Good leaders are known for their measured tone, their demonstrated ability to think things through, and their penchant for clarity in the presentation of complex issues. They present themselves, and their philosophical offerings, with an evenness of temperament that commands the attention of the most critical audience. Their depth of perspective makes those willing to work for progress in their societies, and toward a better world, want to emulate them.
Such persons have mastered the art of subjecting their egos and their intellect to the rigorous discipline necessary for the lifting up of their stated purpose above the pettiness and dysfunctions of their characters and personalities.
Wise leaders understand that the greater good lies above and beyond the afflictions of selfishness.
Consider the example of Nelson Mandela. The wit and wisdom of this revered patriot of the new South Africa, not to mention his pugilistic abilities, were molded in the harsh flames of a process of dehumanization that many of us can identify with. Many among us can connect with Mandela's struggles because we were subjected to that same process of dehumanization as a function of our common history. We still bear the existential scars of a history of domination through colonization. The vile injustices of the system of apartheid birthed by greed, and nurtured through white racist cultural praxis, snuffed out the hopes and potentials of many generations of dominated peoples of color.
Nelson Mandela had every reason to lash out at this system of injustice with all the energies of his humanity. One could well understand if he and others like himself let loose that hostility borne on the shoulders of a systematic process of disenfranchisement and dehumanization. Yet what we got from Nelson Mandela as a leader was the kind of determination and focus that was inspirational not just to the oppressed masses, but to their oppressors.
A true leader understands that we cannot save ourselves, nor will we prosper, by pursuing the denigration and destruction of those we perceive as "others".
Wise leaders understand the sacred responsibility that we all have to water the seeds of our common humanity, and to see to their growth and prosperity. That is how we build great nations. That is how we will maintain any greatness we can claim.
A society that aspires to greatness must expect a certain maturity in the moral and intellectual disposition of those who would occupy the highest office in the land. By "maturity" we do not mean perfection. The fact is we have seen our share of moral and intellectual infants among those who have aspired to the Presidency. Indeed we have endured the coming and going of those who lacked both character and charisma. Imbecilic tendencies run rampant in those who desire greatness but have not cultivated a value system that would inform and validate their ambitions. It is in consideration of this reality... of this history... that many now ask:
Is Donald Trump the worst President we have ever seen in a generation …. or ever?
After his primary victory in Indiana Trump is quoted as saying:
“We are not gonna lose. We're gonna starting winning again, and we're gonna win bigly".
Witness the exotic rhetorical formulation that came out of the philosophical treasure chest of a presidential candidate who... "went to the best schools". They are the declarations of someone we can now justifiably call Mr Bombastic.
Trump tends to make up for the deficiencies in his ideas with a kind of faux grandiloquence. He compensates for his lack of charisma with an unsettling pomposity. He parades his assumed affluence with a grossness unbecoming of one who would lead a nation where the top one percent owns more wealth than the bottom ninety percent. His "trophies", from Mara Lago to Trump Tower, all declare - If you are not me, you are a loser! Look at how bigly I have succeeded... and how miserably the rest of you have failed!
Trump's mangled verbosity is matched only by his bumbling pomposity, and is totally devoid of meaningfulness. In terms of what we should expect of a President and world leader, he is the proverbial empty suit.
He insists that he is not a politician... of that we are now sure. If by politician we mean: a person experienced in the science of government, or one engaged in conducting the business of government; then we are most certainly not speaking of Mr Donald Trump. He has demonstrated no real grasp of what is entailed in the position for which he lusted - and now occupies. Everything we have seen so far tells us that he possesses neither the temperament nor the character to be Commander In Chief.
What Trump lacks in substance he makes up for in bluster. He has demonstrated no fluency in any of the issues that demand the attention of an occupant of the Oval Office. What Mr Bombastic is very fluent in are the gross insults and indecent aspersions that he carelessly discharges at anyone who dares to require him to speak intelligently and cogently to any issue.
In place of any effort to be a meaningfully articulate candidate, what we have in Trump is what President Barack Obama appropriately calls a carnival barker. All considered, Trump's ascendance to ownership of the Republican Party is in fact the ultimate expression of poetic justice. This is the chicken that the GOP hatched after seven years of roosting with the TeaParty. When they look at and listen to this bombastic offspring of their own reactionary overindulgence they see themselves... And for the rest of us it is not a pretty sight.
The whispers coming from some suggests that many among them would love to snuff out his political breath, or put a cork in his outrageous mouth... but none among them dare muster the political courage. They are at the mercy of his bombast and bluster. This is a marriage made in the Hell of political expediency.
Trump’s modus operandi is antithetical to Mitch McConnell’s, but their purposes are in lock step. Trump is the god-send of a clique of aging white men who would love to turn the demographic clock back. He may be an idiot, but they would rather have an ignoramus of their own ilk than say… an Obama. He may be corrupt, but they will gladly use that disgrace as an opportunity to achieve their own narrow ambitions - political and economic.
For Donald Trump, his closeness to the luster of the nation's highest office is apparently quite thrilling. Like Icarus the son of Daedalus, he is all fired up about his ability to rise to unexpected heights. Hell, he had no problem negotiating the GOP's political labyrinth.
Daedalus is to Icarus what the Republican Party is to Donald Trump... His daddy.
But, like Icarus, Mr Trump might come to realize that flying too close to the sun with the wings created by his father, has certain inherent risks. At some point he will discover that the feathers enabling his political rise are fixed by wax… The wax of his Party's hypocrisy...the wax of a sensationalist media culture...the wax of his own gross unpreparedness...the wax of ignorance, hatred, and bigotry - that he so willingly exploits… and his will be quite the dilemma.
The fate of our Greek protagonist is not to be wished on anyone. If Mr Bombastic is lucky he may land on another one of those TV reality dramas where the declaration “YOU’RE FIRED!!” will have Icaritic (as in - related to Icarus’ dilemma) connotations. Maybe not on NBC or Fox this go around. Who knows, on Russian funded TV … ? Just saying. (Is it true that Russian backed monies have repeatedly rehabilitated his financial life?) Icarus was not so lucky. He fell into the sea and drowned, leaving his father to bitterly lament his own craft... Much like the Mitch McConnell GOP will lament theirs.
