That Illusive Nobel Peace Prize

How could America’s only black president have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and the same not be awarded to the greatest of America’s white presidents? After all, he claims to be not only the smartest guy in the room but the smartest guy in the world.  Indeed, Donald Trump is so smart he does not need the counsel of any of the professional advisors afforded the President of the United States whether they are legal, political, or governmental.  He only needs his innate perception and wisdom to out-negotiate the best in the world. Of such he is the master.

To prove this superior status, he set up a summit meeting with the president of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, in Singapore in June of 2018.  With his negotiating skills he got an empty promise that North Korea would stop building nuclear bombs.  In return, he elevated Kim Jong-un to leadership recognition on the world stage.  As a result, he praised himself for such a grand success.

In need of a political diversion, he set up another summit with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi in February of 2019. He got nothing from Kim Jong-un while absolving the dictator from any responsibility for the death of American student Otto Warmbier who had been imprisoned and sent back to the United States to quickly die from the effects of torture.  As a result, he slinked home early from this jaunt claiming the superior wisdom of knowing when to walk away from unproductive negotiations. 

Goodbye Nobel Peace Prize!  After all, how could Trump be awarded world recognition for negotiating political peace with North Korea when he cannot negotiate political peace in his own country?  In the case of North Korea he has only managed to lose negotiating ground and look like a dupe.  In the case of America he has only managed to diminish democracy and scale up the stakes of division and bitterness.  Whether he is a master at negotiation or not he has shown himself, with apparentness, to be a master at self-delusion and grandiosity.

He may be a smart guy in the room but they aren’t any dumber when it comes to understanding democracy and providing its leadership.  If we citizens don’t remove both him and his Republican mini-mes from office two things will happen.  Our American democracy will continue to erode toward a more determined political despotism.  And the power of global democratic alliance will continue to erode toward the domination of international despotism.

Robert