[ad_1]
Dear America,
HEARS! How are you guys? British Americanophile has long been “spreading” across the Atlantic. I am here for the heart, USA. I’m like “I hope the pain stops soon” (strong arm midtone emoji).
I guess everyone is making a list of the worst things Trump did and then they go through it twice because, really, who would believe it. And I know it’s mainly you monstrous problem. But even the British are citizens of what we used to call “the free world.” Its president was once the leader of it. And one of the worst things Trump has done is make Ronald Reagan look like an intellectual giant. Simply by comparison, Trump has humanized Reagan and elevated his memory to holiness.
I’m currently researching the Gipper for a project and honestly, next to Trump he really does seem … not the good boy, exactly? But definitely presidential. “Let’s Make America Great Again” was Reagan’s motto, of course. It was about “American values,” making America a great country. in the world again. Trump’s slogan initially represented the rebuilding of economic power. Now it is the abbreviation for “let’s win the culture war that rages relentlessly and surely, if I lose the elections, I will provoke a real armed civil war.”
Of course, Trump’s humanity is at such undetectable levels that it literally makes nobody more like Saint Francis of Assisi. It’s irritating that even deadweight predecessors like the Bush dynasty appear competent. But Reagan? Along with millions of others in the 1980s, I was there on marches and demonstrations, loudly shouting against the hated neoliberal Raygun, his nuclear missiles, his completely insane space force. Oh how we despise him, this petty warmonger, this cranberry clown politician. It never occurred to us that 40 years later we would be looking at someone much more clueless, much more stupid than Reagan.
It is none of my business, dear Americans, I know. You’re absolutely right. It is not my country, it is yours. You are the ones who swear allegiance from the sea to the shining sea. It should get through. And yet. All this used to be my business, at the time when Potus was the de facto leader of the “West” and led the forces of laissez-faire capitalism against the Evil Empire of Communism. “Ideology” we used to call it. Man, we thought Reagan was the devil incarnate 40 years ago. Now, the news is basically “Self-satirizing human cronut yesterday on Twitter said …”
As I write this letter of solidarity, I am watching the televised presidential debate for the 1980 elections, 40 years ago. Jimmy Carter, the bruised defender, is seeking a second term. Reagan, the intruder, the disruptor, landing blow after blow on Carter: the failing economy, the hostages of Tehran, the correct pronunciation of “nuclear.” Reagan was the older man but he sounded younger. What is frankly astonishing is the dignity of the debate itself. Here were political enemies, diametrically opposed on all issues, who politely disagreed, listened, and relented when time was up. Basic human respect. And you stop and think: how is this normal, to feel nostalgic for normality itself?
Trump often invokes Ronald Reagan for inspiration, and you can see the analogy cross his mind, like a weed. Reagan also came to the White House from show business. But Reagan had been governor of California for two terms. And president of a powerful union, the Screen Actors Guild. And he served in the army. Reagan’s main internal goal of “getting the government off the backs of the people” no doubt helped Trump, the young entrepreneur with shark eyes: ambitious to build, greedy for profits, greedy for tax credits.
Reagan constantly said that a free press was a prerequisite for a free country, and that it should hold presidents to account. Imagine that: a president inviting scrutiny. Trump dismisses any story he doesn’t like as “fake news” and deals solely with Fox: his Pravda, his Tass. Unlike Trump, Reagan was self-aware enough to know his limitations. He surrounded himself with smart, expert advice. Trump lives in a bubble of adulation.
Some of the things Trump is putting out are not new, they are just louder. You couldn’t imagine any of the other presidents who don’t want America First. And like Trump, Reagan was an authoritarian who sent armed police to break up the civil protest. Reagan was indifferent to AIDS; Trump is indifferent to Covid-19. More than 89,000 people died of AIDS during seven years under the Reagan administration. Covid deaths in the US More than seven months under Trump they are 225,000 and they are increasing …
In his foreign policy dealings, Reagan believed in politics, that ancient art of diplomacy now apparently lost in the darkness of history. He saw his main task as bringing the world to peace and he was ready to sit down with the adversaries of the cold war to develop a disarmament program. Trump even to have a foreign policy besides “fuck you”? A resurrected Reagan would be appalled if Trump met with Chief Commissioner Kim Jong-un three times to discuss nuclear weapons. no tangible results.
Reagan’s statemanship did not depend on whether the particular head of state “liked” him. Reagan’s concern was not self-aggrandizement. He sought world peace and found gratification in good deeds. When his mind wandered, his lost memories, all knowledge of being president faded completely, he remembered this: He had saved 77 people from drowning as a young lifeguard. That, in his shattered mind, was his legacy. In the strange world of Trump, the drowned are losers.
Anyway, I’ll log out. You have important things to do, like elect a president. I wish you good luck; We all know that Kamala Harris is the result and a heartbeat of becoming America’s first Potus woman. Things could be worse, no doubt. But they could also be better. The best for you and yours, my brothers and sisters.
I’m still your most ardent admirer
A Briton, Esq
Ian Martin is a comedy writer. His credits include Veep, The Death of Stalin, Avenue 5, The Thick of it, and more.
