In national politics, besmirching and belittling the other side has become the main objective, it seems. For eight years, the mud was flung at Obama; the trajectory remains the same, there’s just a different person in the White House.
In both the Trump and Obama administrations there were — and are — real things to critique. The issue is that often the critiques reek of the personal rather than the professional.
Take the Russia hullabaloo, for example, which has become the number one proxy in the current political battleground between Trump and his detractors. A huge segment of the political establishment is deeply concerned about potential Russian meddling in US elections and want an investigation. They’re right — and the appointment of a special counsel is an important step.
Trump, meanwhile, says there are dangerous and unacceptable leaks to media when it comes to classified information. He’s right — as evidenced most recently by the outraged reaction of the British government after information about the Manchester attacks was leaked to US media, notably The New York Times.
These two concerns are not mutually exclusive, yet we find ourselves in a battlelines-drawn scenario, with each side more concerned with bringing the other down rather than getting on with the job. Each side is willing to quickly consume any bit of information to bolster their view — sometimes without even verifying if the information is accurate.
The losers are the American people, who are rapidly losing trust in the institutions of the land.
Donald Trump was elected because many Americans felt ignored. The current behavior in Washington is doing nothing to diminish that impression. If anything, more time is spent on political infighting and less time on getting things done for the American people. The Washington establishment — and Donald Trump is very much a part of it now; he is the leader, in fact — cannot seem to remember that they are in office to serve the people.
If politicians do not locate their public service compass soon, it won’t matter if the Russians did or did not hack the 2016 election. In this post-election collective trauma, we’re damaging ourselves far worse than the Russians ever could.
Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News
