Guest Blog: “Trump is the Hoax”

I am pleased to have as my guest commentator Christopher Dollas whom I‘ve known since our middle school through high school days in East Chicago, Indiana. Chris, now a retired English teacher, is a skilled director of drama and theatrical productions.  He is also a passionate commentator and often reflects upon the America he knows as a beacon of hope and equal opportunity.

Chris’s poignant “Letters to the Editor” have appeared periodically in local newspapers in the greater Boston area. Both Chris and his lovely wife Mary, a Registered nurse and first responder, contracted and survived Covid -19 during the early phase of the pandemic. Chris agreed to allow me to post this Letter to the Editor , “Trump is the Hoax” here in my Blog.

I believe Chris resonates many of our inner feelings in words capturing the deeper angst and frustration many Americans of all stripes may feel regarding the overall failings of Donald Trump’s Presidency and the irrational cult-like loyalty that so many of the 70+ million who voted for him represent.

“Trump is the Hoax” by Christopher Dollas

To the editor of the Newburyport News:

I find it difficult to fathom that over 70 million citizens voted for Trump, who was openly bigoted, misogynistic and incompetent.

Not once did I hear him say, “Black lives matter.” Never did I hear him condemn the violence of right-wing extremists at the peaceful rallies protesting the killing of Blacks by police.

Instead, he exaggerated the number of protesters who were not peaceful, particularly in cities run by Democrats. He defended the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse, a gun-wielding teenager who is accused of murdering two men in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

His regard for women has been shameful. The “Hollywood Tape” broadcast back in 2016 captured his braggadocio of how he could treat women.

Twenty-six women have accused him of sexual misconduct, with the notable payoff to Stormy Daniels, according to Michael Cohen. He has a history of disparaging women, as he did with Rosie O’Donnell and many other female celebrities.

His campaign rhetoric, including his calling out to suburban women to heed his warning about their neighborhoods being inundated with low-income housing and telling them, “You’re supposed to love Trump.”

And perhaps, above all of this, is his gross incompetence in managing the coronavirus.

Bob Woodward’s book, “Rage,” which is an account of Woodward’s series of interviews with Trump, we learn that Trump has been lying to us all along about his knowledge of the catastrophic effect of the virus.

Trump withheld the truth, telling us it was a Democratic hoax. He never prepared a national strategy to combat the spreading of this lethal epidemic.

Never did he nor his administration provide the PPEs necessary for front-line medical staffers to handle this massive outbreak. This incompetence was reinforced by Vice President Pence and Jared Kushner, who lied to us about the availability and dispersing of the PPEs.

I find it difficult to comprehend why over 70 million citizens supported President Trump, who still continues to ignore this virus as it surges in these fall months.

As of today, there have been 10.45 million cases and 242,000 deaths. And where is Trump – in his bunker lamenting his election loss and conniving ways to steal back his presidency.

There is something sad, in my opinion, that Trump has managed to persuade millions that he is worthy of remaining president.

To me he is the hoax; he is the wolf in sheep’s clothing; he is the devil in disguise.