The Un-American President

You can't demand respect. It must be earned. -- Pug Mahoney

   Verbal sticks and stones are common weapons of folks so insecure of their own stature that they must take others down to build themselves up. The problem is that in doing so, they become even smaller in the eyes of others in society.
   The list of those targeted by the clearly insecure person who maneuvered his way to the Oval Office grows longer every day, but his lexicon of insulting words remains as short as his attention span.
   In recent decades, comedians have enjoyed successful careers hurling insults at prominent people, and perhaps that's why the would-be entertainer turned politician continues that tradition as his way of cultivating approval that salves his fragile ego.
   In Pennsylvania, he changed a rally for a congressional candidate into a re-election campaign for himself. This just over a year into his own term as president. In his rambling speech, he mocked presidential behavior, preferring to be an entertainer.
   The prime function of a president, however, is not to entertain but to govern. This one is more interested in entertaining his supporters and gratifying his deep need for approval than in governing.

   Political campaigns are often marked by insulting speeches and mockery of opponents, but once in office, elected officials get down to business and try to work with others to accomplish things that will improve society.
   There is a time for competition and a time for cooperation, when courtesy and civility take the lead even as disagreement continues. The nation was founded on that principle.
   The current president, however, seems to have no interest in compromise, instead focusing on his demand for loyalty and support, even as his positions change daily, if not hourly. Anyone who disagrees is then a target of his anger and derision.
   As for news media that report anything that he perceives to be negative, they too are targets. Reporters, however, consider it an honor to be thought enough of a threat as to be called out by name and insulted on national television. When that happens, journalists consider it proof that they're doing their jobs right.