Friday, February 8, 2019

The Problem With Mr. Trump


It has been two years and we have had a good chance to see this man and what he is about as a human being.  We have given him a chance.  What can we say?

He seems to lie at will.  He prides himself on his unpredictability to a fault.  He takes offense easily and attacks others without much thought or civility.  He disturbs us with his obnoxious crudity.  He does not like to read, he does not think very well but he thinks he knows; whatever he thinks he knows, he knows emphatically.   He seems to skirt the law when he can, occasionally getting caught.  To say it most accurately, he’s not a nice person.  And when he tweets and speaks, many of us are embarrassed. Such is the public persona he has cultivated.

Whatever his policies, some worthwhile, some not, certainly arguable, I think what most upsets thinking people about Mr. Trump is the character of the man.  We want our Presidents to honor us by their presence or at least act like it.  The problem with Mr. Trump is he has not shown himself to be an honorable man. 

Our upset with his behavior is not merely political, it’s religious.  Our religions teach us what it means to be a human being.  We care about the civility and morality of our leaders.  Over the years, we have had a variety of characters in the White House, some better than others.  But we took one thing for granted.  Republican or Democrat, we naively assumed or wanted to assume most of our politicians were decent caring public servants.  And so, we expect our President to be an honorable person.  Mr. Trump has disappointed us. 

Churchill was correct:  Democracy is the worst form of government but better than all the others.

Mr. Trump is here and one day will disappear.  What must we learn from this experience?  It’s not only important to vote, it’s important to vote with wisdom.   And we need to move away from being impressed by celebrities, by the most entertaining, the best orator, or most good-looking candidate.  Enough of us need to care about the soul of our national leaders.  We ought not vote merely out of self-interest or national interest but an abiding interest in wisdom, integrity, character and above all honor.  Mr. Trump is a warning to us all.  Be careful.

We will survive Mr. Trump and I hope our better angels will learn the lessons well.


1 comment:

  1. Murray Haar, I will always love you! This is exactly what we need to hear about Trump !! Thank you

    ReplyDelete