Bachelder letter: Trump phenomenon
Although I appreciate Charlie Nations’ attempt to explain the Trump phenomenon (Letters, May 18), I think he stops way short of the truth.
I don’t see how you can blame Obama for the voters’ rebellion that thrust Trump into the spotlight. In a way, Trump is Every Man. Trump is saying much of what his supporters are thinking. Remember the term “the little people?” That was a condescending term invented years ago to draw the line between the average citizen and the politico/corporate magnates who ran the country. We were urged to “Get out and vote.” For what? No matter who won, it was the same system.
Trump lays it on the line. He says: Muslims want to kill us. Don’t let them in. Mexicans bring drugs and crime into our country. Keep them out.
The government keeps bringing in immigrants when there aren’t enough jobs for our own people. It is our own interventionist policies, notably our support for Israel, that have made other countries hate us. Obama caused none of this.
So I am not bewildered by Trump’s political rise. I am like that old man in the TV commercial: “What took you so long?”
Carol Bachelder, Boise
This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Bachelder letter: Trump phenomenon."