Two Funerals and a Wedding

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Democracy is generally regarded as a good form of government, one which, in the ideal, seeks to draw all of its adult citizens into the process through voting and being able to run for office.  But, like any system based the the vagaries of human beings, it occasionally coughs up a hairball.

I'm not sure why it is, but many of the hairballs seem to be at home in the political arena, and some manipulate the democratic system so well that they rise to the absolute pinnacle of American power and political prestige:  the presidency.  In my lifetime I have seen several doozies:

• Richard Nixon, a paranoid who never felt that laws necessarily applied to him.  Not only did Nixon let the war in Vietnam drag on for a couple of more years after promising to end it, he also led the country into the ugly political maelstrom known as Watergate;
• Ronald Reagan who turned his back on tens of thousands of Americans fighting a new disease called AIDS - as well as involved the country in a series of two-bit international intrigues that would have embarrassed Boris Badenov and Natasha;
• Bill Clinton, a man with the morals of a not-too-particular alley cat and who also struggled with the truth;  and,
• George W. Bush whose limited intellectual abilities and desire to outshine his father led to a military boondoggle in the Middle East that persists to this day.

But even in the worst of times brought on by some of the more sordid occupants of the White House, there was never a serious concern about the survival of the Republic.  Today, however, under the leadership of Donald Trump, a man who seems to be openly taking guidance from the leader of Russia and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, that may no longer be the case.  Trump seems to be ignoring the advice of the subordinates whom he chose to advise him, and he tends to react, often through impulsive tweets, rather than to carefully formulate plans and policies through contacts and discussions with knowledgeable diplomats, policy experts, and stakeholders.

Trump is speeding along on a roller coaster of bad information with the safety bar up - and he is drunk on his own self-importance.  It is no longer a question of if the roller coaster will fly off of the rails, but when.

Is it any wonder then that this train wreck-waiting-to-happen, Donald John Trump, can't get any respect?  One thing I remember about past presidents, from Truman through Obama, is that they garnered a certain amount of positive attention for just being the President.  That is not so with Trump.

Senator John McCain, an American patriot of note for both his service in the military as well as the more than three decades that he served in the United States Senate, died last weekend.  One of the final decisions of consequence that McCain made prior to his passing was to let it be known that he did not want Donald Trump, a politician from McCain's own Republican Party, to attend his funeral.  The petty Mr. Trump likely would not have attended anyway, but McCain beat him to the punch by declaring that he would not be welcome to attend.

Back in April of this year the Bush family had also requested that Donald Trump not attend the funeral of their matriarch, Barbara Bush.  And a month after that, in May, the Prince Harry of the British royal family let it be known that he and his fiancee did not want Donald Trump at their nuptials.

Even Richard Nixon was welcome at funerals and weddings.

But not Donald John Trump.  He has to spend his days deciding whether to raise or lower the White House flag - and checking in with Sean Hannity.