Trump and the Nobel

 When I woke up this morning and checked the news, I was astonished to see that Trump has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.  I looked to make sure that the source wasn’t the Babylon Bee.  When I realized it was one of my regular news sources, I thought, “Oh, Wow!  Here it comes…a deluge of negativity!”

Every time I try to put some comments out there to balance the negativity against Trump, I get accused of being a supporter.  I do NOT like Trump as a person, but I suppose that I am a supporter in the sense that I don’t like to see him accused unfairly, and I think that often happens.

Before Trump was even a candidate for anything, I mentioned him in a blog post I wrote, as an example of ostentatious display of wealth in a world…and even a nation…where poverty exists.  During the primaries, I wrote a post in which I hoped with all my heart that he and Hillary would not be our choices.  But, once the man was president, I thought we ought to give him a fair chance.

I was appalled that no matter how qualified the people he appointed to positions were, the liberal camp found a way to shred them.  I was disgusted to hear him referred to as “the orange one.”  Would liberals have tolerated Obama being called “the black one?”  I tried to point out that when you criticize a person on every little point, you lose your credibility when you criticize them on the larger more significant points.  Yes…criticize him…but do it over something valid and significant.  I had someone “unfriend” me, because I either didn’t explain myself clearly on this point, or he/she didn’t understand what I was trying to say.  Or perhaps, Trump made the person so angry that the lashing out was just irrational.

Trump is a divisive figure.  He is rude, narcissistic and indiscreet.  But, he is not the first president we have had to be rude, even crude. (I have read that LBJ referred to his penis as Jumbo and sometimes displayed it.)  Most people who rise to this level of power are a tad narcissistic.  Most are not so indiscreet.  (Kennedy and Clinton attempted to hide their sexual dalliances.) Most have managed to hide their sins and personality flaws.  Unfortunately, we now have Twitter, and a world full of people, including our president, who think that everything they think (or eat) is of great interest to the rest of the world.  Things tumble out in the moment unfiltered.  Lots of people do this…but lots of people aren’t the POTUS.

The media are not the least bit helpful in gaining an accurate picture of what Trump has actually done.  Currently he is being criticized for saying that war heroes are “losers and suckers.”  We have all heard him refer to people as “losers,” and even disparage John McCain.  I don’t think we have actually heard him refer to our war dead as “losers,” but the liberal media is inclined to believe it.  Meanwhile, conservative media outlets have countered with numerous sources that say this is absolutely not true.  Interestingly, the liberal camp is keeping its source(s) anonymous, while the conservative side is naming theirs.  Truth???  How can we possibly know?

So, how can we know through the media whether or not Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?  He has been nominated by a Norwegian parliament member for brokering diplomatic ties between Israel and the UAE.  This has, heretofore, been barely mentioned in the mainstream media.  They are too busy with the covid pandemic, and the BLM protests and counterprotests, and the California wildfires which are, they assure us, caused by climate change.  Whether Trump actually wins the prize remains to be seen.  The nominator believes he is more deserving than Obama was.  (Gasp!)

I am heartsick over the venom being spewed by both the supporters and detractors of Trump.  He is someone who cannot and will not be ignored.  But, neither party gave us a stellar choice last time, and they aren’t doing so this time either.

Many years ago, when I was an instructor in a school of Nursing, a person was brought in to do group sessions with the students.  I was not privy to what went on there, but I got the impression that the students were encouraged to be open in their criticism of each other.  One of the other faculty members made the comment, “When he is done encouraging them to tear each other apart, who is going to put them back together?”

When we are done tearing each other apart, who is going to put us as a nation back together?  I fear that no matter who wins the upcoming election, the tears in the fabric of our nation will be deeper and wider.  Whether or not Trump wins the Nobel Peace Prize isn’t really the issue.  Who will bring peace to us personally and as a nation?

 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27