(The following, “Scotland got Trumped,” was originally published here on August 5, 2012. Links may no longer function. Unfortunately, Trump still does.*)
For a quiet, reasoned discussion of the issues, it’s hard to beat Bill Moyers on PBS. Even the program’s set is quiet — two people seated at a simple oak table against a pastoral backdrop. No scrolling chyrons, no multicolored, constantly changing images on the back wall.
The guest today on “Moyers & Company” was Anthony Baxter, producer of the new documentary You’ve Been Trumped. It’s about Donald Trump and his building of “the world’s greatest golf course” in northeast Scotland. As if money could create another St. Andrews.
I’ve nothing good to say about Trump; I think he’s disgusting. He represents everything bad about the worst of the egotistical, power-hungry, self-promoting one-percenters in this country. And not surprisingly, abroad, he makes other ugly Americans look positively beautiful by comparison; he’s an ugly American with Big Bucks.
Baxter tells how Trump decided to build his golf course in the dunes along the Scottish coast, and anyone who got in his way got steamrolled. Residents who just happened to live — sometimes for generations — where Trump wanted to build were bullied and bought out. In one instance, several homeowners on a hill overlooking the course refused to acquiesce. Trump thought their homes spoiled the view from his course, so he ordered giant earthen berms built on his property to hide them. Never mind that the berms blocked the homeowners’ view of the sea.
The interview:
Trump bullied or paid off a company that planned to build wind turbines in the ocean near the golf course. They would spoil Trump’s view, and besides, he doesn’t believe in global warming, ecology, and all that nonsense. And he didn’t care that construction of the golf course destroyed the dunes in one of Europe’s most environmentally sensitive stretches of coast, described by one scientist as Scotland’s Amazon rain forest.
To top it all off, Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University granted Trump an honorary doctorate, “for his ability to make money,” said Baxter. A big enough endowment can buy most anything, apparently.
Is it any wonder so much of the world hates us? No appreciation for the history and culture of other countries. Thinking money entitles us to do anything we want anywhere we want. One percent of us, anyway. Perhaps the story of Trump in Scotland is not as bad as Baxter makes it sound, but judging from Trump’s behavior here at home, I doubt Baxter was exaggerating.
I’m torn between wanting to see this much-heralded film, and skipping it because I already know how it ends. It was Trump. With a wallet. In the dunes.
The trailer:
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RELATED ARTICLES
Golf Course vs. Dunes: A Rebellion That Failed (green.blogs.nytimes.com)
Donald Trump destroys Scotland (salon.com)
Donald Trump Opened A $150 Million Golf Course In Scotland, Is Still A Dick Video
Movie Review: ‘You’ve Been Trumped,’ About Donald Trump (movies.nytimes.com)
Donald Trump trashes pristine wilderness in Scotland for a golf course (realityblurred.com)
*POSTSCRIPT: It’s happening again. This week the BBC reported that Trump will be opening a second golf course in Scotland next year: Donald Trump to open second Aberdeenshire golf course in 2025
Still, someone local has to approve it. He may be slime, but he can’t do this on his own. Local officials have to approve it, much like they do here.
So, yes, Trump . . . but probably also a few (if not many) local players had to have had a hand at making it happen. I’m also guessing there are investors involved since the man is reluctant to use his own money for anything (the modified Golden Rule: whatever you do, use someone else’s money to do it).
Much like here, I can only blame Trump so much. Like the Kardashians, thuggish athletes, influencers, and practically every celebrities, “regular” people enable them all.
I can shake my head, be disgusted, but, ultimately, people are the ones responsible. Even in Scotland, if enough people would have combined their efforts and raised a stink, they probably could have stopped it. Unfortunately, until personally affected, many people don’t think it’s their problem.
. . . and so it goes . . .
True. Grease enough palms, the right palms, and you can buy anything, do anything. Sad, that. I like your modified Golden Rule — for Trump.
Absolutely ! – the first thought I had when reading of the “berms”: how come they’re legal ? Why didn’t local government stop all this ??
Because they got paid not to.
I’m interested in seeing it. just saw ‘the apprentice’ today and it was crazy and intense.
Oh I’d like to see The Apprentice. But if it’s still only in theaters I probably won’t get around to it. Not till I can see it on TV one way or another.
I’m sure it will stream at some point, so disturbing and not surprising
No doubt. I just hope LOTS of people see it before the election. I suspect a major problem among Trump supporters is they were/are totally unaware of what a malignant narcissist Trump has always been, long before he ever ran for President, and are unaware of how much worse he’s gotten with age. (Not that it will change the minds of any of his supporters)
you’re right with all of that