A new survey released today seems to imply that a majority of Americans are completely unaware of the criminal activities uncovered thus far by the Robert Mueller investigation of their 2016 presidential election. See the full story here.
Regardless of which side of the partisan fence one might reside in (even if one identifies as being firmly in the middle), these recent poll results regarding the Mueller investigation are compelling. One might conclude preliminarily that the “reality star” effect of the Trump presidency may be more powerful than anything fundamentally true, real or factual.
And that could be a trend we would surely not prefer when it comes to our government or governmental employees like Mr. Trump.
This would seemingly, and hopefully, apply despite how much one approves or disapproves of the president, his policies or his performance over the last year and a half. Pomp, bluster, controversy and noise should never outweigh a people’s ability to see and measure reality. In a perfect world at least. Though that’s certainly never seemed to sway us in the past in regards to political figures.
The question is, have we crossed over a new threshold this time? Has our national obsession with celebrity (over substance?) eclipsed our more adult senses of reason and rational judgment? And to be clear (and fair) one recognizes that Trump is not America’s first experimental “celebrity as president” or “president turned celebrity”. Think Obama or Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan or even JFK.
But with that said, is there something inherently unique or different about the cult of The Donald in terms of the office of American president? A blindness to something glaringly irrational and unreasonable that only a few can see? Or is it business as usual? That’s not a question that’s easy to answer if one stretches beyond the scope of partisan leanings or bias.
To the point at hand, is the Mueller investigation and its discoveries over the past year any more shocking or heinous than what the country experienced or learned during the 1990s with Ken Starr and Bill Clinton? Or in the 1980s with Reagan and the Iran Contra scandal? And perhaps even more to the point of the revelations raised by this recent polling data, has America become completely immune to widespread corruption revelations in government in favor of its obsession with celebrity and hype?
Depending on how bigger picture or little picture one views the question from, that remains a difficult question to answer conclusively. It truly seems to be dependent on how one chooses to look at it or what one chooses to focus on. And that’s only if one can manage the discipline to maintain any semblance of nonpartisanship. Not an easy task in present day America to be sure. (Perhaps it never has been..?)
– Posted by Ed Hale as the Ambassador using BlogPress on an iPhone
