How the USA may survive our upside-down leadership
By Henry H. Bucher, Jr., Faculty Emeritus in Humanities, Austin College
Sep 4, 2020
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On June 1, 2020, our president presided over yet another “turning point” event that took place between the peoples’ White House and Saint John’s Church on the other side of Lafayette Square. Some focus on his use of force against a peaceful demonstration to clear the way for the president to walk to the church and have a photo taken in front of it. Others comment more on his holding up a Bible for the photo, and some show concern that the Bible was upside-down. One journalist on a major TV news service suggested that we may now have an “Upside-down-Bible President.” 

Perhaps the reporter’s point was to suggest that our president’s style of life and leadership turns biblical teachings about doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly, upside-down. Whether the Bible was upside-down or not, was not so remarkable as the idea that it was being used successfully to appeal to his base of predominately conservative Protestants. Secretary of State, Pompeo, used a similar approach in speaking (pre-recorded) to the Republican National Convention from Jerusalem. 

Whether the Bible was upside-down or not, our November elections should take into account that our present leadership appears to be upside-down in its words and in deeds. “Alternative facts” turn truth upside-down. Lying, cheating and law-breaking are acceptable if they lead to winning. To cut back on testing for COVID-19 as the pandemic increases, is up-side down; as is pushing for opening schools, which has increased the virus; so is continuing his push to end the Affordable {health}Care Act at the very time it is most needed. COVID is global so what a blessing that we have the World Health Organization (WHO) to lead internationally in controlling the pandemic; but our upside-down president is withdrawing the USA’s membership and funds from WHO! As August slipped into September, reported cases  of COVID soared over six million. 

In the president’s national convention speech on August 27, he underlined his “law and order” promise for the next four years while convening from the people’s White House, which is against the law—the Hatch Act! His (last day of the RNC) comments on the White House lawn could be yet another “super-spreader” of COVID event. His foreign policy is upside-down—after World War Two, the “Cold War” fostered anti-communist hysteria; but our president is cozy  with communist Russia while stoking fear about socialism in the USA! The list of ‘upside-downs’ is dangerously long. Some groups are counting and listing our president’s comments that are not true. If we turn his comments upside-down, they are closer to being true, and this will help historians as they record these past four years.  

The traditional values of the Republican Party (GOP) are being turned upside-down by the Party of Trump (POT). Some in this Party of Lincoln recognize their present ‘upside-down-ness’ and have formed organizations to vote for the Biden/Harris ticket. This is encouraging, but with one suggestion. Whoever wins in November, the Republicans who vote for Biden and Harris should begin a period of reconstruction. For the USA to remain true to our founding principles, we need checks and balances that our founders promised so that no one person or party can dismantle the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the all-too-often broken promise of “equal justice under the law.” 

We can survive our present ‘upside-down President’ if the Party of Lincoln is resurrected and we are restored as a strong democracy.