By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Today Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States.
We hope that his administration is a good one for our country. He comes to the office after an unprecedented candidacy, and with the backing of many citizens who sometimes feel disenfranchised from everyday America. He also comes to the office without having won the popular vote.
Our greatest wish is that Donald Trump can bring all of America together, and in particular, that he can work with others in government to make our country far better. If he can do that, and win the support of many of the people who did not vote for him, he will have earned an endorsement term, and our country will be clicking along soundly.
Having said that, we must admit that we have our doubts that President Trump can accomplish this. While we emphasize that bringing the country together could be his biggest accomplishment for any president in years, it may not happen.
It certainly did not happen during the Obama years. If anything, the country is more divided after President Obama’s eight years in office, and this led to the emergence of President Trump and his ultimate victory. He probably could not have won the presidency had the people been of one accord with the Omaha presidency.
Perhaps President Trump’s greatest liability that we have realized is that he has a most thin skin. No matter where you are in life as an elected official, from the mayor or councilman in the smallest towns, to countywide and statewide offices, to those in national posts, having a skin that is thin in politics works against you. Office holders waste valuable time and effort concentrating on what people say about them, and on subjects which are not important, at a time when there are far more substantial matters facing them.
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So far it appears that President Trump is carrying that thin skin with him into the White House, or into his quarters in Trump Tower. How can he attack the major problems of our nation, or look at concerns in the greater world, if he is caught up in some personal vendetta against people of lesser rank than he?
In this sense, the President’s use of social media works against him. It would be far better for him to throw away his Twitter account and pay no attention to the back-and-forth small matters of social media.
At the same time, if President Trump is seething with disdain at people during his 3 a.m. pacings around, perhaps he should quit listening to television and give up newspapers, too. Rather than tapping out messages in frustration of the media, maybe the President needs to turn to heavy workouts on exercise equipment. Or maybe he could work off his frustrations by walking a dog around the New York blocks in the early morning hours. Or if he were staying at the White House, certainly those grounds would make an ideal place for him to vent his feelings only for the trees and bushes of the grounds to hear. And hope that the president doesn’t use cell phones, either. He doesn’t need to be calling or texting his irritations to those who taunt him.
Recognizing these limitations, mainly today, we pause to take this time to reiterate our sincere best wishes to President Trump and his administration on this day of his inauguration.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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