The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

Welcome to Trump’s political circus

Welcome+to+Trumps+political+circus

It would be a total understatement to say Donald Trump is loving every second of this campaign. Everyone with a television set or the Internet has heard of Trump’s racist remarks in regard to illegal immigrants, his sexist remarks referring to Megyn Kelly and Carly Fiorina and his egotistical remarks when boasting his “immense wealth.”
But the surprising part of Trump’s campaign is not his sheer absurdity and total self-absorption, but rather how positively the American public is responding to it.
Trump is an entertainer, 100 percent. Ever since his hit show “Celebrity Apprentice,” Trump has had a thirst for attention, and he is brilliant at saying just the right things to get the American public to notice him.
While one would expect this attention to be largely negative, as it so often is with unruly and rebellious schoolchildren, he’s gotten quite the opposite response.
His fans are so supportive to go as far as urinating on and beating up a sleeping, homeless Mexican man. But Trump doesn’t care because this kind of nonsense, this kind of violence and this kind of circus is exactly the environment people like Trump thrive in.
Anyone could go on all day about how Trump is a bad candidate, a racist, a sexist, a creeper, an elitist and an all-around wretched man. But anyone with a high enough IQ realizes Trump is not a serious candidate, but instead a lonely man exploiting the disarrayed state of American politics to get some affirmation.
When our nation first became independent, the office of the president was holy — a position only the most virtuous and upright man could hold. So it was clear that a calm and collected man who showed great valor in war was selected to hold this position.
Though George Washington was not without faults, he was a rather wholesome and moderate man who could compromise without compromising his values.
Slowly over time, politics got in the way and great men became mediocre presidents as they fought to please the public and the private sec-tor. People kept asking for the next president to be their savior and occasionally, great men did step up.
But as time has progressed we have seen most presidents waver, trying to keep peace and often failing. We have seen presidents lie, like in “Lawyergate” when a slew of Justice Department officials resigned rather than say President George W. Bush wrongly fired U.S. attorneys for prosecuting Republicans and not Democrats. We have seen presidents recklessly spend. We have seen presidents allow the economy to die.
The office of president is not what it used to be. And we can blame a lot of things. We can blame the flawed bipartisan system. We can blame a lack of compromise and cohesion. We can blame backwards politicians, being bribed and failing on their promises. But the real culprit is the American public, who has perpetuated the beast of showmanship that has plagued politics for years.
Monsters like Trump are small on their own and are rather weak. They can’t get a whole nation to succumb to their will on their own. To allow someone to rise to the top, the American public must both condone and encourage their actions.
The reason democracy is loved is because all of the power in the government comes from the people. Anyone who gets into office is there, holding all of the power that comes with that office, with the full consent of the people.
This means anyone who gets media attention and who is taken seriously in their run for a sacred spot such as president has the consent of the people.
If, from the get-go, everyone had treated Trump like the joke he is, the megalomaniac wouldn’t have gotten the vocal and financial backing that he needs to run seriously. If instead of sharing posts describing Trump’s latest schemes we had ignored Trump, he wouldn’t have grown as powerful as he is now.
We have created every bad politician we’ve had by not demanding more from our representatives. We have elected crooks and attended the circus of caucuses through our own actions.
The only way to undo the damage we have done is to stop entertaining people like Trump and say no. We have to say no to anyone who isn’t in politics for the people.
So next time someone tweets something about Trump’s hair, simply ignore it. American politics have turned into a joke, but we can reclaim the White House by eliminating candidates who don’t take our nation as seriously as we do.
If someone asks, ‘Did you hear what Trump said last night?’ shake your head and walk away.
By Abby Kempf
Art by Ana Ramirez

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