122) I Don't Like You

June 20, 2017

Dear Mr. President,

Yesterday somebody asked me why I don't like you and there were so many different reasons that I couldn't even list them all.  But I soon realized that most of my concerns about you fall into two broad categories:  1) your lack of experience, and 2) your temperament.

You are the only US president ever to have absolutely no political or military experience.  I know that you are proud of this fact but it scares the heck out of me.  It was a common Republican war-cry that Barack Obama was too unseasoned for the White House (despite being a Senator for 12 years) yet now they rally behind you only because being an "outsider" appeals to a large voter demographic group.  It's like a marketing ploy that a whole segment of the population has fallen for – hook, line, and sinker.  And with the state that the world is in right now, tensions rising on the Korean peninsula, Russia meddling with the inner-workings of sovereign nations and terrorism on the rise everywhere…I would feel much more comfortable with a president who knew what he was doing.

Your temperament is best described as unstable and unpredictable.  Again, this is something that you are proud of.  You seem to not only embrace your instability, but to actively cultivate it.  Perhaps you think you can use this reputation for unpredictability to unnerve and then intimidate America’s adversaries into making concessions that they would not otherwise make.  Richard Nixon tried something similar…it didn't work then and it probably won't work now.  Read a history book.  

 

Two weeks ago as I watched your Russia-related scandals unfold I very clearly saw the impact of both your lack of experience and unstable temperament.  Your fragile psyche and thin skin exacerbated what would have been a difficult situation for any president (it was just 200x worse for you because of the way that you handled it, including your outrageous tweets) and you were unable to navigate the complex world of government regulation/oversight because you don't understand how the government even works.  It's really hard to play a game when you don't know the rules.

My feelings were summed up perfectly by John Aravosis over at Americanblog.com when he said, "A better politician, a more sane man, would have vetted his campaign staff better, and would have known better how to respond to such controversies now that they are out of the bag.  A lesser man feeds those controversies, and ultimately helps to destroy his own presidency."

Here's hoping to a swift (and safe) end to this terrifying chapter of American history.

Sincerely,

Amy Beaton