When did politics become a competition? When did running the United States of America become a game?
These are just some of the many questions I ask myself as I read through my news feeds and dive into the comments section where I find various remarks that go back and forth on some random article link’s topic. Some comments are well said that spark an educated and informative discussion. Others are just nasty, ignorant, or often just said to feed the burning flame even further. Reading comments like “Get over it, you lost. Hillary lost,” and other variations has left me wondering why Donald Trump and his supporters are so fixated on the concept of winning and losing?
Yes, the fateful Election Day brought the sense of loss for many Americans. But that was ELECTION DAY. Hell, that was even the day after: 11/9/16. But even several weeks after Trump won the election his followers (and himself) are screaming, “YOU LOST” to any criticism of his views and values. Yes, Hillary Clinton lost. But Hillary voters, Democrats, Republicans, and the sane Americans who chose not to fall into any of those categories are not stuck in the election loss of the past like Trump and his followers. It’s 2017, the election is over, and the Trump party needs to recognize three key things ASAP otherwise it’s going to be a long and even more exhausting four years for everyone:
It’s all about the Donald Trump presidency now.
Trump, you can’t keep crying “But Hillary did this…” when someone has a criticizing opinion of you. At this point, your critics don’t care what Hillary did. I repeat: they. DO. NOT. care because Hillary isn’t our president, you are. Attacking everyone that criticizes you isn’t going to help justify any of your claims nor is going on a social media rampage going to benefit anyone. It just makes you seem like a overly sensitive individual who can’t handle criticism (let alone being president). Besides I’m sure being president isn’t all glitz and glamour like it may seem on TV. (I know fighting an alien invasion like in Independance Day or terrorists from within the White House, i.e. Olympus Has Fallen, seems like an amazing task to take on, but let’s be real you might have some less than tremendous daily tasks to take on.) Not everyone is going to love and gush over you. Not everything needs to become a battlefield. You, Mr. President, just have to accept it, not pour gasoline on and light it.
Photo by Chris West on Flickr
Politics isn’t supposed to be about who has the upperhand in the government.
I’m not sure when, in my twenty-something years of living, politics became a competition about who has the upperhand in the government. Perhaps I have not lived long enough to understand it. But as part of the future generation of the United States, I do believe, somewhere along the lines, that politics is supposed to be about doing what’s best for the country, both internally and externally. By that I mean, you, Trump, can’t just threaten or scare others into what you think is the right way to do things. You can’t just blatantly meddle in other countries politics just because you disagree with how they run things. You are the leader of the free world, and you have to stop undermining it in any way that you possibly can. (Like screaming “fake news” at every news organization or intelligence agency you disagree with.)
Running the country is not something you can just hit reset on when you reach game over.
Donald Trump, your Twitter game is strong. I know it. America knows it. The world knows it. But as with every form of social media, it comes with responsibility especially since you have this professional platform to uphold. That’s your brand being blasted all over the internet in praise or disgust, not just as businessman Trump, but as President Trump. You have to learn to take responsibility for your actions (and your Tweets). You can no longer act like what you say or do won’t have some form of consequence. If something goes wrong, there is no do-over, there is no reset button. Our future is in your hands. You just can’t go around blaming others when something hasn’t gone as planned or you get caught up in a web of contradictions that have been forever preserved in video or tweets.
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So to Donald Trump and his supporters: it’s happening – Inauguration Day. Donald Trump, you are officially calling the shots as the 45th president of the United States of America. Or in other words, “You won!” Congratulations! But please remember that the presidency does comes with a price. One of which is accepting the fact that not everyone is going to accept you, approve of you, or even support the decisions you make. Suit up for even more criticism because if you haven’t seen or heard by now it won’t be stopping anytime soon.
P.S. And as a reminder: stop bringing up Hillary in your arguments. She is irrelevant now that election season is over because you are the president. I’ll even say it in third-person for you: Donald J. Trump is the 45th president of the United States of America, in case you forgot.
By: Shanice Perriatt