Many people have been raised to believed that the person who is always pointing fingers at others, is actually the guilty person. With that in mind, President Donald Trump has been blaming people for anything he can think of, even if it means making stuff up. Everyone seems to know Trump is guilty of something, except Trump and those who’d likely drink his dirty bathwater if they could.
Where lessons we learned growing up are concerned, many people were also taught that those who hide behind a veil of secrecy and constantly try to hide their every move, simply can’t be trusted. Trump can’t be trusted. As bad as that is, it’s really not the worst thing about Trump’s attempts to hide seemingly everything he does (except his Twitter action, of course). The worst thing is that despite being the person Americans and members of the global community should be able to look to to lead the United States with transparency and fidelity, Trump doesn’t appear to care that he’s not that person.
In fact, Trump has been extremely pompous in his quest to ensure that he plays Geppetto with what information is released, when, and how. That’s not okay. Unfortunately, the veil of secrecy under which the Trump administration has operated under isn’t going to get any better, it’s actually getting worse.
To date, Trump still hasn’t fully separated himself from his privately owned business holdings. He refuses to be fully transparent with his tax returns. Even though there are laws that protect employees who disclose illegal/unethical acts on the part of their employers, Trump is adamant about his desire to punish whistleblowers. This is the short list of ways in which Trump has made it virtually impossible for those he is supposed to represent to have any level of involvement in what’s supposed to be government for the people, by the people.
Rick Blum, Director of News Media for Open Government (a government transparency advocacy agency) reminds that the Trump administration has displayed a pattern of not being transparent, and that’s what they’re going to continue to do as long as they’re allowed:
“This is an administration that wants to do things their own way and a president that wants to do things his own way. [Trump] is frustrated by the institutions our founders established. And he’s going to have to learn that the public deserves a free and independent press.”
To ensure that the a large segment of the public continues to be infected with just enough cynicism to encourage them to buy-in to Trump’s brand of “leadership,” he continues to attack and bully the media, tweet without conscience, and make unprecedented statements where matters of foreign relations are concerned. For his actions, Trump has faced few consequences to date.
Unfortunately, unlike the lack of consequences Trump and his staffers have faced, the fallout Americans will have to deal with if the Trump administration’s secrecy isn’t put in check, is huge. Remember, propaganda and controlling the media/what information people received, was one of the main ways Hitler ruled.
Regardless of what anyone says, Donald Trump is not just some harmless 71 year-old man who is set in his ways. He knows what he is doing and since it’s known that what he is doing could have damning outcomes, he needs to be stopped.
Featured Image screengrab via YouTube.
