There’s something that’s been on my mind for the past couple weeks… I’m bringing it up now because of Chris Matthew’s final comments on his show tonight: “...Young Americans grew up, many of them dreaming to be President some day. Does anyone want to be this President?”
A couple weeks ago, before Trump’s disgusting tweet about Joe & Mika, my family and I were gathered together and my mom asked my 8 year old nephew if he wanted to be President one day. His reaction was so intense, so visceral—he recoiled in absolute disgust and proclaimed, “NOOOO!!!!!! Are you crazy?!” He seemed to be offended at even being asked to become something so disgusting.
The damage Trump & Co have done to our institutions and the Presidency will not be easy to repair. Kids are absorbing this shit. I have no idea if his response is reflective of how other 8 year olds feel, but if it is, this is really really bad. Meanwhile, for young adults, I think the feeling now is that any clown can run for President. Will Kanye West run and win in 2020? The bar is so low now. Who could possibly be worse than Trump???
If we ever get a competent liberal elected again (and somehow get the House & Senate), we need to make sure nothing like this can EVER happen again. Apparently when it comes to keeping the President in check, all we have are the “honor code” and norms. That has worked out reasonably well in the past, but now we see what happens when a con-artist without a conscience takes office. We couldn’t force him to release his taxes. We couldn’t force him to divest. We are forced to watch on helplessly as he uses the presidency as his latest money-making scheme. As he discredits the media. As he sets up a commission that will result in massive voter suppression. Uggh. I could go on and on.
Anyway, if anyone out there knows young kids, ask them if they want to be President one day. I’m interested in hearing other responses.