To the editor:
So, Donald Trump came to Evansville to campaign for Mike Braun and afterwards journalists interviewed Trump supporters for their reactions. One supporter’s comment illustrated how very little Trumps’ indecent and uncivil behavior concern him and also, his perception that the United States somehow has lost its status of world leadership somewhere along the way. He said he “didn’t vote for a ‘boy scout in-chief’ but rather he voted for someone to go to Washington and make America the “leader of the free world.”
As a reminder for the gentleman, at one time the Boy Scouts of America’s oath went as follows: “On my honor I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law. To help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.”
And all of us who have the slightest inkling of what the U.S. president’s job entails would wholeheartedly agree that a “boy scout” is not what we need. Not because we don’t need or require a leader who possesses solid core values of honesty, truthfulness and a commitment to honor and sworn duty but rather because a “boy scout” is precisely just that— a boy; an immature male who has not reached either manhood or adulthood.
So it would seem that the gentleman who didn’t vote for a ‘boy scout in chief’ can rest assured that indeed, he did not. Rather, his vote went to a strangely perverted immature 70-plus year old man who, like a lot of immature boys, talks loud, makes fun of others for a cheap laugh, and ended up biting off far more than he could chew or handle competently and now blames everyone else for his shortcomings. And worse, whines non-stop because a free press reports his incompetent behavior.
However, considering Trump as yet has been able to stand up to, and protect this nation from the likes of Vladimir Putin, the gentleman may have missed the mark in voting for a “leader of the free world.” And in the same week that Trump came to Indiana to rally for yet another multi-millionaire who has suddenly decided he “cares” about his fellow Hoosiers, sadly this nation buried a true Boy Scout in the form of Sen. John McCain.
Sen. McCain was a fully grown man who devoted his life in service to this nation, and that rare individual who lived up to the ideals of the Boy Scouts oath. No, Mr. McCain was not perfect, and no, he did not hold Trump in high esteem. But John McCain was the genuine article. He earned the respect he was given literally with blood, sweat, service and sacrifice given on this nation’s behalf. He understood and believed to his core that this country’s strength came from honoring and protecting the values on which this nation was founded. And in dismissing Trump, he did as he always did — he tried to protect this nation from a wrongdoer intent on serving only his own ego at the expense of Americans and our nation.
John McCain protected this nation and Donald Trump cannot bring himself to call out a foreign dictator who attacked this nation through our election process, and continues to do so even now. And yet, Trump’s followers see him as a leader who cares about them and this nation. Their devotion to Trump is frighteningly cult-like in nature, and this nation stands at risk for the sake of a minority who follow him.
Those who don’t care if we have a Boy Scout or not in the White House or in Congress are selling this nation short because those policies so popular with Trump supporters can be better achieved by someone who has a core sense of honor, integrity and self-respect than they can by Trump’s cry- babying, tyrannical and blundering efforts. We deserve and need a leader who is mature enough to grasp that decency and fairness are not weaknesses but are strengths.
We need a fully grown adult who understands that respect and fear are not one and the same. Bullying, blustering, intolerance and fear- mongering are not strengths. They are cover ups for fear, insecurity and limited abilities. The late Sen. McCain reminded us often that “America is better than this.” Please, let’s prove him right in the mid-terms. Never before has could our country use more people with Boy Scout values in our Congress.
Lisa Voiles
Whiteland
