To the editor:
As the campaign season draws to a merciful close, Donald Trump is still promising to make America great again. What does that look like?
His locker-room discourse on the bus and his treatment of some employees suggests that his “great” America would go back to a male-dominated society, where it’s acceptable to assault women, fire them because their breasts are too small and dictate their personal health decisions.
His comments on immigration suggest that “great” means non-Muslim, non-Mexican, non-pick a category. Would his “great” America go back to the internment camps of World War II?
His promise to “build a wall and have Mexico pay for it” and his domineering approach to Middle East involvement suggests that his “great” America would exert its power, rather than exercise its diplomacy.
His secret tax history suggests that “smart” means taking advantage of others, whether that’s individuals or whole systems. His “great” America is one where the wealthy can shirk their responsibility, hide behind their business failures and leave the rest of us to pay for everything.
His mockery of the handicapped and the sick suggests that making America “great” again means going back to demeaning and hiding our disabled and limiting their possibilities. It means that any temporary illness can be pounced on as a sign of weakness.
His chumminess with Vladimir Putin, his apparent acceptance of Putin’s annexation of Crimea and his blasé statements about nuclear power suggest that his “great” America would be a dangerous place – dangerous to us and to the world.
That’s not my idea of a “great” America. In fact, he’s made it worse along the way. To maintain those ideals we hold dear and true, we still have work to do, but Trump is not the one to do it.
Vote for Hillary Clinton and help get it done.
Margaret A. Charig Bliss
Greenfield