It is customary to blame the president for everything we don't like. Well, why not? He is the most visible public servant we have, and everyone can remember his name. We should rather remember the name of our Congressional representative, who is from our community and may even live on our block. Well, no matter. We don't.
The fact is, most of what goes on in the country is guided by Congress. They are our elected representatives and it is their Constitutional duty to make laws. Congress is a big, slow ship that doesn't maneuver quickly, so there is always time to contact your representative or senator to suggest mid-course corrections.
Where the office of president becomes useful is in times of emergency or disaster. He can, by executive declaration, make any number of things happen. Any fallout may later have to be sorted out with Congress, but urgent needs can be timely met.
It is in those moments that the mettle of any true leader is tested. High public office is not for the faint of heart. Enormous trust is placed in the executive--trust that he will respect those who put him in office and will see, to the best of his ability, to their welfare and protection--especially at times when the world changes.
America's involvement in WWII began and ended with two world-changing decisions from two strong presidents. Both were made and followed through with certainty and confidence.
Following Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt acted with alacrity, declaring war on Japan, ending America's neutrality, and plunging the nation into a war it was not prepared to fight. He did so in the knowledge of mutual trust between him and the people, a trust that roused an entire nation to action.
Upon FDR's death Harry Truman took up the war, and brought it to an emphatic conclusion by deploying atomic weapons. Neither president's decision was taken recklessly or out of emotion, but after careful consideration, which lent them the strength of sure authority,
Many such moments and decisions have punctuated the history of the presidency.
Until now.
- We are shackled with a president who has neither respect for nor trust in anyone who does not share his skin color, his ideas, his ethnicity, his party, his beliefs, his wealth, or his favorite color of tie. In short, no one.
- Gone is the eloquence of his predecessors in office; a recent study determined that he speaks at about a fourth-grade level.¹
- He has no use for people who are not puppets or toadies, or anyone who differs from him in the slightest way; his upper-level staff has seen an 85% turnover since his election.² Does anyone know who's watching the store?
- His mental state is clearly and obviously unstable.
- He lacks the ability to make decisions and stand by them.
- He cannot control COVID-19 and the inability to control any entity is so far from his life experience that it is likely unraveling his sanity.
- His body language speaks volumes. He frequently appears with arms crossed--closed off to the world, a defensive posture; and a downward gaze with downturned mouth, signaling contempt.
How long shall the wicked triumph?
--Diogenes, 5/14/20
¹ https://blog.factba.se/2018/01/08/stable-genius-lets-go-to-the-data/
² https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/