On America’s Greatness, or, Why I’m With Her

Let me begin with him.

Donald J. Trump grew up insulated and entitled, built a business empire using million-dollar family loans and nepotistic favors, declared bankruptcy four times while bragging about his billions, and exploited every tax loophole available to avoid contributing a cent to the country whose “greatness” he boasts so much (and so vaguely) about. His professional background doesn’t remotely resemble civic service — it’s in casinos, beauty pageants, and reality television. He’s notorious for practicing the “art of the deal” by deceiving people, refusing to pay them for their work, and threatening litigation (a threat he hasn’t hesitated to act on as a power move against those who can’t afford to take him to court). His businesses have been sued for discrimination and corruption. His charity was ordered to cease and desist soliciting donations when it became clear it was operating outside the law, misrepresenting whether it actually donates any of Trump’s own money (it doesn’t). He’s likely a (proud) sexual predator. He’s racist. He’s xenophobic. He’s simultaneously isolationist and hawkish, with a disturbing lack of respect for the realities of war, the traumatic experiences of veterans, the service of POWs, or the significance of nuclear weapons and their potential proliferation or use. He denies the existence of global warming and the value of…