Pity or Petty?

The other day on  Facebook I ‘liked’ a photo and ‘shared’ it. Someone else posted the pic, but I supported it to go viral. It was a photo of the most recent Presidents and their wives at Barbara Bush’s funeral. President George H.W. Bush is shown in front in his wheelchair without Barbara. George W. Bush and wife Laura are there, so too are Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, and of course, Melania Trump alone.

A fellow Facebook follower thought my sharing the pic was petty. I didn’t answer him. That would have been petty. I wanted to respond to him by asking if he is truly a trump supporter? I’m not sure, but he appears to be an apologist for him. Now that’s a pity.

The issue of the photo is pretty simple: those included in the pose are people who have given much to the nation by their efforts, whether we cared about them personally or not. They are to be respected for their efforts. Yes, Melania Trump is to be respected because of the position she holds and does her best to fill. All of these folks should be respected because they did their best to represent our country to the rest of the world.

Not pictured, of course, is the current President. His position may be to represent the nation to the world community, but that community doesn’t accept his representation. They know something the rest of us know. He is ill-prepared and emotionally vacuous to be president. Those who think otherwise are to be pitied. They are supporting someone they hope will fulfill their desires. Whatever those desires are, they have not made apparent to the rest of us. That empty hope and lack of articulating their agenda, is why they are pitied.

The rest of us do articulate what we want for our nation, community and human race. These are noble goals with ageless values attached. They are respectful of human beings. They endeavor to benefit all people, not just the favored few. The world belongs to all of us – rich and poor, young and old, all colors, cultures, religions and nationalities. These noble people make our goals noble.

The donald is a name-caller, bully, and self-serving egotist. That’s a pity.

Calling him out for this is not petty. Nor is it petty if the pity slips over onto his supporters. They are in the same boat because they choose to be. Now that’s an even larger pity!

It would be nice if values and aims were defined and then discussed. Instead, name calling and sound bite comments are their norm.

That’s a pity, too!

April 24, 2018