Who will break the news to convicted felon Donald Trump that America First and Me First are two different and often conflicting ideas?
Let's start here: one has to do with patriotism; the other, egoism.
Not egotism. Egoism.
Many years ago, a teacher who pretty much served as my mentor and was a master of the still undiluted English language cited his difference. Egotists, he said, are those who talk about themselves but really do have empathy. Egoists express empathy all the time, speak in earnest terms, and talk ceaselessly about making others' lives better, but don't give a damn about anyone but themselves.
(I don't know if that distinction still holds now that so much of the language has been diluted, but the definitions have remained with me, and I continue to avoid interchanging the words.)
Ironically, for an egotist to support America First is understandable—an egotist wants everyone's life improved. An egoist may see Trump as a kindred spirit, another person who can fake empathy but doesn't fully understand what it is. Their impulsive and manipulative behavior links them.
Now that we have seen Donald Trump's "final solution" for Gaza, we have seen egoism in full bloom. He doesn't want peace nearly so much as he wants a few casinos and hotels on that beachfront property. Worse, he has enlisted some tone-deaf Israeli leaders to support him, even though if anyone should bristle at such a final solution, it should be the ones who suffered most atrociously from the first one.
The country elected America First—we aren't getting it.
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