Respect
Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Eric Holder, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, George Soros, John Brennan, CNN, Maxine Waters, Robert DeNiro, Joe Biden – List of those receiving mail bomb attacks as of 10/25/18 AM
A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST! – President Donald Trump Tweet, 10/25/18
The mail bomb attacks on high profile Democratic opponents is not the President’s fault. It is a product of the environment; of our time of polarization and divisiveness. We all know it. It takes two sides to have a fight, and while Democrats (including me) would place blame on the President himself, in reality both sides have engaged in an ugly fight.
Ask Brett Kavanaugh.
But there is also a time when we expect the President of the United States, our President; to step across the divide and, at least for the crisis, try to unify the nation. We are in one of the crises; two former Presidents have been attacked as well as a long list of those who have voiced their opposition to Donald Trump.
But the President sees everything in “us and them” terms. It is the Trump trademark: when you get hit, hit back harder. The President can’t “hit” back against the bomber, but he can strike against those who might blame him for the environment. So, in this moment of national fear, the President has followed the failed path of his Charlottesville strategy. He allowed cooler heads in the White House to prevail for a moment, for the scripted call for “national unity.” Then he got on Air Force One, flew to Wisconsin, and went right back on the attack. “Lock her up” and “Fake News” were part of his rant last night and this morning’s tweet. He even mocked “being nice.” But for the Grace of God, the Secret Service and the NYPD (and the rest) they could have all been dead.
Donald J Trump does not respect the Presidency. He doesn’t understand the role of leader of the United States. And it’s not just in this moment of domestic terrorism: last night the New York Times reported that the President continues to use unsecured mobile phones, disregarding the advice of his National Security advisors. The Times reports that Chinese and Russian intelligence are listening to his conversations, gathering information, and developing operations to influence the President using his own words.
This is a President whose main campaign slogan was “lock her up.” He claimed that Hillary Clinton, in using a private email server, violated US security laws and should be imprisoned. So a President who uses unsecured communications that he KNOWS is being tapped by foreign intelligence agencies is better?
One line in the article, quoting Administration officials, is chilling.
They said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities.
The President can’t reveal secrets because he doesn’t know them. Another sign of disrespect for the Office; he won’t even do the work required to protect the nation. And the unnamed Administration officials who “leaked” this story, said they did so not to damage the President, but to get him to listen to their concerns. He won’t hear them in person, but he will “read it in the Times.”
There are more bombs out there. As I write, they found a second mailed to Joe Biden. Lets hope they are all found, without loss of life. It’s a tough day to be a Postal Worker. And every day is a tough day to be President of the United States. It is a complex role, one that Americans look to during times of ultimate crisis. In American history “lore,” there is the belief that those who become President “unprepared” grow into the job. Harry Truman is the most recent example that historians cite.
We are waiting Mr. President. Waiting for you to show that you understand the Presidency. The first thing you can do is to show respect for the awesome gift the country has granted you. You haven’t yet.
