LOWERING THE PRESIDENTIAL BAR

Nov 06, 2018 Editorial

As the U.S. midterm elections approaches, the United States is at the crossroads and its democratic ideals have reached a critical mass. The tenets of decency and gentlemanly behaviour, which for centuries had defined the presidency and which were once assumed or taken for granted, are under assault by President Trump.
But it is not just about President Trump and his derision of the office of the presidency. It is about America becoming a dismal nation whose social fabric has been destroyed to the extent that it has caused irrevocable damage to the country for years to come.
The United States has a president who does not seem to understand that his rhetoric is fueling discord, divisiveness and hatred that could lead to violence. This is unprecedented for a U.S. president. The U.S has never had a president like Mr. Trump who is so arrogant, lies about issues, and who will publicly ridicule his opponents on the basis of their intelligence, their physical looks, or their ethnicity.
Even the physically challenged have not been spared from the crudity of Mr. Trump’s attacks. The U.S. has never had a President who publicly admitted that he enjoys groping women or has been sued by porn stars. There was a time in the country when even a hint of public scandal, especially of a sexual nature, would be a disqualifier from office.
It seems that President Trump is immune to sexual scandal and other wrongdoings. He continued to play to the worst fears of the American people; not only by demonizing his opponents in the most horrible ways possible, but by blatantly and repeatedly lying to the public. While doing this, he seeks to exonerate himself from his own angry and publicly hostile persona by blaming others, especially the media for the incivility and hostility in the country.
The truth is President Trump does not seem to understand that, as president, he has been called to a higher bar than any other politician or citizen in the country. That is why he is given the protection of the Secret Service and other privileges which no other American citizen can ever enjoy.
Yet, almost every day he does and say things that are indecent to dishonor the office of the presidency which Americans have given him the privilege to have. He does not show empathy when he should show it.
Recently, pipe-bombs were mailed to two former presidents, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama, vice-president, Joe Biden, a former presidential candidate and secretary of State, members of the House and other important citizens. The president did not have the decency as perceived by protocol to call even the past presidents to sympathize with them on what could have been a tragic event.
Instead, he made light of the attacks at a campaign rally by falsely attacking the press. Mr. Trump is an aberration as a president who is being shamelessly aided and abetted by his Republican colleagues. Those colleagues seem more interested in exercising power than they are to the danger that Mr. Trump poses to the country.
No other president has so often, and publicly, referred to the press as an enemy of the people. With the current polarized culture in America, yet the president is not concerned that such hostile rhetoric could endanger the lives of journalists.
He clearly does not seem to care if they are attacked or harmed by the public. Instead, he would say that it serve them right for criticizing him.

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