Trump knowingly leaves hundreds of thousands Americans to die, Sen. Kamala Harris rises
By: Nicole Lashomb/Editor-in-Chief—
Early in the run for the White House, then Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden made a promise to select a woman to be his running mate. As the short list got shorter, in an inclusive and bold decision, the Democratic nominee followed through on his promise and selected Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate. At this point in time and history, where the country is polarized by race, gender, LGBTQ+ issues, and most topics affecting marginalized people, Harris is the best choice. Following Biden’s announcement, the social media sphere exploded with commentary from those in strong support and those in strong opposition.
I find it particularly disturbing that people who claim to be progressive, an exorbitant number of white folks in this case, have been so quick to rush to a bombastic scrutiny of Harris’ record. She is the first woman of color, that represents so many of us in multiple ways, especially as a member of the Black and Indian American communities, vying for Vice President of the U.S. on the Democratic ticket.
Instead, Americans should be focusing on how appalling the actions of Trump and his administration are and how they have inflicted irreparable harm to millions of Americans. His administration, all those who have known and have covered it up, has murdered 191,000 Americans to date through negligence and lies, while 6.38 million have contracted COVID-19. We found out about it through the news (not the fake news as he’s called all reputable media sources) via an audio leak from acclaimed political journalist, and now book writer, Bob Woodward, who writes the history of each president as it happens—he did with Bush, Obama and a previous book on Trump’s presidency. Woodward is well-known as one of two journalists whose work broke the news to the country about President Richard Nixon’s scandal—“Watergate.”
Early in February, Trump told Woodward that he knew how deadly the virus was, according to various reputable media outlets. Then in March, he confessed that he kept that crucial and life-saving information hidden from the public. To hear Trump’s voice, then in March, so coherently and cavalierly tell the famous journalist that he “wanted to always play [the threat posed by the coronavirus] it down” and he “still like[d] playing it down,” because he didn’t “want to create a panic” even as he witnessed and heard the news, read social media posts about his late handling of the virus and how dangerous it was from Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIAID Director, and knowing the United States was not equipped with the amount of PPE it needed in order to keep medical professionals and first responders safe, many of whom also lost their lives to the Coronavirus. Yet, he chose he did “nothing.” That was his response–nothing.
He sat in his comfort, played golf, made attacks at others who held him accountable for a failed response, blamed China which served only to sow division towards Asian Americans, and all while, he knew he was lying to the American people—the veterans, the children, the infants, the service members, the mothers, fathers, significant others and more who have died alone because of him. And, he does it all with no remorse.
I ask those of you who voted for him, who support him, who still plan to vote for him, why have you supported this monster? Look at what you’ve done. You’ve been complicit with his actions. You’ve perpetuated his lies and put faith in a man that is not honorable nor cares for anyone’s interests except for his own. These are crimes against humanity and he should be tried and “locked up” for it, as he so emphatically claimed about others in the past. After learning what we have over these past four years about Trump’s tyrannical leadership makes you an accomplice to his despicable crimes against us all, should you pull the lever for him again this November. You can listen in “his own words” to what he told Woodward here:
While Trump continues to lie and scheme against the American people, Harris represents and encompasses nearly all of what it means “to be” American. Her extensive experience in government and the courtroom position her in a place to be able to move pieces to effect change as she knows the intricacies of how the broken system functions and what must be done to overhaul it—or at least stabilize it given today’s dismantling of so many liberties by the Trump administration.
A daughter of immigrants, Sen. Harris knows the struggles. As a woman, she knows the perils of misogyny. As a person of color, she knows first hand how cruel and unjust the world and our nation can be for no reason other than the color of your skin. As a Senator, she has fearlessly and fervently tackled issues relating to justice of which was published in The Rainbow Times in 2019. Harris has had experiences that relate to nearly all of us on some level, making her the ideal advocate and Vice Presidential leader.
“Harris first made a big splash in Washington during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, taking on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions with a no non-sense approach so much so that he said “I’m not able to be rushed this fast. It makes me nervous,” read the editorial in 2019. She also joined the ranks of those on the committee for the Supreme Court Confirmation hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who joined the likes of Trump with virulent sexual assault allegations against him by Dr. Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh, who refuted the allegations, was also visibly squeamish with Harris’ direct line of questioning. More so, Harris is not afraid to draw a line in the sand of where she stands and what she stands for … truth, justice, and people, regardless of the “power” stature of whom she is taking on. She is fearless.”
Like millions of American’s, I tuned into the Democratic and Republican Conventions and the differences couldn’t have been more stark. For the first time since Obama left office, I felt hope again watching the Democratic Convention. I saw countless people, including an incredible number of Republicans who have jumped the fence to vote and unite for the Biden/Harris ticket. The Democratic platform focused on unity and fairness, justice and accountability, the health of our nation as we recover from emboldened racism and white supremacy, and a pandemic that has impacted millions of Americans with no leadership from the current administration that still sends defiant messages to its supporters discouraging the use of masks, despite what scientists have said and he himself admitted to knowing. Ego-centrism is not an American value but it has become one under Trump.
The Republican Convention was highly disturbing at best. Using the White House as a backdrop, Trump and Melania Trump made a grand entrance down an elaborate staircase to reach a podium with all the fanfare of what would be expected in a movie—literally, there was incredulous the amount of staging that went into it, Monarch-like I found. I was in awe at how the White House, the house of the American people, was being used as a stage for Trump’s personal appeal to the voters. Speech after speech did not offer any solutions to the current crises that we are facing. Instead, they attempted to pander to the white supremacist base, sowing division against peaceful protesters, and falsely citing thieves and looters, who have been revealed in many instances to be white supremacists who’ve infiltrated the Black Lives Matter protests with the intent to cause discord.
Most attendees participated in the spectacle without a mask or any type of social distancing in the middle of the pandemic, of course. But, that is all Trump does, he lies and pretends while exalting feelings of grandeur. Everything is a show for him, including his press briefings. If you’ve followed all of the scandals, including the trillions dollars of debt we’ve incurred under his administration, you’ll find that his personal dynasty has profited millions of dollars from the presidency. And, let’s not forget nearly his entire inner circle has been indicted and convicted for wrongdoing on multiple counts. That is an issue that mustn’t be overlooked and deserves to be carefully scrutinized. Yet, there are still supporters, many of them, often citing a favorable economy.
Trump’s Economy
I’m still amazed when people cite the economy as a reason for supporting Trump in 2020. I’m astonished at the level of willful ignorance. There has never been a more critical time to pay attention to the details—not just the cliff notes version, but the full on context of what is happening in this nation, including with our finances.
Trump has not fixed the economy at all. Any strides we’ve made have been consistent with the implementation of plans by Pres. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. As a matter of fact, the economy has grown at the same rate as it was during Obama’s years in office once the Obama/Biden administration successfully dug us out of the deep hole left by the Bush administration. Trump was lucky to inherit an economy that was already doing well and growing due to his predecessor, not because of anything he actually did.
If you want to examine the economy, consider this—how can an economy be doing well when 22 million people are out of a job due to the pandemic? Many of those same American’s contracted COVID-19 and lost their health insurance when they lost their job. Luckily, because of the Affordable Care Act, established by the Obama/Biden administration, those same people were able to get the healthcare they needed.
According to Politifact, unlike Obama, “who inherited the Great Recession, Trump inherited an economy that was already getting back on its feet. Overall, we [Politifact] found a continuation of the favorable trend lines Trump inherited from Obama,” the fact checking site reported.
Everything that a president does affects the economy in one way or another. Trump’s inept handling of this pandemic has caused our national debt to balloon exponentially, small businesses have had to close their doors, families are struggling to put food on their table for the first time because they have no income coming in, not through fault of their own, but because they work in an industry has was forced to lay people off as a result of the pandemic. If a president cannot handle national crises as they arise, the economy will collapse.
As a matter of fact, the economy is in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. You can’t say that the economy was doing well before the pandemic and the coronavirus is the cause of it collapsing. The reality is that the economy plummeted and people are suffering because of failed leadership of the pandemic. When Trump got into office, one of his first orders of business was to disband and fire the national pandemic response team that Pres. Obama put into place as we were facing the Ebola pandemic. As a result of competent leadership under Pres. Obama and Vice Pres. Biden, just two American lives were lost to Ebola because it was curtailed. In contrast, we are nearing 200,000 lives lost due to the Coronavirus and no end is in sight as Trump takes a nonchalant approach.
Politifact also found that the economic “trend lines continued almost seamlessly from the second half of Obama’s presidency into the first three years of Trump’s tenure. Trump’s claim that he turned around a failing economy is wrong.
“I do not think economic gains have been any faster or better under Trump than gains we would have forecast based on the steady improvements we saw in the economy and job market in President Obama’s second term,” said Gary Burtless, an economist with the Brookings Institution.
“Also, no president has total control over the factors affecting the economy. Broader trends beyond their powers — from international economic conditions to technological changes — shape the course of the economy as well.
“All our decisions together produce the economy,” said Aaron Sojourner, a University of Minnesota economist. “It doesn’t change when the resident of the White House does.”
To trust Trump with the economy is like trusting it to the mob. We cannot forget that he sitting occupant of the White House bankrupt several of his own companies, while stiffing contractors on monies owed and depleting his own resources in the process—not resources that he earned, but resources he inherited from his father, a man who also allegedly had ties to the KKK.
“To think that Mr. Trump is trying to lay out this proposition that he’s a successful business guy. He’s failed miserably, bankrupt four separate businesses,” Warner, D-Va., said during a June 21 interview on CNN.
None of us are safe with Trump sitting at the White House. The economy is not safe, our troops are not safe, after it was revealed that Trump called fallen soldiers losers and other derogatory names. Certainly, any marginalized group is in great peril, especially black folks and other people of color and although lower income, uneducated or nationalist white folks tend to support him, Trump is devastating their lives too, they just don’t realize it yet.
*Nicole Lashomb is Editor-in-Chief of The Rianbow Times and Co-Executive Director of Project Out. She holds her MBA from Marylhurst University and a BM from the Crane School of Music/SUNY Potsdam. Nicole can be reached at editor@therainbowtimesmass.com.
