9 May 2019 | Draft
Who to Blame: "Donald Trump" or the "American People"?
Let's get real clear on any responsibility for imminent global disaster
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Produced in a period of imminent war and global disaster. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars... (Matthew 24:6). The earlier variant dating from the mid-term period of the current presidency has been amended to include reports at the end of that presidency
Clarification
Donald Trump is the duly elected President of the USA -- elected by the American People according to well-defined electoral procedures. It is currently irrelevant whether those procedures are in any way in question. They have yet to be revised -- if that is feasible and desired by the American People. Trump is therefore the legitimate representative of the American People. He is variously acclamed and recognized as the leader of the world's greatest superpower.
It follows that the unprecedented media coverage of "Donald Trump" is fundamentally misleading, if not deliberately so. Why is it that? Who is rendered innocent thereby? Appropriately so? Who is weaseling out of any responsibility? Plausible deniability? Culpable deniability? Scapegoating? Should the American People take ownership of "Donald Trump"?
In the following exercise in clarification, mention of "Donald Trump" in titles of a selection of articles in the media is replaced by "American People" -- for whom Trump is merely the current mouthpiece in political, legal, executive, and public relations terms.
| Clarification of the meaning of "Donald Trump" | ||
| Source | Misleading indications | Vital clarifications |
| The Nation, 8 May 2019 | Trump and Bolton Are Putting War With Iran on a Hair Trigger | American People and Bolton Are Putting War With Iran on a Hair Trigger |
| Vox, 8 May 2019 | Trump's Iran policy is making war more likely | American Peoples' Iran policy is making war more likely |
| The New York Times, 4 May 2019 | Trump Dials Up the Pressure on Iran | American People Dial Up the Pressure on Iran |
| Foreign Policy, 7 May 2019 | Trump's Iran Policy Is Becoming Dangerous | American Peoples' Iran Policy Is Becoming Dangerous |
| The New York Times, 29 April 2019 | Asylum Seekers Face New Restraints Under Latest Trump Orders | Asylum Seekers Face New Restraints Under Latest Orders of the American People |
| The New York Times, 19 December 2018 | Trump's Decision to Withdraw From Syria Is Alarming | Decision of American People to Withdraw From Syria Is Alarming |
| The New York Times, 27 January 2017 | Donald Trump's Un-American Refugee Policy | Un-American Refugee Policy of the American People |
| The Conversation, 18 October 2018 | Trump sees opportunity in Venezuela's humanitarian crisis as midterms approach | American People see opportunity in Venezuela's humanitarian crisis as midterms approach |
| Paste Magazine, 19 March 2019 | Trump Is Putting Refugee Children In Black Sites | American People Are Putting Refugee Children In Black Sites |
| The Guardian, 22 April 2019 | Trump issues Earth Day message without mentioning climate change | American People issue Earth Day message without mentioning climate change |
| BBC News, 26 November 2018 | Trump on climate change report: 'I don't believe it' | American People on climate change report: 'We don't believe it' |
| Forbes, 23 February 2019 | Trump's Climate Denial Is A National Security Threat | American Peoples' Climate Denial Is A National Security Threat |
| The Guardian, 8 May 2019 | Trump's antics over Iran have endangered us all. | American Peoples' antics over Iran have endangered us all. |
| NBC News, 8 May 2019 | Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has been vindicated | American Peoples' withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal has been vindicated |
| Arms Control Association, October 2018, | Trump Challenges Europeans Over Iran Deal | American People Challenge Europeans Over Iran Deal |
| BBC News, 4 October 2017 | What's Donald Trump said about guns and gun control? | What have the American People said about guns and gun control? |
| DW, 26 April 2019 | Donald Trump announces withdrawal from UN arms treaty during NRA speech | American People announce withdrawal from UN arms treaty during NRA speech |
| Global News, 11 May 2017 | Donald Trump's climate stance casts shadow over Arctic Council meeting | American Peoples' climate stance casts shadow over Arctic Council meeting |
| Bloomberg, 20 December 2018 | Trump Outlines Plans for Oil Drilling in Arctic Wildlife Refuge | American People Outline Plans for Oil Drilling in Arctic Wildlife Refuge |
| The Wall Street Journal, 30 March 2019 | Court Blocks Trump Effort to Open Arctic Waters to Oil Drilling | Court Blocks Effort of American People to Open Arctic Waters to Oil Drilling |
| Reuters, 6 May 2019 | Wall Street futures plunge after Trump threatens China with further tariffs | Wall Street futures plunge after American People threaten China with further tariffs |
| POLITICO, 8 March 2018 | Why isn't Wall Street freaking out about Trump? | Why isn't Wall Street freaking out about the American People? |
| The Telegraph, 8 May 2019 | Trump has changed the rules of diplomacy, and America's allies better get used to it | The American People have changed the rules of diplomacy, and America's allies better get used to it |
| Daily Telegraph, 25 December 2018 | Donald Trump questions child's belief in Santa | American People question child's belief in Santa |
| CNN, 29 April 2019 | Washington Post says Trump has topped 10,000 false or misleading statements | Washington Post says American People have topped 10,000 false or misleading statements |
| POLITICO, 18 March 2019 | Trump Says ISIS Is Defeated. Reality Says Otherwise. | American People Say ISIS Is Defeated. Reality Says Otherwise. |
| The Guardian, 18 December 2018 | Blind creature that buries head in sand named after Donald Trump | Blind creature that buries head in sand named after the American People |
| Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 21 January 2019 | Trump's Space Force is a strategic mistake | American Peoples' Space Force is a strategic mistake |
| The Spectator, 20 April 2019 | The comedy and tragedy of Trump | The comedy and tragedy of the American People |
| Addendum (25 December 2020) (see also List of people granted executive clemency by Donald Trump , Wikipedia) |
||
| Source | Misleading indications | Vital clarifications |
| Information Clearing House, 23 December 2020 | Everyone was wrong about Trump | Everyone was wrong about the American People |
| CNN, 16 December 2020 | Inside the scramble for Trump pardons | Inside the scramble for pardons from the American People |
| ABC News, 11 November 2020 | Can Donald Trump pardon his family, associates or himself? | Can the American People pardon their families, associates or themselves? |
| CNN, 2 December 2020 | Can Trump pre-pardon his children? | Can the American People pre-pardon their children? |
| HBC News, 24 December 2020 | Trump's pardon of Blackwater contractors convicted of massacre greeted with derision, grief | American People's pardon of Blackwater contractors convicted of massacre greeted with derision, grief |
| USA Today, 23 December 2020 | 'Egregious and disgusting': Trump's pardon of Blackwater contractors sparks outrage, warnings | 'Egregious and disgusting': AmericanPeople's pardon of Blackwater contractors sparks outrage, warnings |
| The Guardian, 22 December 2020 | Trump pardons ex-campaign aide, Blackwater contractors and disgraced lawmakers | American People pardon ex-campaign aide, Blackwater contractors and disgraced lawmakers |
| Common Dreams. 7 December 2020 | Trump launches 'despicable' last-minute attack on Social Security | American People launch 'despicable' last-minute attack on Social Security |
| Information Clearing House, 23 December 2020 | 'No humanity': Trump pardons U.S. war criminals who massacred Iraqis | 'No humanity': the American People pardon U.S. war criminals who massacred Iraqis |
| Raw Story, 13 December 2020 | Trump golfing and ranting about election conspiracies while the US government is attacked by Russia | American People golfing and ranting about election conspiracies while the US government is attacked by Russia |
| The Federalist, 2 December 2020 | Trump Derides 2020 Election As Stolen | American People Deride 2020 Election As Stolen |
| HuffPost, 3 December 2020 | Trump Releases 46 Minutes Of Lies Falsely Asserting 'Fraud' In 2020 Election | American People Release 46 Minutes Of Lies Falsely Asserting 'Fraud' In 2020 Election |
| HuffPost, 17 December 2020 | Trump Mocked For Griping About 'Endless Negative' Ads On Fox News | American People Mocked For Griping About 'Endless Negative' Ads On Fox News |
| CounterPunch, 24 December 2020 | Instead of Prosecuting Trump, Give Him the OJ Treatment | Instead of Prosecuting the American People, Give Them the OJ Treatment |
| World Socialist Web Site, 14 November 2020 | Is Trump plotting a war against Iran? | Are the American People plotting a war against Iran? |
| Foreign Policy, 20 November 2020 | Will Trump Try to Bomb Iran... ? | Will the American People Try to Bomb Iran... ? |
Blame-game: Collective Mea Culpa? You Must be Joking ! Them is to blame, Not us!. A variant of the above "methodology" could be applied to the far more controversially sensitive issue of "Israel" and "antisemitism". Given the question of whether any form of criticism of Israel can be construed as antisemitic, critical references in the media to "Israel" could be explored by replacing the word with "the Jewish People" (Response To Common Inaccuracy: Israel Critics are Anti-Semites, Anti-Defamation League; Why is Criticism of Israel considered Antisemitic, Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, 15 October 2020; Jasmin Zine, et al, Criticizing Israel is not Antisemitic -- it's academic freedom, The Conversation, 16 November 2020). The approach could offer an alternative perspective on the relation of "the Jewish People" to Palestine.
Beyond the issues of "anti-Trump" and "anti-Israel", the clarification offered by the remarkable London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism (2009) merits generalization, as argued separately (Elaborating a Declaration on Combating Anti-otherness -- including anti-science, anti-spiritual, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-socialism, anti-animal, and anti-negativity, 2018).
Personification: Should personification of "Donald Trump" be more fruitfully recognized as a metaphor for something more subtle and insidious? This is implied in the argument of the eminent economist Kenneth Boulding, also an American:
Our consciousness of the unity of self in the middle of a vast complexity of images or material structures is at least a suitable metaphor for the unity of group, organization, department, discipline or science. If personification is a metaphor, let us not despise metaphors -- we might be one ourselves (Image: knowledge in life and society, 1956)
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