Ivanka’s Moral Compass

Ivanka Kushner is the eldest daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump. In mid-August, she spoke at a Republican fundraiser in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She was asked what traits she thinks she derived from her parents. She attributed to her mother, Ivana Trump, her inner strength as a woman. Then she reportedly said, “I get my moral compass from my father.”

Politico reports Ivanka Kushner spoke similarly at the Republican National Convention in 2016. She supposedly said, “My father taught my siblings and me the importance of positive values and a strong ethical compass.”

If that is true–about what Ivanka got from her father–she must not have much of a moral compass! How many lies has The New York Times and The Washington Post fact-checked that Donald Trump has told publicly in his 2.5+ years as president? And how many women have alleged since he campaigned for president that, prior to that time, he sexually assaulted them? This questioning could go on and on. I won’t belabor the point.

What does this say about Ivanka’s mother? If Donald Trump has a moral compass that his daughter says she’s grateful about that he passed on to her, where does that leave her mother? Does Ivana have a worse moral compass than The Donald does? I doubt it.

Donald and Ivana Trump have three children–Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. The Donald has often admitted that he was not around much when the kids were growing up. To his credit, he pays tribute to Ivana about this, saying “she raised them.” Then, how did Ivanka get her moral compass mostly from her somewhat absentee father, who was not faithful to Ivana in marriage and then dumped her for another woman?

And does Donald Trump’s moral compass that he supposedly passed onto Ivanka include what’s behind his third public assertion since he has been president, that he is “a stable genius”? A week ago, he said it again. During his usual morning tweet storm, President Trump tapped out about the news media, his favorite trash target, saying those outlets that don’t endorse him will “quickly go out of business for lack of credibility, or approval, from the public” when “I ultimately leave office in six years or maybe 10 or 14 (just kidding).”

As if that was not enough to strain credulity, Trump berated certain Democrats now campaigning for the presidential election next year and then added, “look at what you have now, so great looking and smart, a true Stable Genius!”

What a fool! Trump makes himself a cartoon figure. Forget the newspapers, Donald Trump as U.S. president  keeps the Saturday night talk TV comedy shows in business.

Donald Trump thinks there is strength in constantly bragging about himself and suing people. He proudly admits that his main mentor in this was the ruthless New York lawyer Roy Cohn. They met one night in 1973 in a Manhattan club for the rich and famous. Trump introduced himself to Cohn and asked for advice about how he and his father should respond to allegations by the federal Department of Justice that they were discriminating against black people who were seeking housing. Cohn replied, “My view is to tell them to go to hell and fight the thing in court.” Cohn then became not only Donald Trump’s mentor, but also his lawyer.

But the Bible says to the contrary, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14.12). Telling people, and national governments, to “go to hell” and then fighting them in court is a way that seems right to some people, but I think its end is not a pretty picture.

As for Ivanka, who converted to Judaism when she married Orthodox Jew Jared, I don’t know what to say. But as for The Donald, I do. He needs to retire to solitude and immerse himself in the wisdom literature of the Jewish Bible. Then he might have a life-changing, emotional experience that could transform him into something more honorable than constantly stoking his own psyche in this nauseating self-glorification. Then we would be developing a good moral compass to pass onto others.

As I have posted multiple times about Donald Trump’s boasting of himself and insulting of others, the Bible says:

• “When pride comes, then comes disgrace” (Proverbs 11.2 NRSV)
• “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16.18)
• “A person’s pride will bring humiliation” (Proverbs 29.23a)
• “One who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor” (Proverbs 29.23b)
• “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth” (Proverbs 27.2)