"The President"

It galls me when journalists refer to Trump as “the president.” I don’t hold it against the journalists; I understand protocol requires it of them, but it still galls me. I would feel the same way to hear Ted Bundy referred to as “the gentleman,” as in “The gentleman invited the young woman to go for a walk.”

 It’s disconcertingly wrong.

 Reporters have been referring to “the president” quite a lot lately because Trump has been careening between stupefied inaction and inflammatory provocation as he glares impotently at our three crises: the coronavirus pandemic, the economic collapse, and the righteous anger against racist police brutality.

 We desperately need moral and competent leadership now, but what we’re getting is “the president” thrashing recklessly about trying with all his might to figure out how to get re-elected. His latest gesture was a bizarre attempt to portray himself as a strong, in-control leader and devout Christian by siccing law enforcement personnel on peaceful  protestors, driving them off so he could saunter over to a church and hold up a bible for a photo-op. I don’t believe I’m the only one who noticed that he handled the bible awkwardly, the way a Neanderthal might handle an iPad.

 If only he had read “Two Corinthians,” he might have better understood how genuine Christians treat the embodied scripture.

 There are so many important things about America that “the president” doesn’t understand. We have a constitution. It guarantees the right of citizens to peaceably assemble. It relies on a free press to make transparent the actions of the government. It has suffered the bleeding wound of racial prejudice for over 400 years and has seen good people struggling tirelessly to heal that wound.

 On this last point, we can’t forget that “the president” himself has contributed to racial hatred. Most of us remember him including white supremacists in his reference to “very fine people” in Charlottesville back in 2017. Fewer, perhaps, remember that John McCain withdrew his endorsement of Trump in 2016 because of Trump’s racist claim that the Central Park Five were guilty, even though their sentences had been overturned. And on and on.

 The cruel and horrific murder of George Floyd was the trigger that provoked nationwide protests against the routine brutality inflicted by racist police on African-Americans. Seeing Mr. Floyd’s family members on television speaking tearfully about the love they have for their murdered kinsman has brought many of us - ordinary people endowed with a capacity for empathy - to tears. 

 But what about “the president?” Not only does he seem unconcerned about Mr. Floyd’s death, he acts as though the real death he seeks is that of American democracy, with its bothersome constitution, free press, and contested elections. 

 What we long for today is a leader in the White House who understands and sympathizes with George Floyd and the multitude of other victims of racist brutality, a leader who represents our nation with dignity, and who wants to preserve, not kill, our democratic institutions.

 “The president” is not that leader.