This is really a study in character. Donald J. Trump vs. Michael J. Fox. You’re free to draw your own conclusions but its pretty obvious to me which of these men have true character.
We have our own version of the saying, “Nero fiddles while Rome burns.” That would be “Trump plays golf while the G20 discusses the pandemic that is ravaging the country.” Rather than do his job, which is working for ‘we the people’, he chose to go golfing while the rest of the members of the G20 discussed how best to respond to the COVID pandemic that is sweeping across the world. Never mind that over 250,000 Americans have died, cases now top 12 million and hospitals are in crisis all over the country. The current president is AWOL.
Trump has not answered any questions from reporters since the election almost three weeks ago. His sole focus since that time seems to be to continue spread false information about voter fraud and rigged elections via Twitter, huddle with his legal team to file endless numbers of baseless lawsuits, and to play golf. I’m pretty sure that is not a comprehensive list of duties in the job description for ‘President of the United States.”
I’m pretty sure the world has not taken a ‘time out’ to give Trump some time to sulk. And if it weren’t bad enough that thousands of Americans are dying, millions of Americans are still unemployed and benefits will run out for most by the end of the year. Any president worth the title would be on the phone and meeting with Congressional leaders to use their political clout to try to push through another stimulus package.
Our adversaries are not taking a break and you can bet that they have probably amplified and accelerated whatever nefarious deeds they are up to since it is patently obvious to the whole world that we have an absentee president. He did, however, have time to give Putin another gift as part of his scorched earth policy as he leaves office. He formally withdrew the US from the Open Skies Treaty which we have been a part of for something like three decades.
As part of the Open Skies Treaty, the 34 member countries, which up until now included Russia and the US, were able to conduct short-notice overflights of each other’s countries with approved surveillance aircraft. The purpose of these flights was to try to make sure that no one was doing things that could be construed as preparing for armed conflict. The US uses a modified Boeing C-135 Stratolifter designated as OC-135 and is equipped with approved sensors such as cameras and a Synthetic Aperture Radar. Having worked with many different types of surveillance aircraft during my career in the defense business and knowing what these systems are capable of, this has to be an unbelievably stupid move by Trump and a wonderful gift to Putin. No more surveillance aircraft able to fly over Russia! – Good job, Donald!!
There is no doubt that Trump will try to contest this election until the bitter end and will likely never concede he lost. The question really is, how much damage will he do to this country on his way out the door? The man is completely devoid of anything that could remotely be called ‘character.’ But rather than waste more electrons and brain cells on such a man, I had the pleasure over the weekend to read (with my one good eye!) a book about someone who has more character than most of us. So, I’d like to share a little bit of that here. I think it’s called, ‘ending on a high note.’
The book is, “No Time Like The Future,” by Michael J. Fox – yes, that Michael J. Fox, the actor. I know its quite a segue to go from Donald Trump to Michael J. Fox but the contrast in humanity is like the distance between Earth and Neptune. I heard about his newly released book last week and through the miracles of Amazon, it landed in my mailbox a couple of days later. This was my first real ‘test read’ with one eye and, although a bit challenging at times, I got hooked on the book and the challenge was worth the journey.
As most people know, Michael J. Fox, has been living with Parkinson’s Disease since around 1998. Since that time, he continued to work as an actor. He and his wife of 30+ years, Tracy Pollan, started a foundation that has raised millions of dollars for Parkinson research and support. Throughout all of his struggles with this progressive, degenerative disease he has been known for his unbridled optimism and unflagging sense of humor.
This is his fourth book and, as I understand it, perhaps his most self-reflective. It chronicles his journey over the last couple of years when, on top of the Parkinson Disease, he was diagnosed with a tumor on his spine that required him to make a choice between having an extremely risky surgery or doing nothing which would result in paralysis. He had the surgery but there was a long recovery during which he literally had to learn to walk again. A subsequent fall during this rehabilitation resulted in a severely broken arm which required a metal plate and 19 screws to put back together.
Needless to say, this man has been through a lot – more than most of us can imagine. And yet, he chronicles this journey with honesty, self-reflection, self-doubt, humanity and most importantly, an unbelievable sense of humor. I was actually laughing out loud when I read some of his great one-liners.
Trump, who has never wanted for anything, has abandoned his job so he can sulk in the White House and play golf. He quit. Michael J. Fox came from nothing, rose to be very successful and now fights hard every single day to just walk safely down the hall of his house to the kitchen. But he does so with gratitude for everyone around him, a wicked sense of humor and he refuses to quit. You tell me who has character.
If you want to read a feel-good book amidst all the bullshit flying around these days, I recommend Michael J. Fox’s, “No Time Like The Future.”