”Debatt” mellan två vänner

Peggy är en aktiv följare av vad som händer i USA och det av naturliga skäl. Ur en debatt med en närstående trumpanhängare har jag ”knyckt” (med hennes medgivande) nedastående:

”You’re right, it’s impossible to name any president who hasn’t lied to some extent. However, that doesn’t make lying right or honorable. Neither does it mean that presidents, or any high official, should be excused for their lies, nor that all lies are equivalent to one another. What matters most is the extent of presidential lying that can result in everything from “political suicide” to a devastating blow to the U.S. economy.

One of the ugliest things about Trump’s lies is that he NEVER owns them. He always tries to wiggle out of them by blaming someone else, and that is the sign of a weak, incompetent president. Many trustworthy news sources are fact-checking his lies, which have shown Trump to “lie and mislead” extensively – far more than any president before. Look at these lie-tracking graphs by the N.Y. Times: https://www.nytimes.com/…/trump-lies-obama-who-is-worse…

Two of his biggest and potentially economically damaging lies so far are that Mexico would pay for the wall and that he’s bring back “clean coal” (every expert in energy resources say that the coal is… and should be… dead, because natural gas is far cheaper to produce and deliver, and the future lies in other natural sources like sun and wind power).

NO ONE denies the need for good boarder control but every economic and political expert knew that Mexico wasn’t going to pay for any wall. So, just to save face he’s essentially holding the U.S. tax-payers ransom for his wall! The fact is that 78% of Americans do NOT want the wall, because there are better, more economical ways of supporting boarder control. Sure, other presidents have forced a shut-down to put political pressure on the House and Senate, but most have lasted just a few days. (For the record, I think it’s dictatorial for one man to have sole power to shut down an entire government this way, and just because it’s possible for him to do that is a sign that America isn’t the democracy it so proudly claims to be).

So, you’re o.k. with the fact that 800,000 American Federal workers are being forced to work without pay? How would you feel if you were one of them? What’s more patriotic… to support an unrealistic idea from a president come hell or high water, or to demand that your republican reps work with Democrats to find a do-able solution so that NO American has to suffer economic punishment?

Finally, you must be able to understand that the wall will not work, because refugees and immigrants who are desperate enough to get into America will find other ways. If it’s terrorism that you’re concerned about, the facts are that most of the worst “acts of terror” with the U.S. boarder since 911 has been carried out by Christian, white males armed with AK-15’s – not at all Mexicans.

And if you think a ghastly expensive wall will keep drugs out of the U.S., then you’ve conveniently forgotten drones, planes, and boats. Drugs are big money, so criminals are driven and resourceful. If there’s a will, there’s a way… no wall will stop drugs.

Here’s a quote taken from the N.Y. Time:
TRUMP: ”We have terrorists coming through the southern border because they find that’s probably the easiest place to come through. They drive right in and they make a left.” — Rose Garden news conference Friday.

THE FACTS: If they’re driving in through border crossings, no wall would stop them. But as to his broader point, U.S. officials have not cited evidence of a terrorist influx from Mexico.” Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/…/ap-us-trump-terrorism-fact…