We are all ugly Americans now

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Why do I think of myself as an ugly American? The obvious answer is, well, just look at me. I’m bald, what’s left is mostly gray, and I’ve got a bit of a belly. Washboard abs? Not in this lifetime. I do have a six-pack. But I keep it in the refrigerator. I’m certainly not leading man material. It seems like just a few short decades ago I would catch an occasional young woman’s eye. But young women generally have pretty good eyes. So, for a long time they are understandably looking elsewhere.

However, my self-identification as an ugly American really has nothing to do with superficial physical characteristics. It has everything to do with the perceived ugliness of the American character. This came into sharp focus after President Donald Trump and his sidekick, Vice President JD Vance, attacked the brave leader of a country defending itself against Russian aggression — Volodymyr Zelenskyy — this past Friday in a televised Oval Office meeting. The man who when offered a plane ride out of Kyiv at the beginning of the Russian invasion, when it was expected that his country would be overrun in days, courageously said: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”

So here we have a man, a wartime leader — think Winston Churchill — coming to the president of the United States appealing for the salvation of his country. Zelenskyy wants peace, but a just peace. He knows that the murderous dictator Vladimir Putin who has destroyed so much of his country, killed so many of his countrymen, women and children, cannot be trusted. He is asking, understandably, for a peace with security guarantees provided by the most powerful country in the world. He owes this to his people.

He must hope to say to his people, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

So, this brave leader of a European democracy, wanting only peace and safety for his people, is publicly flagellated by our country’s leadership. The performance by President Trump and Vice President Vance was a travesty, a shameful display of arrogance. And make no mistake, this was a performance. At the end of this nauseating display, Trump stated: This will make “great television.”

Trump believes he has absolute power, that he has received a mandate (he received less than 50% of the vote). And as Lord Acton stated in 1907: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Trump believes “America first.” We should retake the Panama Canal, seize Greenland, turn Canada into our 51st state. He has the mistaken belief that might makes right. And therefore strongman/dictators are to be emulated. Hence, his affection for Putin. Without a doubt I see Trump and Vance as ugly Americans. I admit they probably would both be judged prettier than me. But I’m thinking in terms of the 1958 political novel: “The Ugly American.” In that book, American arrogance, lack of empathy and disregard for other country’s culture and people was highlighted.

Am I, are all Americans to be painted with the same brush as Trump and Vance? Are we all ugly Americans? I’m afraid so. They were elected by us.

America has made grievous errors in policy and judgment during my lifetime. Think: the war in Vietnam; our support for the coup in Chile that put in power a murderous dictator, Augustus Pinochet; the Iraq war; the Afghanistan debacle. But despite our errors, which led to deaths of thousands of people, we were motivated by what we generally believed was a very important principles: anti-communism or anti-terrorism.

This time is decidedly different. We are casting aside a courageous people — the Ukrainians, fighting and dying to defend their democracy, in favor of a brutal dictator who is trying to re-establish the Russian empire. In the process, Putin has bombed schools and hospitals and killed thousands of innocent people. And we are siding with this dictator. Shame on all of us.

Trump admires Putin. He must see Putin as some kind of soul(less) mate. A person, like himself, who craves absolute power.

Some may see a distinction between the two — the dictator and the wannabe dictator. Trump has not invaded a sovereign country and killed thousands. But he has cut off funding to feed the poorest people in the world. He has side-tracked the PEPFAR program, which has saved millions from AIDS. With these two actions, he risks the deaths of thousands, possibly millions. He is no different from Putin in his callous disregard for human life.

Is this what Christian nationalism is? If only Jesus Christ were here to answer that question.

Unless we stand up: Republicans, Democrats, independents and all people of faith and/or a modicum of compassion, then we are all ugly Americans.

Dr. Vic Sandler, of Plymouth, is a physician.