A nation is more than its leader

To kneel or not to kneel; that seems to be the question.

I usually take great interest in current affairs, but ever since Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United Sates, I’ve been tuning out; more specifically, I’ve refused to get caught up in his maniacal ramblings.

You see, Donald Trump is the apprentice now, and unfortunately, he has no suitable mentor. A suitable mentor would put a rein on his mouth and keep his fingers off the keyboard to the Twitterverse, but that ain’t happening! Whether or not Trump achieves journeyman status remains to be seen. Many folks with whom I have spoken seem to think that he will be impeached long before his four-year term is up, and others have wondered aloud why he hasn’t already been removed on a more permanent basis.

This is my take on this. You can’t listen to what the man has to say, but do be attuned to the things that he does, which have been darned few; or so it seems.

Even though we do get distracted by his latest rants, a number of media sources acknowledge that in the background Trump and his administration have made positive changes to the American judiciary. The media also reports that since Trump has come to office there has been a decrease in the number of American border incursions, an increase in the nation’s GDP, as demonstrated by an increase in jobs, and a surge in the stock market.

While the consensus seems to be that his presidency has had some positive successes, it’s a bit hard to get past the way Trump behaves. He craves attention like some hirsute-challenged toddler that has to have its own way. He wants to speak, and he wants you to listen.

President Donald Trump is the proverbial train-wreck, and many people just can’t wait for what this president will say or do next. He’s bound to disrespect a different group every week. People listen to him intently just to learn his latest new gaff, so that they can then complain vehemently about it. There is no doubt that he will offend someone when he opens his mouth.

Fair warning I suppose, if everyone stopped listening to him, he’d then behave even more atrociously than he has to date, so that you have to pay some attention to him.

We can’t really ignore him completely as, arguably, he does occupy the most important position in the world. He also has his finger on the nuclear trigger, and speaks as if he is not afraid to use it, especially in light of the almost equally scandalous missile-happy behaviour of ‘Rocket Man’ Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.

I haven’t checked to see if the Doomsday Clock has been moved ahead recently, but with the recent verbal jousting between Trump and Jong-un, we may soon be on the cusp of a new Cold War era.

More recently, President Trump has attacked NFL athletes who refused to stand, but have chosen instead to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem, in protest of the widening divide that marks racial tension in the U.S., a divide that these athletes lay directly at Trump’s feet.

I would suggest to our southern neighbours that a nation is more than its leader. The greatest strength of a nation is its people, who will still be there as their leaders come and go. Disrespecting national symbols that have been achieved over the long period of a nation’s growth and struggles, is more of an insult to the nation’s people, than it is to the leader of the day.

Stand for your national anthem, be proud of what your nation has achieved, and keep in mind that America will survive the presidency of Donald Trump.