On May 14th I wrote about my ambivalence about Trump succeeding in his attempt to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the N. Korean conflict concluding with:
What a cruel irony if two authoritarian autocrats, the despotic Dear Leader Kim and Trump who jokes about being president for life share a Nobel Peace Prize, and that this accomplishment propels Trump into his second term and further deifies Kim in his own country.
I find myself not wanting to hope for any accomplishment on the world stage that will enable four more years with a president who is hellbent on turning our country into a cruel autocracy, make us into a white nationalist nation which is a pariah among our Democratic allies, and who supports the agenda of climate deniers to have four more years to do it.
I wrote that ambivalence is a feeling a person has little or no control over and may or may not be a rational decision made out of weighing the pros and cons of something like the result of the Summit.
Psychologist Leon F Seltzer Ph.D writes in Psychology Today: What If Your Ambivalence Can’t Be Resolved?
Individuals entangled on the two horns of a dilemma are so because they’re almost literally of two minds about their situation. For either choice contains its own disappointments, drawbacks, and limitations. Inevitably, their final decision—while it may be the one most fitting for them—is likely to eventuate in a certain amount of apprehension and misgiving. Realistically, it can’t be anxiety-free.
Lots of people I talk to express fear and loathing as Trump makes more and more autocratic cruel decisions and fosters the worst angels of his supporters. Trump is bringing to the surface unspoken dark thoughts, fantasies, and wishes which are out of character for many people. The possibility he’ ll ride a success with N. Korea to a GOP lock on governance creates a conflict in many of us.
I assume that Democrats whether in Congress or elsewhere also have similar feelings, repressed or conscious and if the later which they are loath to express out loud.
Today Politico published two stories related to this very topic:
Democrats face a political minefield ahead of President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: how to root for success for a president they usually want to see flounder.
Trump is reportedly reevaluating the prospects for a significant denuclearization commitment from Kim, but if he manages to land a foreign policy coup that has eluded past presidents, it couldn’t come at a worse time for Democrats.
The party is planning to center its midterm campaign message around the numerous scandals engulfing the administration. A successful meeting with Kim, however, would give Trump and the GOP — already encouraged by record-low unemployment and other positive economic indicators — a big morale boost just a few months before the November midterms.
Still, Democrats know they can’t cheer for a diplomatic failure that could heighten U.S.-North Korea tensions and potentially trigger a worldwide crisis. So they're raising concerns from the sidelines for now, declaring hope for a Trump-Kim breakthrough, while dismissing it as a long shot at best.
He added, “I think that the next mediator, next negotiator—maybe President Trump, I hope—will reassure them that we’re willing to give up some of those things—the threat of attack on them and to lift the embargo. That would be a cheap price, in my opinion, to pay for a cessation of their nuclear program.”
And if it works out, Carter said he’d be happy to have Trump join him in the ranks of Nobel laureates.
“If President Trump is successful in getting a peace treaty that’s acceptable to both sides with North Korea, I think he certainly ought to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Carter said. “I think it would be a worthy and a momentous accomplishment that no previous president has been able to realize.”
Of all people for me to hazard a guess about as to what is in their heart of hearts and try to delve into whether they have flickering moments of negativity about wanting Trump to succeed in North Korea and assure Republican electoral victories for the next four years it’s Jimmy Carter. I am not saying that every Democrat harbors even deeply repressed wishes Trump crashes and burns at the summit. There are in fact two basic kinds of ambivalence, conscious and unconscious. This would be the subject of another tediously long article.
In an ideal world, Trump would broker peace in Korea, and even win the Nobel Prize, but the country would come to its senses and still take control of Congress and assure that the next president is a Democrat. Alas, the world we live in isn’t ideal.
So count me as a member of the ambivalent group.
POLL: Before you read this story, read the title and answer. Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong-un is near collapse: Is that what his advisers wanted all along?