My neighborhood was filled with all types of kids. The one thing we all had in common was that when we came home from school, we would put our books down, shove some cookies in our mouths and go out to play until dark. Of course there was a mix of personalities, some obnoxious and some to be admired. But if your neighborhood group was like mine there was one kid who seemed to know everything, yet when pushed he knew little of anything. He was the kid who always had the answer, always exaggerated and made promises that never panned out. After a while we all got smart and stopped taking anything he said seriously. It seemed however, that the more we ignored him the more desperate he became to say anything that would impress us. We all agreed, he was pretty pathetic. By the way, his name was Donald.
When a kid exhibits these traits, we can ignore him. However, when our president exhibits these same traits as an adult it is beyond troubling. When the face and the voice of our country reminds us of that obnoxious know-it-all lying kid in our neighborhood we have a major problem. During the campaign we heard time and again from his supporters that they weren't too concerned with what he said, it was how he said it that they admired. It seems that form beat out substance again. As kids we were smart enough to see through this behavior and discard it. Yet millions around the country were willing to give his words a pass as long as he sounded tough. I guess they didn't learn the lessons we learned as kids.
We heard at seemingly regular intervals during the campaign and after he took office that we would see Trump change as he took over the reins of the presidency. Yet to our dismay, he is the same obnoxious know-it-all kid we have seen throughout the past year and a half. This raises some important questions and concerns. How do we as a nation deal with a president who has such a tenuous relationship with the truth? Equally important, how do we deal with a president who seems to lack knowledge and information in so many areas that are critical to his decision-making? Furthermore it is extremely concerning that he seems to lack curiosity and the desire or willingness to learn. He is not only ill-equipped temperamentally to be president but also intellectually. When his very own staff and political allies spend their time explaining away and interpreting comments and tweets to make them more palatable and less nonsensical the job of the president is not being done. He clearly lacks a true understanding of the power of a president's words. Additionally , when Trump displays a childish admiration for world leaders who exhibit a total disregard for democratic values and a propensity towards thuggery we must question his values. Also he has displayed both a total lack of understanding and a total disregard for the legislative process and often the content of the legislation he his supporting. The result has been his surprise and frustration when his strong-arm tactics and pressure ends in failure. Finally, his inconsistency and verbal bluster on the international stage has raised questions among both our allies and our enemies. This lack of clarity in action and intention raises great danger for misstep and miscalculation. The results could be calamitous.
Neither his staff nor congress has been able to successfully serve as a check to balance our unbalanced president. The only successes we have seen are in the press, the judiciary and on the streets. While we have high hopes for 2018 we must make sure that we keep the pressure on and we prevent this obnoxious kid from the neighborhood from doing damage to our nation, our democracy and the world.