Trump

“The first ‘unalienable right’ that Jefferson mentions in ‘The Declaration of Independence’ as a ‘self-evident’ truth is ‘life.’ Without it, there would be only oblivion and its cold rocks. Trump’s most egregious act has been to insult this truth by choosing to ignore essential measures and precautions to safeguard against Covid-19.

“[More than] 180,000 now dead, and still he refuses to wear a mask or enforce CDC regulations in an effort to protect the precious life of the nation. He is no less than a killer, announcing in the midst of over a thousand American deaths a day that ‘the virus is behind us’ when it isn’t.

“But his murderous attitude and dearth of responsible policies toward both the health of his fellow citizens AND the environment are not simply due to his lack of respect and belief in sound science, but to a mean-spirited, illiterate, polarizing, gangster-like, narcissistic personality that values only his life and personal wealth.

“By blaming innocent victims of police brutality, along with peaceful protesters, for their own murders while extolling vigilantes as justified peace keepers and ‘nice people,’ he violates the first and most sacred truth of Americans’ unalienable right with a fascist ‘law and order’ mentality.

“He willfully maintains a hard heart that’s impervious to human life’s most essential quality, namely an empathetic understanding of the other, especially those most unlike himself.

“He fails miserably at apprehending the idea of a trans-personal self that maintains the highest democratic principle which Walt Whitman expressed so eloquently in the opening lines of his poem, ‘Song of Myself’: ‘Every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.’

“And not only doesn’t he begin to grasp the universal tenets of democracy, he willfully chooses to oppress and kill with prevarication, delusion, and a devil-take-hindmost cruelty. He’s not American. He’s a monster.”

-Chard DeNiord

Chard DeNiord is an American author, Poet Laureate of Vermont, poet, and teacher. He lives in Westminster West, Vermont with his wife Liz. Chard DeNiord is the author of five poetry collections Asleep in the Fire, Sharp Golden Thorn, Night Mowing, The Double Truth, and Interstate: Wikipedia