FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Is this man a good role model for your child?

Is this man a good role model for your child?

Re: “Trump deserves more credit as a great leader,” Have Your Say, April 30.

Tears came to my eyes as I read JC Wilcox’s and HHB’s hosannas to the glory of Donald Trump. How we have wronged this great man!  Surely the golden hue of his hair is caused, not by anything as gross as hair dye, but by the glow of an inner halo struggling to burst forth. The only virtues JC leaves out are Trump’s luminous humility, his deep-rooted modesty, his endearing shyness. Oh, and we mustn’t forget his never-failing politeness to his foes.
But hold! I sense a subtle irony in JC’s encomiums. The faults he attributes to The Donald’s opponents – “infantile aggression”,  “absolute(ly) childish”,  “schoolyard insults” – are the very flaws we see so extravagantly displayed in the character of Trump himself.  Indeed, this is a favourite tactic in the Trumpian playbook – to accuse Trump’s opponents of the very sins pioneered by their idol.  Kellyanne Conway, the quintessential political pit bull, does it all the time.
Then HHB weighs in with the suggestion that Putin, Xi, Trump, and Kim Jong-un should all be rewarded for their virtues with the Nobel Peace Prize, split four ways and reduced in significance accordingly. Why stop there? Why not give shares to Erdogan, Duterte and Assad? It would look good on their CVs: “He received a seventh of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.”
The perceptive reader will inquire, “What do you want? A leader who gets things done – establishes peace in Korea, uplifts the US economy, comes down hard on crime and drug use, stops illegal immigration – or a leader whose character is immaculate, who doesn’t insult and demean his opponents, doesn’t commit adultery, doesn’t boast about his accomplishments, doesn’t mean-spiritedly contrive to have Andrew McCabe fired two days before he qualifies for his hard-earned lifetime pension?”
The answer is, we want both: a leader who gets things done, and who also has an admirable character. Trump may eventually qualify for an A in the first category, but so far he gets an F in the second.   The question every parent should be asking is: “Would I want my child to take this man as a role model?”
Ye Olde Pedant

nationthailand