Cynical perceptions
February 23, 2017
Former presidents of the United States have modeled what it means to be the perfect American. For example, Theodore Roosevelt. Parents would tell their children that if they worked hard in school and did everything right, then they could grow up to be like trust-buster Teddy. However, we do not see this today. When have we ever heard of someone saying that if they work hard enough, they can grow up to be like Donald Trump or Barack Obama? It doesn’t happen. Our society’s much more cynical tone toward these administrations is a result of the corruption and dilapidated manner of the day-to-day operations of the White House.
We are roughly one month into a 208-week administration. Already, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn resigned, Secretary of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder rescinded his nomination due to the fear he would not be confirmed, and there are more questions everyday about Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s involvement in our nation’s affairs. I have pretty much expected a Wall Street Journal notification on my phone everyday that will inform me of something bad that has happened. Without a doubt, part of this is the president’s fault.
To Mr. President: get your act together. This is your administration and you promised that you would have the best and brightest. It doesn’t seem to be playing out this way.
However, some of this blame falls on the media. Media sources have exaggerated headlines to try and make this administration look much worse than it has been. While some things that President Trump has done, such as the Muslim ban, are ridiculous, I shouldn’t be looking at a Politco headline like “Voters pick words to describe Trump: Idiot, jerk, stupid, dumb.” Sure, he may not be popular but the media needs be reporting through an unbiased lens.
I am not condoning Trump’s recent criticism of the media and claims that they must be destroyed, but am vouching for clear and transparent reporting, regardless of the reporter’s beliefs.
Now that we’re on the topic of Trump’s attacks on the media, here is my position: it is disgusting. The purpose of the media is to keep politicians honest, keep them away from corruption and enforce a transparent regime. Advocating against that is fishy to me. While the media hasn’t been completely honest, Trump can’t be mad at reporters for calling him out on the false claim that he has had one of the biggest electoral wins in the recent past. Telling your citizens to only watch Fox News is also bad because if there is only one, arguably biased, source then our nation could turn into a place like North Korea where there is only one news network where the reporters constantly praise dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime, even though there nation is crumbling.
No wonder kids do not want to be like the president anymore. They are constantly beaten down my media and the swamp is still not drained. Not only are kids turning away from using the president as a role model but so are our nation’s best and brightest. Who wants to be president anymore? We live in a dangerous world and no matter what you do, about 50-percent of the country is going to be angry with you. This is the reason we ended up with two of the most historically unpopular presidential candidates in 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Between the media, the swamp and divisive politics, who knows if our kids will ever return to admiring the role of the leader of the free world.