First a quote.
“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.” – 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln
Dear President Donald John Trump, 45th President of America,
You’ve gotten a hell of a lot of criticism, hatred and envy for your work in Office. Fortunately or fortunately, you’re not the type to take any of that to heart, so you don’t need comfort. That’s good because you know better than anyone that the praise you frequently got is not worth much either because it comes mostly from people who blindly adore you.
I believe that I was never fooled by people on both sides! Lately, you are accused of being immoral and of being so incensed about Assad using poisonous gas on civilians that you ordered his assassination. Well, which of the two is it? Amoral or overly ethical? You can’t have both.
I would like to give you credit when credit is due, just now that your downfall seems so imminent. O, I don’t do it to please you. You don’t need my words. I do it because I believe in gratefulness.
I know with you that you would have won the next election too. Maybe not because you have made people so happy. Rather, the divide that the country had during the last election campaign is still there.
And I admire your hard work for reelection. You treated your whole time in Office as a reelection campaign. Smart. You traveled the country to speak at rallies. You used your media and social media presence to reach your fans. You’ve not been lazy and that got you elected in the first place.
You would have won again because the other side is just angry and talking to each other, not trying to convince your fans. And they are still a bunch of intellectuals. Even after their shock from your election, none have taken the trouble to reach out to the Forgotten Men and Women. Senator Bernie even put out a book. For crying out loud: a book. And he’s a socialist? Can’t even talk to workers?
You would have won again. Probably. But you see, your party can’t take that risk. As you said yourself: If they win, they’ll undo all of what we’ve done the past years. That’s right. So you see, for that, they need to impeach you. You’ll go on your way. Have some more fun with whatever you decide to do next. And they’ll have Mike Richard Pence in the saddle who can get reelected by association, the feeling that he is close to you.
You know you were not a politician and you never became one. The political world can no longer work with you. But for an amateur, you did a hell of a job. Don’t feel bad about them dumping you. You would dump others too if they were not really ready to do a job.
I know that you’re not a quitter. You’re ready to keep going. And good for you. But while we’re ready to handle anything, others may not let us. The feds are zooming in. Your cabinet is obstructing you (with Pense as lodestar). And the Hillary fans never wanted you in the first place.
The Right got what they wanted most from you – tax reform, etc., see below – and now they need to let you go because too much became too shaky. To put it in familiar terms: it’s bankruptcy all over again. Never mind. Lots has been fun and interesting, cut your losses and restart.
But before you go, I need to tell you something.
Thank you
I must sincerely thank you for your love for the Jewish State. You’ve said and done some shady things towards a lot of minority groups – allegedly – but your warm heart for the Jews was clear at all times. Puzzling but clear. Just like President Putin loves the Jews but is not so sweet on all other minorities. There are world leaders who don’t trash the Jews. Who actually like us. We must thank you for that.
We hope that your Peace Team and Nimrata “Nikki” Haley get to continue their exceptional work and will not betray our vulnerable position. (You know, many Israeli Jews are kind of naive, and they could embrace false prospects for peace that could dangerously backfire.)
To return to my opening quote, I prefer to remember the good things. The bad things should be forgotten after they got corrected. But the good remains.
● Thank you for standing with Israel.
● Thank you for resisting ISIS, Assad, the PA, Chamas and Iran.
● Thank you for threatening war as a deterrence but not actually going to war with any country.
●Thank you for standing with the Working Class and praising their intelligence and worthiness.
● Thank you for teaching us how to talk in a way that reaches people and doesn’t make anyone fall asleep. (It may take decades for others to learn to speak like that. I try to write like you. My Flesch readability score is often over 80 now.)
● Thank you for making fun of politicians. Thank you for out-lying the political world and showing that deception and dishonesty are not filtered out in the political process other than by the free press.
● Thank you for not taking a salary.
● Thank you for showing that a 70-year old can do it.
● Thank you for your fighting spirit with a smile.
Right-wingers should treat you with so much curtsy.
● You gave them a Right-leaning Supreme Court.
● You passed a Tax Bill that made the rich so much richer.
● You did not curtail Big Pharma.
● You stopped wasting money on climate change.
● You stopped wasting money on healthcare for all.
● You started building up the military and even space force.
● You did so many things you promised and gave them so much candy.
They’d better be nice to you.
But in any case, don’t let them remove you. Leave yourself at the very height of your success. Surprise them. That’s always been your strong point: unpredictability to the other players (but faithfulness to your election promises and fan base).
Resign in a “presidential” way, in style, that will make the stock market go up and not down. A nice start for Pense and America.
But in any case, continue touring and speaking. It will be fun.
Thank you.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1