponsible right here at home. He even gives approval for the mistreatment of a protester by his followers. This brings back to mind the speech of Sarah Palin’s that almost caused a race riot when she was running for vice-president. His speech endangers others and incites them to harm anyone that he has decided to dislike this week. He shows the worst side of the American people and would be a terrible person to become president. What seemed humorous and ridiculous when he started out has devolved into dangerous nonsense. The fact that he has any followers at all amazes me because of what it says about his followers. It is sad to think that there are actually Americans who think the same way he does. His is the worst face of the conservative Republicans and has been given license to act this way by the insidious behavior of the Tea Party and hatefulness of the faux Christian fundamentalists. He is a stain on the face of America and the fact that he has made it this far is shameful.
Carson and the other Republican candidates are partly at fault by their rhetoric against others as whatever they say, he will take and turn it to the extreme end of the discussion. Until they realize that what they are saying is wrong they will encourage Mr. Trump’s behavior. It is time they take stock of their stump speeches and change it to less offensive communication. If not he may end up the candidate representing all Republicans and reinforcing the theme of the Ugly American.