I think one of the most perplexing questions today is why so many of our countrymen and -women want to be on the side of someone they see as a strong man, without really questioning whether he is right or wrong, lucid or incoherent. Thus, we hear not a peep about Donald Trump’s recent speech (March 1), in which he seemed, at times, to lose his way. Meantime, everyone seemed surprised when Joe Biden’s State of the Union address (Thursday) was an unqualified success.
And we keep hearing about Biden’s lack of achievements, his weak economy, his failure at the border and his one-sided approach to the Gaza crisis. No “Make America Great Again” supporters seem interested in the facts: “15 million new jobs, unemployment at 50-year lows, 16 million new businesses, 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, more people with health insurance” (Heather Cox Richardson, March 7); a carefully thought-out, bipartisan border bill, killed by Trump before it could be passed; and a Gaza crisis that Biden is meeting head-on, demanding a two-state solution and building a pier to allow seagoing ships to bring in much-needed supplies to starving Gazans.
Why do so many flock to the strong and wrong? Why are so many willing to believe the lies and false promises of easy solutions? The oft-repeated phrase, “I alone can fix this,” really means, “Give me the power I want, and I will show you.” Let us not forget what Trump did with the power he had to fix the coronavirus pandemic.
We Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans, once we win overwhelmingly in November, have an immense task ahead of us: We need a public education system that teaches students to think critically, so they avoid the strong and wrong.
Frederick Longacre
Hockessin
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