Michael Gerson, WP: The Oval Office deserves better than Trump ("a figure of monumental smallness")

[highplainsdem]

Gerson is a former GWB aide; that's the experience as a WH staffer he's referring to.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-oval-office-deserves-better-than-trump/2018/02/12/ef868de0-102b-11e8-8ea1-c1d91fcec3fe_story.html

I did, like the rest of the incoming White House senior staff in 2001, take the oath of office in the East Room of the Executive Mansion. The moment, at least for me, was less joyful than sobering. History hangs heavy in that place, where Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy had lain in repose and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral service was held. Where Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The setting, the moment and the words — “I do solemnly swear .?.?.” — evoked a mix of awe, pride and fear of being unequal to the honor.

This experience as a staffer, I suspect, helps explain the intensity of my reaction to Donald Trump. The institution of the presidency does not require perfect men or women. But by even the most generous standards, Trump is a figure of monumental smallness. He describes himself in terms that would have embarrassed King Louis XIV. He conducts himself with the decorum of a spoiled and nasty child — lashing out at enemies, elevating lackeys, treating professionals at the FBI or CIA like minions, blurting out conspiracy theories and obvious lies. He regularly brings the presidency and the country into disrepute. And the White House staff — leaky, incompetent, embittered, backbiting — has generally followed his example.

-snip-

Presidents are not, in the end, judged primarily by the tax cuts they pass. They are measured by the standards JFK set out in his farewell to the Massachusetts legislature in 1961: “Were we truly men of courage .?.?. were we truly men of judgment .?.?. were we truly men of integrity .?.?. were we truly men of dedication?”

For some presidents, these virtues were a guiding passion; for others a political facade. This president has abandoned even lip service to these ideals, conducting himself like the chief executive of a shady casino company seeking to build his fortune and destroy his competition. Which is exactly what Trump has always been.

By his conduct, the president (metaphorically, as far as I know) puts his muddy boots up on the Resolute desk and spray paints graffiti on the Roosevelt Room wall. He is vandalizing the one house he cannot buy or own.

-snip-

The institution of the presidency will survive Trump, as it has other mediocrities. But the office deserves an occupant of true integrity and honor.

[unblock]

1. from michael gerson, who passionately sat on the fence during the election:

"This is an extraordinary political moment. Any reasonable Republican presidential contender other than Trump probably would be beating Clinton handily. Any reasonable Democratic contender other than Clinton probably would be beating Trump handily. The parties, in their wisdom, have chosen the untrusted against the unstable, the uninspiring against the unfit. Take your pick, and take your chances."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-choice-between-the-uninspiring-and-the-unfit/2016/07/29/9fab8178-55aa-11e6-b7de-dfe509430c39_story.html?utm_term=.98f192639747



yet another pundit who couldn't manage to find anything good to say about one of the most experienced and capable presidential candidates perhaps in history, and inarguably by far the most capable candidate in this particular race.

thanks for nothing, gerson!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Hillary was untrusted, but that was not her fault. Benghazi! Emails! Vince Foster! . . . . nt

[Cha]

5. That calls for a Fuck Off gerson..

he listened to the chatter.. the M$M was hating on Hillary 24/7

I'm guessing he didn't realize trump would be such a Russian gaslighting mole.

[Skittles]

3. fuck you, Gerson

you pimped for an incompetent, war mongering piece of SHIT

[world wide wally]

4. Untreated but NOT untrustworthy

[yuiyoshida]

6. tweeted AND K&R