Deconstructing Trump by Dr. Mardy Grothe is subtitled The Trump Phenomenon Through the Lens of Quotation History. I enjoyed the book, which consists principally of quotes. Many are quite famous, others rather esoteric. All were written or uttered before 2000 and none of them mention or specifically address Donald J. Trump. So there is no particular reason to believe that any of the quotes apply to Trump – unless you have been paying attention.
There are so many good quotes, so relevant (in my mind) to our president, that it was hard to narrow down the list. The quotes should appeal (at some level) to all intelligent readers. Make of them what you will. Grothe occasionally discusses the relevance of a quote or supplements with his understanding of the quote. But really, it’s a book of quotes with no narrative or other cohesion apart from the alphabet, by author.
Here we go:
As democracy is perfected, the office [of US president] represents more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. H.L. Mencken. I refer you to Donald J. Trump’s proud recitation of “person, woman, man, camera, tv” which is not even an appropriate list for this exceedingly modest memory test. Each item should be unrelated to the others.
We have a large public that is very ignorant about public affairs and very susceptible to simplistic slogans by candidates who appear out of nowhere, have no track record, but mouth appealing slogans. Zbigniew Brzezinski. Let me think, “simplistic slogans,” two come to mind. Make America Great Again is wonderfully nostalgic, sort of. Nobody has ever been able to tell me exactly, or even generally, when it stopped being great. Drain the Swamp is more oxymoronic than anything. A fair definition might be: flooding DC with yes-men and apologists.
There are conditions of blindness so voluntary that they become complicity. Paul Bourget. When the president decided to host the next G7 meeting at his own golf resort (since retracted), it, at a minimum, raised conflict of interest issues. Not for Senator Kevin Cramer; he tweeted that the president demonstrated “tremendous integrity in boldness and his transparency.” Blind, check. Complicit, check.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. Plato. Based on my understanding of our history, we have never had a president so inferior to so many. The two prior presidents were quite different from each other personally and politically, but they were both decent men trying hard to do a difficult job well. Donald Trump is not decent and he doesn’t even try to get the job done, preferring to watch TV, tweet about what he sees, and golf. He has already golfed 285 more times than he predicted he would as president.[1] [2]
Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody, rather than for somebody. Franklin P. Adams. True that. Hillary was not a great candidate, seemingly one of the few Democrats capable of losing to Trump. I have no doubt that she would have been a better president – but you have to win first. The upcoming election will be a referendum on Trump, not a celebration of Biden.
Practical politics consists in ignoring facts. Henry Brooks Adams. Though Adams never heard the term, he would instantly understand the meaning of “fake news.”
To be ignorant of the one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant. A. Bronson Alcott. So many examples abound that would embarrass an ordinary person. I’ll pick just one quote from our president: “Having a drone fly overhead — and I think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology certainly, than I do.”[3]
The less you speak of your greatness, the more I will think of it. Francis Bacon. Almost comically applicable to our boastful president. Two quotes: “I’m like, very smart” and “true stable genius,” tell much of the tale. “Stable genius” has always fascinated me because of the unlikelihood that the term has ever been used in any context other than Trump extolling Trump.
Never underestimate the power of self-absorption. Rita Mae Brown. For instance, it helped Donald J. Trump attain the presidency. Here’s an example: when asked about the legacy of the recently deceased John Lewis, President Trump said “He didn’t go to my inauguration.” Everything is first and foremost about Trump.
What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but absence of self-criticism. G.K. Chesterton. The president was asked in May “with 4 percent of the world’s population and 30 percent of the outbreak what would you have done differently facing this crisis?” He answered: Well, nothing.[4] I would call that an “absence of self-criticism,” and I would call much of the country and the world embittered about Trump.
The superior man is distressed by his want of ability. Confucius needs no commentary from me.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s own ignorance. Confucius.
Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. Charles Darwin. One of Donald Trump’s great strengths is an unshakeable confidence in himself. To wit: “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”[5] This is, of course, outweighed by his willful ignorance of virtually any issue involving serious thought or nuance.
Duplicity is a mark of second-rate ability. Luc De Clapiers. Ain’t nobody more duplicitous than Donald J. Trump.
Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first. Charles De Gaulle. To be fair, Trump hates most Americans too.
Quotations are a great way to learn from brilliant minds of the past. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. The first person who requests it can have my copy.
[1] https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2020/08/09/how-many-times-president-donald-trump-played-golf-in-office-103836/
[2] https://woay.com/i-wont-have-time-to-play-golf-if-im-elected-president-trump-set-to-embark-on-1st-vacation/
[3] https://www.axios.com/everything-trump-says-he-knows-more-about-than-anybody-b278b592-cff0-47dc-a75f-5767f42bcf1e.html?te=1&nl=frank-bruni&emc=edit_fb_20200311
[4] https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/05/20/trump_i_would_have_done_nothing_differently_with_coronavirus_weve_done_amazingly_well.html
[5] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/07/21/donald-trump-republican-convention-acceptance-speech/87385658/
You should write a book.
In 1935 Langston Hughes wrote “Let America Be America Again”, a poem that speaks about issues we face today.
Trump’s Make America Great Again sounds similar. The key difference is Hughes is talking about an America that never was, but that he dreams will be.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
Brilliant collection of quotes that seem a direct commentary on our current President. Are the comments after each quote yours?
I’d like the book if still available.
Never mind. I decided to buy the book on Kindle for $3.99 and discovered I already own it. How did that happen?
We have been friends for a while — some kind of mind meld.
Comments are mine.
Sounds like a very interesting book! Your commentary is getting me back on my political horse- I pledge to do even more work to get people to vote! Anyone who cares needs to vote like their lives depend on it- literally!! Go Joe & Kamala!!👊🏼👊🏼
“If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.”
–Beyoncé
“If the world was a perfect place, it wouldn’t be.”
–Yogi Berra
“No bird soars in a calm.”
–Wilbur Wright
“I believe race is too heavy a burden to carry into the 21st century. It’s time to lay it down. We came here in different ships, but now we’re all in the same boat.”
–John Lewis
“Too many people are still too comfortable with too many other people’s deaths.”
–Rev. William J. Barber II (April 26, 2020)
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”
–James Baldwin