TRUMP AT THE UNITED NATIONS

September 19, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: The UN week

The picture on the front page of today’s New York Times shows Trump at the United Nations. He’s seated amid rows of serious diplomats, jaw set, chin raised in its familiar truculent pose. I read somewhere that he does this thinking that it makes him look like Winston Churchill. Some hope! He looks like what he is—a reality show TV star totally out of context and out of his depth in an ocean of complex international problems.

He offered up a mild speech yesterday, acknowledging the importance of the UN but insisting on reform. He has perhaps learned by now that problems such as that presented by the belligerent Kim Jong Un cannot be solved by the return of belligerence. He has tried that, and has ended up looking foolish and powerless. He knows now that he needs the support of the international community to address the problem.

I wonder, though, what he will say today in his scheduled speech? Will he hew to his “America First” line in the face of multiple nations plagued by famine, disease, and violence? I hope that he will be able to dig deep inside and find some semblance of compassion, dignity and generosity of spirit. Given his record to date, my hope is tempered with a healthy dose of skepticism.

What say you, Congressman? Is wealthy America obligated to the rest of the world? Should we embrace that responsibility? Or is it truly “America First”?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.