Watching Trump the other trying to quote FDR and Winston Churchill the other day was sort of like watching a chimpanzee try to fly. You know it had its eyes in heaven, but it will never understand when you try to explain aerodynamics to it.
In Trump's speech, one of his writers attempted to come up with a way to explain him lying to the American public about how the coronavirus was pretty much contained, that people didn't get infected by it from airborne droplets, that it was no deadlier than the flu,and that young people were pretty much immune to it, when he knew none of that was true. To be fair, while Trump did know at a certain point all that was untrue, it's possible -- being a malignant narcissist and pathological -- that eventually he convinced himself with his only lies. But still, from what he said on the recording to Bob Woodward that we all heard, he did know the truth at least at that time. When he said it. But to try to make everything think he was just being noble (which I'm sure not many people ever thought likely -- including his family and those who have known him for decades) and that he just didn't want people to panic (which I'm sure not many people ever thought likely -- including his family and those who have known him for decades, or a few days), the speechwriter figured he'd try to throw in a couple of the most famous, nurturing thoughts by the two legendary democratic world leaders who helped save the world from Naziism and fascism. That would be President Franklin D. Roosevelt telling the American public, "The only thing you have to fear -- is fear itself. And Prime Minister Winston Churchill telling the British people to "Stay calm, carry on." Okay, this is really easy. When FDR made his statement, first of all it wasn't about WWII, but the Great Depression. And the point wasn't to hide anything from the public to keep them from panicking. It was to let people know precisely what was going on, and let them know that the only actual danger to be concerned about was the terror of not knowing. That when you don't know what's going on, you create all manner of disastrous scenarios in your mind. But when you're told, you can understand what is happening and see what the government is doing to resolve things. Which removes fear and panic And so he would keep Americans informed, even to the point of later giving his famous Fireside Chats. When Churchill made his statement, he wasn't keeping information from the public. He understand as clearly as could be that the British actually knew there was a war on in Europe, and that Hitler and the Nazis were taking over nations, and that England would be Germany's target. This wasn't a secret. He wasn't hiding the news about that. And it was specifically because the British public knew that he dealt with them openly and honestly, so that they could see what the government was doing to resolved things. And knowing the plans, being kept informed, they should them be able to stay calm and keep going. This is pretty basic and obvious to anyone who takes half a moment to grasp the moment and have a clue about history. Which I understand leaves out Trump. It is also the exact opposite of what Trump told Bob Woodward he was supposedly doing in lying the everyone. And one other thing: as Brian Williams noted, we also all know that after the Blitz, Churchill didn't say to the British people, "It is what it is." While we can hope that Trump would have understood (or even just cared) what FDR and Churchill were actually saying, I think there's a better chance on that chimpanzee learning to fly.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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