Holding the president to a higher standard

Ask my parents what kind of a child I was growing up and they will likely tell you how easy I was to raise. Quiet, respectful and courteous — they taught me well. Of course, I did have my moments.

For example, when I was four I had had a meltdown because I didn’t get a particular toy that I’d wanted. Whining, yelling and even stomping my feet, I can recall my mother giving me one stern warning before she swatted me on my rear and made sure I knew that no one who acted that way was ever taken seriously and certainly would never end up getting what they wanted.

And while I learned that lesson before I could dress myself, it seems some people were never taught such a thing. Those people grow up to be rude, disrespectful and tend to feel entitled. That’s fine, I suppose. Unless they’re running for president of the United States.

Donald Trump is a guy I’ve read and heard about all my young life because the media is infatuated with him.

As a businessman, I never cared about his successes or failures. That was his professional life. As a husband, I never cared about his reported infidelity. Those were his relationships. And as an entertainer, I never cared about his persona or brand. That was his shtick.

Unless someone is affecting my life or those that I care about directly, I don’t care what anyone does.

Each of us are free to live our lives with all of the abundance and failure we can handle.

But when Donald Trump the celebrity became Donald Trump the leader of the free world, I cared — bigly.

I’ll admit, at first I thought Trump in the midst of all of the buttoned-up politicians was hilarious and in a way, refreshing. He could be funny sometimes and out of all of my millennial friends, only one ever took his candidacy seriously.

I think like most people, we all assumed that Trump wasn’t serious about his candidacy and would disappear long before the GOP convention.

“Make America great again!” was a good slogan. And had it been backed up with more than just meaningless babble about how we’d all get “bored with winning”, I might have entertained him a minute or two longer.

Over the last year I watched Trump go from being a funny guy with no real substantive take on policy to a nasty, angry, loudmouth who disgustingly tried invoking Sept. 11 to score political points when he failed to win an argument.

From insulting former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina’s physical appearance to mocking a reporter’s disability in front of a crowd for laughs, he insisted, of course, that was not what he was doing on either occasion when it spurred outrage against him.

When on the debate stage he was basically the school yard bully who railed against anyone — even moderators — if they dared try to challenge him. The only other candidate that stood up to Trump on a regular basis was perhaps the candidate that he mocked the most, “low energy” Jeb Bush.

From week to week, Trump’s memory and comments on policies changed based on what was popular and somehow it was acceptable. Had you asked him to elaborate on his new policy position he’d tell you how it’s “huge,” “beautiful” or “tremendous.” But that’s as far as the explanation ever went.

When he wasn’t cursing or mouthing disparaging remarks at campaign stops, he was on radio and TV as everyone’s feature story because he would make such malicious and outrageous comments.

When he won the election, it only validated his behavior as acceptable.

If we treated people the way Donald Trump treated people, we’d have no friends. If we spoke to other professionals or colleagues the way he did, we’d have no job. If we were the face of an institution (like the GOP), we would justifiably be excused from such a position of influence and example.

During a recent CIA memorial event, Trump used the moment to instead go after the media and the way they treat him like an cranky, petulant child. Again, if that had occurred on some TV show, I wouldn’t have cared.

But this isn’t a TV show. This isn’t a game. This is about our future and the future of those we care about.

For my entire life I’ve admired that we are a country of principles, decency and people that understand basic social life skills. Have we grown that unreasoned in our division that we are willing to allow the dissolving of our national character because of one man?

Wade Heath grew up in Lodi. Reconnect with him: Facebook.com/wadewire