Trump is Like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart

I’ve said it all. I know everything about Trump, all of it bad, and anyone who doesn’t see what I see is choosing to be ignorant.

Trump lacks everything needed to be an average president because he is void of the qualities necessary which compose a good person.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that all of his problems are related to the irrefutable fact that he has less than average intelligence, was poorly educated, and possesses absolutely no common sense.

I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950’s and 1960’s. My brother and I were latchkey kids, and most of our entertainment at home came from a 19-inch black-and-white television. Even when doing homework, the television was on.

Therefore, I often think of people I know as characters I saw in movies and on sitcoms.

Trump reminds me of the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. The only thing he wanted was a “brain.” However, unlike Trump, he learned that he possessed common sense, and made good decisions most of the time.

If we look at Trump’s idea of how economics work at the national level, his brain is a vacuum. No nation can stand alone in the 21^st century.

After the stock market crash in 1929, and the beginning of the Great Depression, President Hoover decided to place huge tariffs on imported products. His plan was opposed by 1,028 well-respected economists.

However, on June 17, 1930, Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tarif Act. It made the depression much worse as free trade disappeared and many of the necessary products needed to sustain life were priced beyond a reasonable purchase price for most Americans.

Recently the government of Canada aired a 1987 speech by Ronald Reagan. He apparently denounced tariffs. This came after Trump increased his foolhardy tariffs for one of our nation’s neighbors and closest allies.

One line offers proof that Reagan opposed tariffs. He said: “over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.” However, he did impose tariffs on Japan for one reason: a disagreement over the price of semi-conductors.

He was right about the evil of tariffs. On paper, they appear to be a short-term solution for a failing economy. However, America’s economy was in full recovery mode on January 20, 2025, and tariffs were a very bad idea. President Biden encouraged free trade and the effect was a growing and stable economy. Trump literally “fucked it all up.”

History will prove that Trump will forever be America’s biggest mistake. He never should have received the Republican Party’s nomination in 2016.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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Sources: https://taxfoundation.org/blog/june-17-1930-hoover-signs-disastrous-smoot-hawley-tariff-law/

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senate_Passes_Smoot_Hawley_Tariff.htm

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ronald-reagan-tariff-speech-9.6951796