Friday, November 11, 2016

IS DONALD TRUMP UP TO THE TASK OF BECOMING A RESPECTED EFFECTIVE PRESIDENT? ... November 10, 2016

My little analysis here is not to disparage Donald Trump. On the contrary it's to offer up the hope he has in him what history is demanding now. He is on the threshold of great power for good or bad.. All who care for the country should be wishing him insight and wisdom of a caliber that he has never been called on to bring forth. This tweet regarding the protests to me is discouraging . It reflects a near juvenile understanding of really big and important things. It implies a very personal egocentric take on the serious internal threats to the country and well being of all citizens. Here is what he says, "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"


No one can argue there is some  truth  here but it misses what is now being called on from him. It reflects an attitude of 'tit for tat', of blaming others, ' you hurt my feelings and I will hurt you back' . I'm  very concerned he also lives with the belief, which many others fall prey to, that strong enough 'law and order' is the way to unity and healing. That is the way of historical countries that America has always determined to not be like for they become authoritarian.   Harsher law and order is not and never has been the way to stronger democracy but to something we deplore. What is needed now by Donald Trump is truly a matter of heart and spirit and it cannot be learned or transmitted by 'overpowering' people but by understanding and seeking to affirm and  empower those who are the 'least among us.'


Not only is this blurted out tweet not presidential it sadly represents small mindedness. If he cannot rise, and very soon, above the personal ego and realize he now must find a higher more noble part of himself that does not focus on personal insults(He could on this take notes from his predecessor) he can never succeed in bringing any level of healing or unity to a very divided country. Obama as a noble and well liked person of character can no longer be counted on as a strong enough buffer against our many underlying hostilities and hurts. He enters a lame duck period.

Mr. Trump should be humbled that he did in fact lose the popular vote. He is being watched with a fine tooth comb now, not to catch his weaknesses but in hopes he can rise above some of his more dangerous ones. Now his job becomes to show that he has some grasp of the concerns and especially fears of many varied people in a very diversified democratic America. He is called now to find a way to promote all citizens to respect the presence and safety and contributions of each other , not blame and threaten or intimidate each other. Mr Trump does not have a good record of these skills. He is going to need to be a very quick learner. If there was ever a person we need to genuinely pray for the best and noblest in him to now come out it is Donald Trump.


He seemed to be somewhat humbled in his oval office orientation. But this tweet  that night does not reflect he has found his 'bigger self' that he must if he is to have a chance of being a president that brings greatness and true character to the surface of our citizens. I'd like to think the shock of sitting in that office, which will be his to run for good or ill in a few months, would serve like a 'bucket of ice over his head'. Wake him up to the actual responsibilities of being president. To face that every word he utters can either lead toward healing or set people into a further anxiety and  chaos. He can no longer use the style of walking back thoughtless blurts but must measure his words carefully in the first place.  He is likely has  quite limited experience with this kind of task. No doubt no president understands the enormity of the task until it is laid on him. But most if not all others have been more prepared in experience and temperament. But he can potentially rise to the challenge if he has it in him. We can only hope and pray. If not there could be wide spread suffering approaching.


To the 'Big Self' in him and us our present dangerous situation will not be blamed any longer on any one person or any one group or party. But we are rather here much by some  fate of a mindful evolution that we can believe is urging humans to a higher level of awareness and consciousness than has ever been before. That humanity's highest greatness is in the future not the past. Greater consciousness of our actual situation and times is the most needed virtue to bring harmony out of the threatening chaos, not just in America but the world. This is all much bigger than Donald Trump or any personal ego or ideology or one religious perspective.. But he is now a most major player that will set the tone toward healing or destruction.

There is little doubt  his campaign rhetoric  endorsing all kinds of negativity toward minorities  and  women,  heard even by our  children,  has nurtured the forces of old and deep unresolved wounds deep in our collective history to come to the surface. We and he  have no choice  but to own he gave verbal support to racism, sexism,  misogyny, xenophobia and Islamophobia.  He should be forgiven but it is not real unless he acknowledges it.  He has , as it were, promoted the eruption of a dangerous volcano. He will have to sincerely  walk back  that hate and  disrespectful talk toward all citizens he denigrated  or he will not win the moral  respect needed by a  president. His words will not be forgotten by us and the world until he speaks very differently consistently.  Now it is upon him  to help his fellows find a way to harness such unleashed forces for good, not evil. It may be too late already but he and we all must try.   He, along with caring citizens of all stripes, must find a way to compel  all citizens to respect the presence and contributions of each other , not blame and threaten each other. This is not what Mr. Trump was trying to do in the campaign.  He  does not have a good record of these skills. If there was ever a person we need to genuinely pray for the best in him to now come out it is Donald Trump. I am confident many desiring for him to come through, both ones who voted for him and who did not.


To his credit he later, perhaps after someone close to him urged him to reflect on what he had said in the first tweet,  attempted to step it back. Even though it seems like a 180 degree change from the first tweet I am afraid it still does not show any genuinie grasp of what is being called upon him to  provide the country that has elected him president. It may even be a sarcasm.  I hope not.  Read it for yourself. "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!"  

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