‘Don’t act like the president’

Spending so much time arguing about whether Donald Trump said a hateful word about another person or country seems rather weird to me. We knew even before the election that he disrespected anyone who differed from himself — those who were not rich, not male, not white, not tall, not a draft dodger and not of European ancestry, etc. He only has interest and empathy when he sees himself mirrored back. There was plenty of proof in his life and his past behavior that he was prejudiced and mean-spirited. And he hadn’t hesitated in acting with animosity, insults and attempt to harm with apparent lack of restraint or guilt. Why did many good people get drawn into voting for him? I think we facilitate deception and manipulation by basing our vote too much on campaign rhetoric and need to look more closely at a person’s history and past behavior. Did Trump lie, harass and assault women, refuse to pay tradespeople, insult people and act with racial prejudice toward our past president and other persons of color? They say it’s difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. Just because Trump has the power of the presidency and stays occasionally at the White House, why would we expect him to be any different than the man he has been all along? To me, at this point, it doesn’t even matter whether he said it or not. His actions have spoken loudly all along. Just tell yourself and your children, don’t act like the president.

This story was originally published January 20, 2018 at 8:36 PM with the headline "‘Don’t act like the president’."