By César ChelalaMarch 18, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" - Never
underestimate Donald Trump. Nobody is better than
him in the use of language. Nobody is better than
him in using offensive language. Nobody is better
than him in using language to demolish an opponent.
Like a language’s Picasso, he can paint people’s
portrait (or what he wants other people to see as
their portrait) with only a few well-chosen words.
And the world is poorer by this practice that always
destroys, never constructs.
His tactic is to always mock his opponents, never to
confront them with facts and figures. And this is
what he did during the whole Democratic campaign to
choose a candidate for president. In May 2019, at a
liquefied natural gas facility near Lake Charles,
La. he said, referring to former Vice President Joe
Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Rep. Beto
O’Rourke, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Elizabeth
Warren, « Boy, you got some beauties there. Three
hundred fifty million people and that’s the best we
can do. I don’t think so, » he concluded, with his
characteristic insouciance.
Mayor Buttigieg’s name he mocked as sounding «
Boot-edge-edge » to the loud approval of his
supporters. And we all remember how he mocked Sen.
Elizabeth Warren about her Native American heritage
by calling her « Pocahontas », leading her to have a
DNA test to prove her ancestry. And in case
Pocahontas wasn’t enough, when she entered the race
for presidential candidate he referred to her as the
« goofy Elizabeth Warren ».
Bernie Sanders was a frequent target of his scorn.
During the 2016 Democratic primary, he enjoyed
watching the confrontation between Sanders and
Hillary Clinton, for whom he feels a particular
disdain. On May 11, 2016, he Tweeted, « I don’t want
to hit Crazy Bernie Sanders too hard yet because I
love watching what he is doing to Crooked Hillary.
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
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His time will come ! » When Sen. Amy
Klobuchar announced that she was running for
president he Tweeted, « Well,it happened
again. Amy Klobuchar announced that she is
running for President, talking proudly of
fighting global warming while standing in a
virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing
temperatures. Bad timing. By the end of her
speech she looked like Snowman (woman) ! »
Although he went relatively easy on
Klobuchar, Trump used his munitions against
former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Talking to supporters in Colorado Springs
Trump said about the Democratic candidates
that they were « choking » during the
debate. « I don’t know if anybody watched
last night’s debate, » Trump said. « And you
know what, mini-Mike didn’t do well last
night. I was going to send him a note
saying, « ‘It’s not easy doing what I do, is
it ?’». If this wasn’t demeaning enough, he
crouched behind the podium until he was
hardly visible and continued talking as if
he were Mike Bloomberg. When Bloomberg
dropped out of the race Trump commented, «
He made a fool of himself. »
He has a special dislike for Joe Biden. When
Biden announced he was joining the race to
choose Democratic candidate, Trump Tweeted,
« Welcome to the race Sleepy Joe. I only
hope you have the intelligence, long in
doubt, to wage a successful primary
campaign. It will be nasty -you will be
dealing with people who truly have some sick
& demented ideas. But if you make it, I will
see you at the Starting Gate ! »
To his credit, though, one has to say that
already in May 2019, Trump predicted what
now seems a certainty, Tweeting, « Looks to
me like it’s going to be SleepyCreepy Joe
over Crazy Bernie. Everyone else is fading
fast ! »
But President Trump is an equal opportunity
offender. During the recent coronavirus
epidemic he Tweeted, «The United States will
be powerfully supporting those industries,
like Airlines and others, that are
particularly affected by the Chinese Virus.
We will be stronger thane ver before! »
Trump was immediately rebuked by Eugene Cho,
an Evangelical leader, who Tweeted, « Mr.
President: This is not acceptable. Calling
it the "Chinese virus" only instigates
blame, racism, and hatred against Asians -
here and abroad. We need leadership that
speaks clearly against racism; Leadership
that brings the nation and world together.
Not further divides. »
In his poem The Word, translated by Stephen
Mitchell, Neruda wrote:
I drink to the word, raising
a word or crystalline cup,
in it I drink
the wine of language
or unfathomable water,
maternal source of all words,
and cup and water and wine
give rise to my song
because the name is origin
and green life: it is blood,
the blood that expresses its substance,
and thus its rolling is prepared :
words give crystal to the crystal,
blood to the blood,
and give life to life.
Trump uses words to diminish and ridicule
his enemies, and he does that with
considerable effectiveness. He betrays the
luminous potential of words as expressed
powerfully by Neruda: to enhance life and
language.
César Chelala is the foreign correspondent
for The Middle East Times International
(Australia) and a Contributing Editor for
The Globalist.
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