#hithole

                First off, I’d like to start this post with a disclaimer:

                I typically do not get much into politics, which you could argue runs against my ideals as a social worker. However, before you judge, hear me out. Contemporary politics are more about party and profiteering, less about people, and certainly not about progress. This has been the case for years.

                Thus, my position as an American citizen is that if you are waiting for a politician (Republican, Democrat, whatever) or government entity to help you, then you are going to be sorely disappointed.  In the same vein, the social worker in me says that the best positioned person to help you is, well you. The tools of resiliency and empowerment go a long way towards bettering yourself.

                Sincerely,

                David I WriteStuff

                We now return you to your not-so-regularly scheduled rant…

*             *             *

                There has been a great deal of media attention given to President Trump and his [alleged] use of vulgarity and racially charged comments. As such, I felt obliged to weigh in on the current kerfuffle involving these [alleged] comments regarding certain lesser-developed countries during a meeting about DACA. Particularly, the President is stated to have remarked that certain countries, Haiti among them, were nothing but “shithole” countries. He [allegedly] went on to even question the very notion of why we would even consider letting in immigrants from these countries to the United States.

                There are three points I’d like to address about this:

                1) I have no doubt that Trump uttered these words       

                To begin, I have no doubt that President Trump would refer to any number of lesser-developed nations by the term “shithole”. He has demonstrated that his character and vocabulary are oafish and limited. Further, I can only hypothesis that he is the latest in a long line of government officials- perhaps even presidents- that have uttered similar sentiments in service to this country. To take things even a step further, I would argue that the majority of the American public likely holds these countries in the same dim view.

                That doesn’t make remarks like this okay, nor does it give Trump a pass. That makes these thoughts a bias inherent to a majority of Americans. This also means through education, and oh gee, I don’t know maybe meeting someone from Haiti, these myths can be dispelled.

                2) Circle of Trust

                Building on what I’ve said above, I believe that most everyone has said something in the heat of the moment that was perhaps off-color or inappropriate. Usually, the smart ones among us do so in a circle of close friends, family, or business acquaintances that we trust.

                What I mean is usually, when these things slip out, we apologize, and/or those around us know our character well enough to know that one statement does not, nor could not define us.

                Unfortunately, for the President he made the mistake of spewing whatever comments he made in front of those with which he had no rapport (It was in fact, a bi-partisan DACA meeting). That coupled with the fact that Trump has already had a questionable history when it comes to shall we say, “less-than-acceptable” (or accurate) statements. These things together create an environment where several around him are poised to react defensively.

                This leads us to a point where you now have Democrats and Republicans who attended the meeting bickering over what was said versus not said. This is equally as shameful as uttering the words themselves.

                3) Deny, deny, deny

                What disappoints me the most is the fact that as President, Trump seems incapable of admitting fault. This marks only the latest scenario in which he denies what he said, and tries to rewrite history, in spite of other people clearly being present.

                I learned early on in my business career that if you make a mistake, own up to it. It is only then that you can begin to correct the mistake. Not to mention, these two things are essential in improving your integrity, and reputation.

                Some detractors may ask, “But David, how do you know he said these horrible things? And if he didn’t why should he fess up to something he didn’t even do?”

                Elementary my dear readers; Trump denies (or attempts to outmaneuver) anything that flies back into his face as overly controversial in order to save face. In fact, he has a heaping track record of doing so, well before he took office. In fact, if it weren’t for denials, backpedaling and distraction that Twitter account of his would be nearly dormant.

               

                To close, I feel that President Trump would be truly amazed at how fast this “news story” would go away if he would just admit any wrongdoing and actually attempt to do so some follow-up in the name of self-improvement.  However, I won’t be holding my breath while waiting for him to do so.