Trump’s recklessness

President Trump’s recent speech in which he urged police officers not to be “too nice” in dealing with arrestees has (rightly) alarmed many both inside and outside the ranks of law enforcement.

However, I don’t think the president was consciously condoning police brutality. He wasn’t quite sure what he was urging. He was saying something that sounded good and clever to him at the time.

And therein lies the problem with this president: He speaks recklessly because he thinks recklessly. And that’s a bigger problem than it first appears: While his reckless speech and thought could very easily lead to terrible results, it is also the case that while he is speaking and thinking recklessly, he is not doing what the president is supposed to do: Speak and think wisely, in the best interest of the country.

While President Trump is being his own self-aggrandizing, egotistical, childish self, and while his staff and the legislature are enabling this behavior, the country is effectively without leadership. I believe Republicans in the legislature must put country before party and organize to begin the process of removing this man from the White House while the damage can be minimized.

STACY M. CLANTON Magnolia