Recently a number of bloggers I respect have started writing opinion pieces stating basically that Trump should not be blamed for the rise of the Neo Nazis and their ilk, as he is only a “symptom” of the problem and not the cause. They admit that he’s a despicable and vile human being but…
I don’t know about you, gentle readers, but those “buts” always get me. My first thought is always “Oh no, they’ve drunk the Kool-Aid.” But then I realize those bloggers have shied away from political rhetoric in the past, perhaps not wanting to offend potential readers. Thus, when they do leap to his defense, they must add a caveat to their statements such as “he’s slime but he’s not filth.” Okay, he’s not filth but he’s also not a symptom.
A symptom is the dead canary in a coal mine, a high fever on a child, dark spots on rose leaves, or a sinister rattle under the hood. The cause is not yet known and must be acknowledged and then analyzed. Hate groups have been analyzed for a long time. We’re way past canaries.
I think of the president as a doctor hired to heal the country. It’s important for him to understand the country’s many open wounds but it’s equally important – if not more – to first, DO NO HARM.
If we think about the political parties as doctors proposing cures, if you were coming down with a cold in the ’70s, Dr. Democrat would prescribe bed rest, chicken soup and plenty of liquids. Generally he wouldn’t blame you for the excessive smoking, drinking and carousing all night long that brought on the cold. He would prescribe a cure. On the other hand, Dr. Republican would tell you that sickness was for weaklings and hospitals were for the dying. But, if you didn’t have insurance and got pneumonia, he’d work out a long-term payment plan for his bill. Both sides were different but not enough to confuse voters.
Fast forward to the Obama Era. If you’re coming down with a cold, Dr. Democrat would tell you to make healthy choices in your diet and exercise routines but if you did require medicine, he’d try to make sure it was affordable.
On the other hand, Dr. Republican would tell you that you’re at liberty to live however you want, and that admonishing you to live a healthy lifestyle (as Dr. Democrat has done) violates your Constitutional rights. If you did get pneumonia, Dr. Republican would demand your insurance card. And if you didn’t have one, he’d tell you that you shouldn’t be buying iPhones. But he’d also tell you to have more children because birth control is a sin. 
By 2016 the intensive squabbling between the two doctors caused patients to look for other opinions and along came:
- Doctor Feelgood: His cure was free healthcare for all, free higher education for all, and stricter controls on financial institutions.
- Doctor ToughLove: His cure was to burn down all the institutions and go back to living in a log cabin. If you did get pneumonia, get a church to take care of you.
- Doctor Greenie: The only patient he cared about was Planet Earth, because once she was diagnosed as terminal it really wouldn’t matter how healthy the humans of the world were.
- Doctor Denier: You don’t really have a cold.
Good Grief!! It’s no wonder the country lost all confidence in doctors. So it’s no wonder that when a new doctor flew into rusty towns and villages on his magic carpet, and with all the right mojo, claimed he alone had the answers, they believed him because they’d seen him on that great altar of truth, reality television. They’d seen him in his golden tower, with his golden children and his barely clad exotic bride. Unlike other doctors, he didn’t warn them of the complications of the medicine he would prescribe if they hired him. No, there’d be no complications, there’d be no poisoned water to drink, there’d be no draft of their young sons for his wars to fight, and, best of all, political correctness would be a thing of the past.
From Disney’s The Princess and the Frog
And when he saw those cancer cells growing in his crowds, he violated that first rule of being a doctor: first DO NO HARM. Trump isn’t a symbol of anything. He’s the Voodoo Doctor.
*The images in this post are all from Bing Images.
Saying nothing in particular 
Great perspective, Jan. Thank you!
You’re welcome – thanks for the edit!
Very thoughtful. “First, do no harm” would be an excellent mantra for all fields of work. It’s telling, I think, of human nature that it isn’t!
You’re absolutely right. It would be. Thanks!
“Fast forward to the Obama Era. If you’re coming down with a cold, Dr. Democrat would tell you to make healthy choices in your diet and exercise routines but if you did require medicine, he’d try to make sure it was affordable. ”
Yes, but you’re omitting one large piece here, JT. It requires that a lot of us pay a lot more in taxes for this scenario and that’s a sticking point for me. Under the Obama years, I went from getting a refund to paying a lot more in taxes. Another point would be, under the pre-Obama years, so many people would come to the US for our healthcare from countries with socialized healthcare. That is very telling.
I personally don’t mind paying more in taxes if my children have access to affordable health care and my friends with pre-existing conditions don’t have the constant worry of losing coverage. But my point was that the two sides couldn’t come together for the sake of the country and allowed the rise of much more radical factions. I know more people who go to Canada for affordable drugs than come here. Okay, peace.
Peace 😊
Excellent post Jan.
The notion that somehow paying more in taxes to help keep your neighbors healthy and everyone’s kids better educated is something to resent, well it just boggles my mind.
Thanks Norm. I agree with you. The funny is, we didn’t notice any change in our taxes because California is one of the states that fully implemented the Affordable Care Act, meaning the state took advantage of all the provisions. Some states refused or implemented it poorly. And now, what a mess we’re in. Have a nice hiatus Norm.
I am totally with you.
Thank you!
Was it Robert Reich who said the president is making “America hate again?” No healing words from this administration.
I really loved this post. It’s a great analogy. Very well done.
I try to say little on my own posts because really how do you change people’s minds? Jan, I work in a warehouse where only ten people voted for President Obama and probably only 8 voted for Hillary. It is appalling and discomforting.
How do I know this? We had a huge 100 or more chairs set up to watch President Obama’s inauguration. I mean, I was excited! It was unheard of occasion, one my parents dumped us at my aunt and uncle’s house to go March in Washington for a week. I could not wait since the work management had posted we could take a 45 minute lunch off the clock. (Usually 30 mins)
The clump of less than twelve people were guided out of the large conference hall to the boardroom to sit around a rectangle tables and eat our lunches. My black friend, Cheryl, who I have posted story and a poem before about sat next to me and we both wept in happiness. The world celebrated!
This Trump administration is breaking all kinds of precedents and in a very, horrible way. Lying and despising others. Yikes! I do not wish him dead but contrast him to Abe Lincoln and JFK, and I cannot help compare (evil vs good.) Thanks, Jan.
I liked the Do No Harm. My parents taught us we are “lucky” and “life is easy for us,” compared to struggles in the U.S. and everywhere. They said a society who doesn’t take care of their mentally ill and developmental disabled is not following the idea of “we are our brother’s keeper.” 🕊
Thank you! I can understand how people got fed up with politics as usual. Hopefully the debacle that this presidency has become will wake both Democratic and Republican politicians to the need to be better healers and quite throwing blame about! Let’s cross out fingers.
Crossing our fingers in unity and for peace. 🕊 🌈
Excellent post. I wish people were competent – doctor or chef or president, doesn’t matter. Bloody incompetence is so very annoying to say the least.
Thank you Inese. If politicians would just realize that their constant bickering is doing more harm than good.
Politicians are a special kind of human. I don’t think they will realise anything ever 😉
My absolute favorite post so far. Couldn’t have cut it better myself.
Thank you!
You are absolutely right…. Politics could be a tough issue, when it comes to blogging, etc… you could even find out that some peeps you actualy like, one day suddenly write nonsense, and that nonsense understood that something that might collide with your beliefs.. and, bottom line, it is a complex thing to handle. Should you rise your “written” voice?.. I often choose silence got to admit it… Most times, when I find out such thing I step back… even in a subtle way… It is awful to discover that someone you “liked” justifies such atrocities, no matter where they come from. xx Great post!!! 😉
Thank you Aquileana. I know people will stop following me if they don’t like what I’m saying but when you have a person in power who manipulates people’s vilest instincts and then his followers rush to his defense, saying nothing just feels wrong.
This was very well expressed and very well stated. I totally agree. Really enjoyed reading, thank you.
Thanks LT – nice to meet you!
Very welcome, and a pleasure meeting you also 😀