By Dr. Robert A. Saul, special to Statehouse Report | Indecent is defined as “offending against generally accepted standards of propriety and good taste.” I cannot think of a person more suited to that description than our current president.
Before I make enemies of all of my friends who are supporters of our current president, let me make one thing clear. You might like his policies and results and support him for that reason. But I see no way that his words and actions can be endorsed. Plus I won’t accept the arguments that other people do similar things. Leaders are supposed to lead, not demean. Leaders are supposed to set a high standard, not drag us through the mud with their crude behavior. Citing the misbehavior of past presidents is not a relevant response to my argument here.
His lying, insulting, belittling and defaming are just starters. He has endorsed violent actions. He has attacked American heroes and the families of American heroes. He shows no regard for those in need. His life in the lap of luxury has shielded him from the real issues that our citizens are facing. People need health insurance and many folks cannot afford private insurance. And they need accessible jobs and affordable, safe housing.
Separating families in a power play to push an agenda is reprehensible and immoral. Setting policies that have led to children being effectively incarcerated, being tear-gassed or, even more tragically, dying in the custody of the United States is a sad state of affairs. No outrage has been expressed about these tragedies, only mild indifference and actually blaming others.
He uses ugly language unbefitting the presidency. He continually threatens our democracy with his attacks on the press and the judiciary. He refuses to use science in this administration. He uses medicine (derived by science) for his hair growth and his elevated cholesterol but paradoxically science has no place in his administration as our environment is corrupted to the detriment of our children now and in future generations.
His faith is fickle and manipulative. He sees diversity as a dirty word, instead of recognizing it as one of our strengths. Civility is neither in his vocabulary nor in his actions. I am astonished that so many legislators enable his perpetual lying and feed his narcissism as he considers himself the best president in the modern era. He is not. In 700 days as of Dec.20, 2018, our president has made 7,546 false or misleading claims. That renders him completely untrustworthy.
I could go on and on but I must admit that my blood pressure gets out of control. Suffice it to say, I am not a fan and hope that the GOP will come to its senses and put up another candidate in the 2020 election.
The pillars of a civil society are based on truth telling, being trustworthy, using science in a responsible manner, maintaining civility, embracing diversity as a strength and practicing faith with integrity. Those are tough pillars to attain but our current president doesn’t even come close or aspire to do so.
His manner is indecent and tearing at the fabric of our country.
Dr. Robert A. Saul is a Greenville pediatrician and the author of “My Children’s Children: Raising Young Citizens in the Age of Columbine” and “All About Children.” In 2015, he offered this commentary on the toxic effect of poverty.
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We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
I am writing as a Ted Cruz supporter. I did not want Donald Trump (the campaigner) to be my President. I voted for Gary Johnson. That said, the choice between DJT and HRC was clear, and the American people got it right. Hillary was, is and always will a self serving politician. I think Trump is more a symptom of many years of our elected politicians ignoring the great middle of our country in favor of the radical fringes of both sides, but mostly leaning left, as the media and entertainment industries do. At least Trump is trying to do something about the border, which IS a crisis. At least we have now 2 more conservative Supreme Court Justices (what a sham the Kavanaugh hearings were…no propriety or good taste from the democrats there). This problem only goes away with term limits for all congressmen.
THe pillars of society are no better than the respect and liberty of the individual. Our country is better than all the the others because of individual liberty, in spite of government . The things you want done require government, and it must take from someone forcibly to do those things. Everything govt takes on it ruins and makes more costly, from healthcare to security. Our charter does not include rights to economic freedom, healthcare rights, collective rights, but it was set up for individual liberties. The American people are the most charitable in the world, yet people want govt to to assume that function. You sound like u are talking about the socialists in DC? We have a booming economy, one hundred straight months of increased employment, the greatest employment participation in many years. We are working to decrease our exposure to the war machine, “humanitarian interventions” around the world which kill our wonderful troops. Maybe we can just keep you on your hypertensive medicine.
Dr. Saul has assessed the current state of the nation correctly!! Our democracy is being ripped apart with a void soon to be filled by fascist creeds, led my uneducated mobsters! Congress daily colludes by doing nothing!