Years ago when I first joined the Cub Scouts and my parents bought me a subscription to Boys’ Life, like other members, I quickly memorized the ideals that Scouts are “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.”
Indeed, ideals to live by then and now….
As a former Scout, I was appalled by Donald Trump’s speech at the Jamboree yesterday. Appalled, mind you, but not surprised; I concluded long ago that Trump simply is neither very learned nor very eloquent and had he been born poor, Black or Brown with the same limited set of tools in the mental toolbox, he would be a minimum wage earner–maybe.
But as we all know, Trump was to the proverbial “Manor born” and while he is wealthy, he is so dim-witted that when he takes the mic or to Twitter to express himself, it usually is in the form of an ad hominem attack on foes and friends alike, or by uttering something insane, inane or ignorant about domestic or foreign policy.
While I blame the media for giving this not so kind, cheerful, friendly or reverent man almost ’round the clock coverage during the Republican primaries, I mostly blame Republicans, Independents and cross-over Democrats who were foolish or blind enough to believe that an intellectually slow, barely literate, tempestuous, gauche, tanning salon over-frequenting, “Two Corinthians” fake Christian claiming, genital grabbing, first daughter ogling, first wife assaulting, third wife sexually objectifying (Howard Stern), Lothario would make a suitable role model for Boy Scouts–let alone a fit Commander-in-Chief. To their credit, the BSA issued the following statement not long after Trump’s discursive political speech: “The Boy Scouts of America is wholly non-partisan and does not promote any one position, product, service, political candidate or philosophy.”
Good for them…
But when history is written centuries from now, if the American Republic by the year 2217 is a shell of its current self, I truly believe that this modern era of “Know Nothing” behavior, one in which scholarly pursuits in mathematics, grammar, the sciences and even government are so frowned upon that the Oval Office is now occupied by a man who, if his school transcripts are ever released, quite likely was a poor student who got into and out of Penn only because he was Little Lord Fauntleroy, will be the reason for its inevitable decline and fall. Meaning, as bad as Trump is, there are similarly ignorant, under educated, bigoted and xenophobic politicians across the ideological divide just waiting for a chance to make America worse through their policy positions.
