The recent letter to the editor from Mr. Nathanson is once again instructive as to those who applaud Trump and his “many accomplishments.”
Other than specializing in the art of snide commentary, he obviously enjoys sorting through his selective ‘factoids’ to demolish the opposition. (Sort of like Trump’s bludgeoning with his selective ignorance….)
It appears that he thinks his response gives him great stature as an intellectual.
Not really, just someone who’s fixated on pummeling with selective rants to support his highly partisan views that in his alt-universe explains why Mr. Trump is ‘making America great again’.
Apparently, he too embraces the ‘art of the deal’ and will no doubt continue citing a string of ‘incredible’ accomplishments by his hero, while of course denigrating a former president, for whom he obviously shares the same animus – for reasons too obvious to name.
Never mind that three hundred noted historians across the political spectrum have ranked Trump dead last at No. 44 in the latest poll and Obama in the Top Ten.
But clearly, Nathanson knows best with his ‘brilliant insights’.
It’s interesting that he never addresses the major points made regarding the damage being done to our democracy and constitutional norms by this intellectual wasteland of a president.
I guess the transactional Nathanson has no concern for the nation we leave to our children and grandchildren – as long as Mr. Trump ‘wins’ daily in denigrating the norms of democracy and turning us into an international pariah.
If he’d taken the time to read, that was the major point being made, which he dismisses as frivolous and ‘stuck in a time warp. Interesting!
Let’s assume he knows that many a demagogue, intent on destroying a nation’s norms, have accomplishments. (Yes, and even Mussolini had the trains running on time!)
Stringing these together in a flood of factoids does not address the damage Trump is doing, whether to the western alliance…or through his hero worship of autocrats …or his ignoring the constitution on the emoluments clause…or engaging in rampant race-baiting in the public square…or attacking a legally mandated investigation to save his own damaged hide…and on and on.
These are facts, not some biased opinions that Nathanson seeks to support in his endless search for validation. (Yet he describes Trump’s obvious personality disorder as mere ‘character flaws.’
I assume the naive Nathanson would have described Hitler the same way in the 1930s when he was making Germany great again.)
But among Trump’s worst offenses is the damage he’s doing quite adeptly in destroying the international norms that are overseen by the U.S. – as the only superpower economically, politically and, yes, morally capable of performing this job.
No amount of deal-making to make a profit here and there can replace the benefits we enjoy in an orderly world we oversee, where prosperity can be enjoyed by more of its citizens.
Only petty dictators, real or potential, think otherwise in their narrow and petty need to stand supreme… as the gullible and ignorant bow to these false idols.
Strip away the moral authority of a vibrant democracy …and we’re no more than a transactional China or Russia – both praised incessantly by our poster boy for preening narcissism.
It sounds as though Nathanson prefers to view history as passé in predicting the future…
preferring to harp on the current events he endlessly sorts through his distorted lens, as if that will tell the whole story.
Or, may I suggest he take one of the courses I teach at the Adult Education program in Great Neck, including one on the hallmarks of ‘Presidential Greatness,’ which includes Trump supporters in a robust yet civil exchange that may actually enlighten.
(And yes, my degree from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton and years of teaching do qualify me to speak on the subject even to some would be PhD’s.)
If Nathanson cares to try to overcome in his words ’intellectual bankruptcy and empty rhetoric,’ the invitation still stands.
Ken Grossman
Great Neck
