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Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, we often hear the phrase “speaking truth to power.”
Political pundits bemoan that no one on the President’s staff will speak their mind to him. Every new White House appointment prompts the same question. Will he or she tell the president what they truly believe — speak truth to power.
Examining power more closely is an interesting task with Mr. Trump. The President of the United States has always been considered the most powerful man in the world — at least up till now. Let’s see if we can explode that myth by exploring recent historical context.
It’s interesting how events often foreshadow what’s to come in the future.
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When Donald Trump cruelly insulted his Republican primary rivals, no one seemed to mind. When Marco Rubio commented on Donald Trump’s small hands only “The Donald” felt it was necessary to make an issue.
Here’s where impotence kicks in.
Power and impotence might be considered antonyms. While Rubio’s comment was clearly interpreted to imply sexual impotence, perhaps unknowingly he was actually a soothsayer.
Up to this point, President Trump has been arguably the most impotent President in modern history. One dictionary definition describes impotence as “the inability to take effective action; helplessness.”
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Political power, on the other hand, is described as “… the ability to influence or outright control the behavior of people.”
Not only has President Trump not been able to control the actions of many of his subordinates, but he has also been both helpless and unable to take or make constructive action in virtually any legislation including many of his “executive orders.” The only significant legislation to cross his desk deals with sanctions on Russia — not something he wants.
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I beseech the media to be more specific in its communication. Stop talking about the inability to “speak truth to power.” It’s inaccurate. Be precise. Tell it like it is. Most Republicans and virtually all Donald Trump’s minions are “afraid to speak truth to impotence!”
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Photo: Getty Images
Yet, the immigrant community is supposedly living in fear. I think it’s more complex than that. Look at Obama, who by your standards would be powerful. He passed Obamacare, a feat no president since FDR was able to accomplish, but that wasn’t what he wanted. That was what he settled for. I supposed the blue dog democrats influenced him as much as he influenced their behavior. Does that make him powerful? What happens if Obamacare were to collapse, insurance rates shoot up, more people are without insurance. Could the U.S. have been better off without what Obama settled for? I… Read more »
Hi John, I am not sure to what your are referring. Perhaps it was a different article as this one does not deal with the Affordable Care Act. That being said I agree with Universal Healthcare… I think that as it exists now, there are problems (some very serious.) However it is in its early stages. There are 3 options. The Republican one of repealing. Not really an option in my opinion. Work with the existing program refining it and fixing what needs to be fixed. This is an option. What the Trump administration is doing is letting it fail.… Read more »
Don’t mistake the chaos for ‘impotence’ – Trump thrives on chaos, encourages it in fact. It is an abuser’s tactic of maintaining a twisted sort of control within his own circle. It is a circus distraction from the deliberate destruction of the ‘administrative state’, not by careful pruning but by ‘scorched earth’ tactics.
Hi Dorothy, thank you for reading the article and for your comment. You have an interesting point of view and I imagine you are right that the president thrives on chaos. He certainly seems to use scorched earth tactics on the people who have been most loyal to him. Let’s hope things get better!
On the other hand, let’s assume you want to go another direction. Remember, Obama did basically nothing for at least 6 years of his 8 year admin. Part of that is he was as unqualified to be president as trump is. And if you want to change direction, you can’t really be qualified to be president, because that means you’ve spent so much time in that swamp, you’ve just become another reptile. So changing direction is not an easy undertaking. You’re driving a ship 900 times bigger than the titanic. It’s gonna take time to swing that baby around. On… Read more »
Hi Stacy thanks for your input. Although we may come from different sides of the issue I respect your opinion. I’d also like to make clear one point. Unlike many Progressives I don’t want the president to fail. That is not good for the country. I would like to see Donald Trump be open and honest about the Russian connection. It’s very dangerous when the sitting president of the United States claims that lawful investigation is all fake news and simply being performed because the other party lost the election. Clearly that’s not the case. The Republican Party holds both… Read more »
That’s part of great discussion, Dave. Dont give too much credence though to Republicans. I pox their house as well. They dislike him as much as the Democrats do. They’ll never forgive him for beating out 16 of their own, and will not help him in this endeavor either. That’s why they won’t quash the investigation. That and what it would look like if they did.
Hi Stacy, it really is a shame how politics has evolved. I definitely think the funding laws have hurt us. It’s amazing but in countries like England they only have a few months of campaigning where is we campaign for literally years. Your observations are well taken thank you. Dave