It is hard to ignore the upheaval in
American society, the division of blue and red states, the disdain by politicians
for those of the opposite party, or the day-in-day-out scandals at the top of
our leadership pyramid. We do live under the spell of the “Chinese Curse.”[i] These are interesting
times!
Most of us have a flaw or two; binge
watching The West Wing is one of mine. It quells daily anxiety and helps
delineate political fantasy from reality.
Actually, the TV show seems more like reality and the current state of
affairs more like fantasy. (It is on Netflix, all seven seasons. You can watch
it all in a few days, no commercials). It will give you a good dose of the what-could-be.
We rather hoped our presidents would be
paragons of righteousness; you know: upstanding, of strong moral character,
above the fray, or someone who illustrates goodness in everyday life. Role
models perhaps. We perpetuated that myth for years, even with evidence to the
contrary. It started early on. A future president, who owned slaves, wrote, “All
men are created equal.”
President Roosevelt took us through most
of WWII, but died while entertaining his mistress in Warm Springs, Georgia. The
press did not report on that for some time. It didn’t report that he had braces
on his legs and used a wheel chair either. Pictures of him were taken after he
was seated or behind the podium. Out of respect.
Eisenhower had a girl friend, his driver,
while he fought WWII in Europe, but left her when he returned to the
States. Kennedy had Marilyn, and Nixon
had Watergate. Carter caused a national scandal when he said that he had lusted
in his heart. (Those were different times.) Clinton had Lewinsky, depending on your
definition of “is.” The Bush's and Obama
got through their terms without personal scandal Mr.
Trump …?
Not all presidents comported themselves as
we would expect. But, it wasn’t the
daily drip of scandal and intrigue we experience today. The last 13 presidents had their flaws, some
more serious than others. However, it is
hard to imagine or recall any that behaved in ways as egregious as to put the
country in jeopardy, simply for being a crass megalomaniac. While claiming to
be an educated man, our president seems ignorant of history, ignores facts, and
under appreciates process and the sometimes limited power of his office, much
less how to manage an organization.
I remember times when we could go an hour,
a day, or maybe a week without worrying about the future of our country or
those governing it. Today it’s hard to
go ten minutes without working yourself into a lather. We could blame it on instant
communications. Everyone with a cell
phone is a “journalist” capable of sending “news” around the world in
seconds. “Real” news takes time to check
out, to corroborate, and to edit. Who
has that much time?
MSNBC and Fox News make CNN look like
middle of the road journalism. PBS is,
well, too moderate and deep thinking. Let’s
give the news sites their due. They
report what is happening to whom for what reason in Washington and elsewhere. It can be all a tad nasty, a bit off kilter or
just outright embarrassing. I don’t
agree with many of President Trump’s policy initiatives or all those of the
Republican or Democratic Parties. That’s
not the issue. Personal behavior is the
issue. I go to bed each evening
wondering how things could get worse, and every morning they are.
A large dose of Pollyanna lingers in my
mind about the presidency. I bought into
Reagan’s “city upon the hill” ideal for America.[ii] I saw the White House as a symbol for high
levels of integrity in government. The
Capitol showed bright as a beacon to the world for the ideals of a democratic
society. Presidents set the moral and
political standard for society and the world.
President Trump has nearly 50 million
followers on Twitter and he uses the platform to great advantage. He bypasses the intermediaries in the news
cycle by going directly to the people.
His standing in the polls, while not outstanding, has never been
higher. So, what’s the problem?
It’s not the tweeting. It’s the tweets! I can’t remember a leader so
self-centered or so impolite in his public communications. Great leaders don’t
denigrate other members of the government with salacious comments on a daily
basis. He publically humiliates his own staff in tweets rather than talk to
them in private. He does not deny his trysts with porn stars. He threatens law
enforcement when subjected to criminal scrutiny. His consigliere is
investigated for crimes that include paying hush money to cover up misdoings. This
is not what we expect of a president.
What’s next? A constitutional crisis of grand
proportions? A president indicted for high crimes and
misdemeanors? The the end of our
democracy? The loss of faith in government acting for the common good? All of
the above? None of the above?
Season two, Episode 15. Finally, reality
in the West Wing! Fast forward, I know how this one turns out!
