Another Day, Another Disgrace

Trump has killed the DACA program — “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” — allowing people brought to America before age 16 to stay.

Most of these 800,000 are educated and employed, pay taxes, and contribute to society. They cannot legally work absent DACA. Some have served in our military. A majority have siblings who are U.S. citizens. A quarter have kids who are. They were induced to come forward and register with the government on the promise that the information wouldn’t be used against them. To break that promise, breaking up American families, is indefensibly cruel and base.

Trump claims to love these kids — shedding buckets of crocodile tears for them. He says Congress should fix this. So has he proposed legislation? Of course not. The idea that Congress will, within his 6-month deadline, pass a law it could never pass before (remember the “Dreamer” act?) insults our intelligence. Yet another huge Trump lie.

Trump also claims this is simply about enforcing the law. Obama is condemned for promulgating DACA by executive order. Yet Trump did exactly the same, getting around existing immigration law by executive order, with his Muslim ban. Anyhow his newfound reverence for law is piquant right after he pardoned Joe Arpaio, convicted of defying court orders. But Arpaio was a poster boy for the war on immigrants; especially brown-skinned ones. These actions cater to Trump’s most xenophobic racist fans. America used to be governed toward its highest aspirations; now, the lowest.

I heard Alternative Radio the other night; it’s a left-wing program but helps sharpen my thinking. Thomas Frank was discussing the political landscape. I previously reviewed one of his books quite negatively. But he’s an engaging speaker I enjoyed hearing. And nowadays I’m weirdly sympathetic toward people like him. I particularly relished Frank calling Trump a “mountebank.” A lovely archaic word, and deliciously apt.

My local paper has been filled with anti-Trump reader letters. But one on Tuesday caught my attention — by David Hauber of Troy — who voted for Trump. “I believed that Trump would be good for America,” Hauber writes. “I thought our government needed a shakeup, and that the ‘swamp’ was spiraling out of control. How could we go wrong with a successful businessman* who claimed he would make America great again?”

He found out. “I was wrong,” says Hauber. “Failure to protect Americans, uphold our laws, and understand the difference between facts and lies has made America the laughingstock of the world and endangered us all. This is the opposite of making America great again.”

His final words: “I am sorry.”

It takes a big person to admit they were wrong and apologize (which the mountebank never does). So far it’s been disheartening that so many Trump voters won’t either. But thank you, David Hauber, for a glimmer of hope.

I too regret my last presidential vote (for Libertarian Gary Johnson). I did agonize over it; I didn’t like Clinton’s politics, character, or personality. Yet compared with Trump . . . ! Not a day passes without my reflecting how much better off we’d be if she’d won.

* Successful? At defrauding customers (Trump University) and screwing anyone who invested in, or did work on, his projects.