Jonathan Paine
Donald Trump has been in office for approximately 5 months. Few could have imagined the amount of scandal and controversy that could have been created during this short span of time. The news media has been pontificating on the rightness or wrongness of all the different aspects of the numerous proposed scandals. Everything from Russia’s involvement in the election to the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
The problem is, we do not have all the facts. Coming to a conclusion without the facts is not only reckless, it is dangerous. Yet this is the pattern of the mainstream media. Because there has to be news to fill a 24 hour news stream, every little detail must be examined and pundits must have an opinion.
We see this nearly every time there is some sort of mass shooting. The media must fill the time with something, so they begin to speculate. And before long the story has nothing to do with the actual facts of the matter. Instead, it’s all about who said what, what they meant, and why crazy gun loving conservative wackos are still allowed to roam the streets.
That being said, in order to maintain consistency, we must realize that where there’s smoke there’s generally going to be a fire. Think back to when it was nothing but rumors circulating around Hillary Clinton’s shady dealings. If you’re like me, the rumors were enough to make you question Clinton’s capacity to govern as well as her capacity to choose decent technology (seriously, who has a Blackberry anymore?).
This is not to say that Trump is guilty of all (or any) of the accusations being leveled at him right now. As stated before, we simply do not have all of the facts in order to make a judgement at this time.
Rather, it is to say that we must maintain consistency at all times. As soon as you act in an inconsistent manner, you lose all credibility, and anything you’ve built will be lost. In this situation, consistency looks like holding elected officials accountable for their actions, whether we like them or hate them. Consistency looks like not simply brushing aside serious accusations, but rather approaching each situation with a goal of finding the truth.
Whether Trump and his administration are guilty or innocent is unknown at this time. We must gather all the facts and then make a decision. We cannot simply brush aside serious accusations because we do not like them, or because we don’t like their source. This is the exact behavior that drove many of us crazy when Hillary Clinton’s supporters did the same thing.
In order to not become what you hate, you must look to the past at what you hated, and check your current actions against the past. It is the consistent leader that maintains credibility and thereby effectiveness.
