What We Saw Was What We Got

Every once in a while I go back in these posts to remind myself of things that were on my mind months and years ago. It helps me keep perspective about things that are important to me today. Most drafts that I write are published, whether I feel as though they are “ready” or not. But a few sit in the queue and never reach an audience, for whatever the reason. That is the case of one essay that I wrote back in 2019.

The topic was our former president, a man who even after two years had established himself as one of the most contemptible, dishonest people this nation has ever produced. I withheld its publishing because there was already so much being written about a man who apparently possessed no moral compass whatsoever. But now, four years later, a re-reading prompts me to place it in the Sheppard’s Rest canon, as a predictive piece that, unfortunately, rings as true today as it did then. We now have a candidate for the U.S. presidency who has been impeached twice, indicted four times and is campaigning while out on bail for those four offenses:

What You See Is What You Get

“The long-awaited release of the Mueller Report continues to receive nearly unprecedented scrutiny by all players in the seedy drama called the Trump presidency.  Reporters, analysts, historians, political players, and even the Clown himself weigh in almost daily with new insights or suppositions or denials designed to convince us that the report is either a full exoneration of a man who cannot ever be fully exonerated, or reflects an indictable record of treasonous greed.  One’s own view of the findings most likely depends upon party affiliation.  And since I am not now nor have not been affiliated with either major political party, I’m entitled to my own assessment of the mess called the Trump administration.

“The Clown (I have refused to denigrate the title of President when referring to this man) received the report with outward elation and talk of victory.  But within days he excoriated those who testified, under oath, about matters that were unflattering to him.  While talking out of one side of his mouth, he spoke of an earnest and open cooperation with all aspects of the investigation.  From the other side of his mouth, he lashed out at anyone from his circle who spoke candidly and honestly under oath.  This is a man who quite literally has no understanding of speaking truth; I’m sure that there is a psychological term for it, but it has manifested itself throughout this administration to the tune of 9,000 lies in a little more than two years.  That is pathological.

“The Clown’s defenders usually smile at this reality and state, “That’s just Trump being Trump,” as if that statement makes it all OK.  But it doesn’t.  The presidency of the United States stands for virtues and values that do not include the scope of lies and self-aggrandizement represented by this man.  As a result, he has tarnished the office and the country it represents in ways that will be difficult for his successors to repair.  The notion that he will eventually leave office and all of his antics will leave with him is of no comfort: it is little more than lying on the floor after a heart attack and hoping that you get better.

“The investigation has finally come to a close, and the Clown has crowed that there was no collusion on his part, nor was there any obstruction.  Yes, to the former.  Not so fast, to the latter.  We’ll see.  There will be many days ahead wherein these questions will be examined to an extent that is wearying.  But for now, the report tells us at least one thing with absolute clarity: even without indictable evidence of collusion, this man is as narcissistic and self-serving as they come.  Whatever moral compass he may possess has no “true north” to it.  That may not make him indictable, but it does render him unfit for the office he purports to serve.  He only serves himself.

“I find it ironic that in the latter days of the 2016 presidential campaign, the Clown warned voters across the country that if Hillary Clinton would be elected, her presidency would be dysfunctional due to all of the legal challenges and investigations that would surely follow her into office.  He was being prescient, but with the wrong candidate.

The country has waited for the emergence of some sort of leadership from the man.  But there is nothing to emerge.  With this man, what you see is what you get.  And it isn’t very pretty….”

The most frightening aspect of it all is the large number of people who continue to support a man who has no moral or political values at all, only the desire for his own self-fulfillment….

(If you’d like to listen to the audio for this post, click here. Or you can subscribe to my Sheppard’s Rest podcast via Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.)