Bully Pulpit

A few definitions from Webster

- bully

one who is habitually cruel, insulting, or threatening to others who are weaker

 - pulpit

an elevated platform or high reading desk used in preaching or conducting a worship service

  - bully pulpit

a prominent public position (such as a political office) that provides an opportunity for expounding one's views; 

While I am sure that people in powerful positions, political, social or economic, have used their positions to influence others for most of history, it appears that Teddy Roosevelt first used the term bully pulpit to describe how he could use the presidency to relate his perspectives.

In and of itself then, the use of a political position, especially the presidency, to advance one's opinions, to influence the citizenry, to promote one's personal and party agenda is everyday fare, and could even be interpreted as a reward for winning an election. After all, if the voters did not agree for the most part with a candidate's stated priorities they wouldn't have voted for them.

But what about a situation where the focus is on the word bully. When a leader decides that he can force people, companies, other political bodies, other countries even, to do his bidding through the use of threats that are backed up by his presidential powers, not to mention the economic and military clout of the nation he leads. 

Again, this is nothing new, in terms of world history. Nations have been bullying other nations for centuries. One could even say that the mere existence of borders between countries is a byproduct of which country was the bigger bully. Even today, there are countries with populations that have more in common with those in a neighboring country than with their own fellow citizens, the Kurdish people being a good example.

And let's not forget that North America existed for centuries without the United States as a country. Our nation was created, not just as a result of our winning independence from an oppressive monarchy that suppressed our rights, but as a result of treating the people who inhabited these lands long before our arrival, with disrespect and cruelty. 

Again, bullying the indigenous peoples of North America is not just our legacy, but a common thread across many nations and cultures.

All that being said, I would bet that most Americans alive today do not consider America to be a bullying country. We rationalize our actions which have toppled dozens of leaders in foreign countries, our military invasions in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc, and our ongoing support via bombs and bullets for other bullying nations as necessary in the defense of democracy, or freedom, or some such noble thinking, all the while ignoring the horrors that these actions have released upon the citizens of the countries we claim to be helping, or freeing.

So, it should come as no surprise when the president elect speaks of taking back control of the Panama Canal, or taking over Greenland, or annexing Canada, or any of the other plans he defends as critical to our national security. He is the consummate bully, has been so for most of his life whether in his actions toward the small businesses he cheated then dared to sue him for their due payments, or the women he sexually abused then paid off, or merely threatened, in order to keep them quiet, or even those people who attended his bogus "college", Trump University which even the National Review called a "massive scam".

To be fair, the president elect does not discriminate in who he bullies. During his first term he often threatened blue state governors that he would withhold government funds if they did not capitulate to his desires. This will be at the forefront in the next few years as climate change, which he relentlessly denies, ravages the country, and will be evident when he invents excuses not to help American citizens in states run by governors who don't kiss his ring.

What is unfortunate is that there are many Americans, successful business people, honest public servants, and certainly journalists and members of the press who only wish to ride on his coattails, that will eagerly sacrifice their pride and self esteem in attempts to avoid being a victim. You can see evidence of that in the number of prominent businesses who have donated to the upcoming inauguration (don't worry if some of that money just happens to be diverted from paying the actual expenses of the inauguration), or those that are all aflutter to be asked to visit the White House south in Florida.

I was especially disappointed in the announced resignation of FBI director Christopher Wray who was appointed by Trump (many people forget that) in 2017 to what was supposed to be a 10 year term. You see, that is how these critical government positions are supposed to work, to encourage the men and women who serve to remain independent of political pressure. While I can understand Wray's reluctance to serve another 2 plus years, it is just another sign of capitulation to a bully when he decided to resign. Make him fire you Chris! just to show how much of a bully the man can be.

I had a relative of mine express outrage when another relative, by marriage, treated one of our siblings in a bullying manner. He was quite upset, and wanted all of us to let the offending person know that we would not tolerate such behavior. 

Yet that same person is a strong supporter of the president elect. Likes him because he is strong, yet rejects the actions of our mutual relative who justifies their actions as defending her family, as being strong for her children.

This is what concerns me the most about America today. No one wants to work for a bully. No one wants a bully in their family telling everyone what to do and threatening them with consequences should we not obey. 

Yet many of those same people defend Putin's invasion of Ukraine because it used to be part of Russia, so he is just getting back what was once theirs. His bullying not only doesn't bother them, but is supported by them, the opinions of the Ukrainians not withstanding. And many of them smile when they read the latest rambling from the president elect about taking over this country or threatening that country, thinking how much America will now be respected when a bully leads us.

Have we completely lost the sense of the golden rule, do unto others as you would have done to you, or are we just too selfish to care about anyone but ourselves?

I generally don't blame the president elect for what I perceive as a horrible turn in the soul of America. We chose him, fully knowing he is a bully, fully knowing he only cares about himself, fully knowing that if advancing the condition of America requires us to be the biggest bully in the world, then so be it. 

Many of these same people just spent the holidays with their loved ones, perhaps watching "Its a Wonderful Life" or "A Christmas Carol" or any one of a dozen holiday movies and shows that emphasize love and understanding, and advocate for elevating such traits over money and power, yet are all in with the idea of deporting hundreds of thousands of undocumented people, with or without their American born spouses or children. 

Are fine with bullying those Americans that are the most marginalized by limiting where they can relieve themselves, or how they can access medical care.

Are fine with bullying women into having babies, even allowing them to bleed out in parking lots or at home when their pregnancy takes a turn for the worse.

Are fine with bullying everyday workers to return to work even though their productivity is equivalent to in office workers, or just firing those government workers now being targeted by two rich foreigners who believe that employees are property, and that 24/7 availability is required, personal or family matters be damned.

The fact is, it is quite easy to be a bully, especially when you own a social media outlet or are elected to the most powerful office in the world. What is really hard is using such a position, using one's bully pulpit to advocate for kindness, for treating everyone with dignity, for actually mirroring, in actions, the messages of all those favorite holiday classics that we tear up at while watching after dinner, surrounded by our loved ones.

I don' have much faith in the ability of the president elect and his billionaire friends to act in such a way, and only a little more faith in our collective will to require them to do so. 

As I have said to my wife multiple times, it is time for a huge does of pessimistic optimism. We should assume the worst from our president elect, assume the worst from those who will capitulate to his bullying tendencies, assume the worst that those who are the meanest will be making many choices for our nation in the next four years.

Assume the worst about the fate of our democracy, about the rot that is growing in our national soul, and hope that something less than the worst possible scenario occurs. And who knows, maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming freight train, but a renaissance in spirit that will slow then eventually turn the awful pendulum that seems to be in motion.

In the meantime, try to be a better person than reflected by the actions that our country will be soon be taking with a bully and his minions in command.