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It Can Always Get Worse

Donald Trump doesn't care about us

By Diane Smith

I have to get this off my chest … Donald Trump doesn’t give a hoot about us. He doesn’t care about veterans, blue-collar workers, women, or anyone beyond his family and his financiers. He’s not a patriot; he’s an opportunist. This was a no-brainer for him. If he wins, he gets to live rent-free in the White House, cut huge deals with foreign governments that line his family’s pockets, and fly around on Air Force One. If he loses, he gets the biggest reality television payday ever.

Good friends who are Trump supporters have said to me, “Our country is dying! We can’t take another four years of Obama’s policies. Clinton’s a mess. It can’t get any worse!” Well, let me tell you, it can get worse.

Trump could sell off Yellowstone and turn Glacier National Park into a golf course financed by Russian mercenaries.

He could send our children into a war that can’t be won (sound familiar?) for short-fused macho reasons.

He could tank the U.S. economy by undermining our “most trusted nation” status around the globe. If a U.S. president even indicates a willingness to ignore our debt or kisses up to globally reviled dictators, foreign money will quickly find another home base, which would devastate our economy, jobs, and many of our retirements.

Trump isn’t strong; he’s opinionated. Trump’s an East Coast elitist who used his wealth to avoid military service, and who called veterans “deplorable” when it suited his own financial objectives.

Trump’s not even a great businessperson. He doesn’t make anything; he licenses his name. So does Spiderman.

He will not learn enough about rural and small town Americans to actually help us. Sure, he might re-invigorate coal mining. He might also allow big corporations to poison our water.

I love this country. I am in awe of our veterans. I have written repeatedly that rural and small-town Americans are among the smartest, most innovative, hardest-working folks I’ve ever met and how we deserve super-effective government. I worry about terrorism, jobs, opportunity inequality, and infrastructure deployment in our small communities.

For these reasons, I believe that our children and grandchildren deserve a president who will actually read a white paper and think carefully and studiously through complex issues (by the way, Trump and Ivanka’s maternity leave proposal — and I’m a big proponent of parental leave — could bankrupt lots of small businesses in our backyards, so be sure to bone up on it). Mostly, I believe we need a president who speaks of war and genocidal dictators with gravity, depth and seriousness.

I learned long ago that when someone asks, “How could it get worse?” it’s a good idea to start looking for an exit strategy. Because it can always get worse. I promise.