The Wright Times newspaper staff read through all of Professor Bridget Roche's English 101 OP/ED political student essays.
This is one of the top five that we chose
Is This All a Big Joke to You, America?!
We should have known that this election would be one of America’s biggest jokes of the year. Yet, when was it the exact moment we should have known this would be it? Could it have been the moment the people nominated Deez Nuts for a potential candidate in the polls? Or maybe the fact that people began to accuse Ted Cruz of being the infamous Zodiac Killer? Or maybe it was the moment that a non-experienced political clown actually managed to defeat experienced Republican nominees and become said representative of the Republican Party. Yes - the Presidential Elections of 2016 is nothing but a big joke and the one to lead the act is Donald J. Trump.
I admit even I find the man to be humorous in his attempts to make it seem like he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to foreign policies, the American economy and anything remotely close to government and political issues. Yet, I have to sit back and think to myself, “A man who literally screams in a Presidential Debate, doesn’t answer questions and claims to know more than experienced generals might become our next president …” It’s a shame that people just can’t see that behind all the laughter, we’ll be crying in the aftermath because to put it in the most simple of words, clowns shouldn’t be president because they don’t have the experience to be president; Trump is not exception to that.
Now I’ve know I called Trump a clown but I’m starting to think that the man deserves to be called another thing - a storyteller. One of the requirements of being president is that they must be honest about themselves, their backgrounds, and their goals. And with Trump, there are many shady things about him. Now that isn’t to say that Clinton herself has a clean slate since she did delete a vast amount of emails containing Top Secret and Sensitive information. But the difference between Clinton and Trump is that at least with Clinton, she owned up to it. Trump has yet to own up to any of his own past mistakes or even the current ones. For example, how in the very First Presidential 2016 Debate against both candidates, Trump was asked about his taxes and when it is that he will show them (which is required of him to show), Trump kept on repeatedly responding back with “When the audit is over!”, claiming that he has paid his taxes just like everyone else but that the audit is what is holding him back (yet, my “good man” Nixon managed to show his taxes during an audit as well). I have to give Mr. Trump a bit of credit here.
For a good while he did manage to sustain his claim but as soon as Clinton began to call him out on the reasons that he does not want to show his taxes was because he did not in fact pay them when it came to his attempt to open up a casino, he said in his own words “that makes me smart”. Now, maybe to all the Trump supporters who agree with his statement might view it as smart to evade his taxes as a businessman, but as the President of the United States, it his job morally to not only show us his taxes but to also PAY them.
As if I haven’t said enough, Trump is not emotionally mature to be a president or have the level headedness of a man that will running the country. His ego gets in the way of him being able to not only try to at least improve himself in politics and being the potential commander-in-chief of the USA’s military but he instead bashes those who do in fact have superior knowledge to him in politics and the military generals who could potentially offer him help in leading. In the Commander in Chief 2016 Forum with Matt Lauer, Trump kept on claiming that he knew much more than actually experienced generals that have fought in wars and have managed the military in their own accounts. When asked about what he would do to stop the suicides of 20 veterans a day, instead of giving a proper and even remotely respectful answer, he went on to correct the young woman asking him the question by saying that the correct number of suicides was 22.
Now, if our very own president can’t even respect the suicides of the people who have fought for our country, should he really be president? Would you allow an inexperienced fool to walk into the White House’s office and suddenly take charge of the nation - especially if they knew very little to nothing at all about how the government of that country is run and structured? Unanimously, I would like to think the American people would quickly say “No.” Yet, here we are with Donald Trump, a man who doesn’t even remember even the most elementary basics on how his own government is structured.
In accordance to an article published in US News, by Lara Brown on March 31, 2015 entitled “Government Stumps Trump”, when Trump was asked about the three functions of the US government, Brown states “Simply put, [Trump] seemed to not understand that when our government was established, it had only three cabinet departments – Defense (War), State and Treasury – because these are the feds' main jobs: conducting war, promoting peace and encouraging prosperity.”In another Op-Ed article written by Henry Aaron entitled “The Stunning Ignorance of Trump’s Health Care Plan”, published in U.S News, March 7, 2016 in which he elaborates how lacking Trump is when it comes to understanding the basic functions of Health Care in the nation, Aaron states “(...) [Trump] alleges that the act has ‘resulted in runaway costs,’ promoted health care rationing, reduced competition and narrowed choice. Each of these statements is clearly and demonstrably false. Health care spending per person has grown less rapidly in the six years since the Affordable Care Act was enacted than in any corresponding period in the last four decades.”.
Both of these articles demonstrate the same message about Trump - one, that he has almost no idea how the government works or is structured and two, he can’t even bother to brush up his knowledge on it. For a regular civilian, it’s not even remotely expected of us to remember such things but right now Trump is not a regular civilian - he is a presidential candidate who HAS to know this stuff.
I will not dismiss the fact that the man does have a business and he knows how to run a business - but running a business and a NATION are two different things. As claimed by an article written by Emily Peck entitled “The Main Reason Why Trump Shouldn’t Be President is Painfully Obvious”, published in The Huffington Post on September 14, 2015, she states “[Trump] brags about his net worth, his negotiating skills and his contacts overseas. But there’s little reason to believe these things would actually help him as president. When it comes to holding the top political job in the country, political experience is far more relevant than money-making experience (...)”. In politics, one must know what they are doing by having had at least experienced being in the senate as a representative or even some knowledge of laws by being a lawyer. Just being in the field barely makes the cut; actually gaining experience and using it is what you need to run for president. While yes, having negotiation skills and overseas connections would be a benefit in dealing with certain foreign policies and interactions that alone is still not enough compensation for the lack of other political skills that is necessary for the job of a president.
I thought that people were scared of clowns, since currently we have a clown panic within the States. And America truly does have a clown problem; I’m just f***ing confused why they aren’t scared of this one who has no experience running a nation and will most likely just end up destroying us and our entire nation – just like a true killer clown.
Works Cited Page
Aaron, Henry. "The Stunning Ignorance of Trump's Health Care Plan." U.S News 07 Mar. 2016: n. pag. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.
Brown, Lara. "Government Stumps Trump." U.S News 31 Mar. 2016: n. pag. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.
Clinton, Hillary R., and Donald J. Trump. "Commander in Chief Forum." The Commander-in-Chief Forum 2016. MSNBC and NBC. New York City, New York, 07 Sept. 2016. Television.
Clinton, Hillary R., and Donald J. Trump. "2016 Presidential Debate." First Presidential Debate. CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and MSNBC. Hempstead, New York, 26 Sept. 2016. Television.
Peck, Emily. "The Main Reason Trump Shouldn’t Be President Is Painfully Obvious." The Huffington Post 14 Sept. 2015, US ed., Business sec.: n. page. Print.