To The Readers Forum:

2017 is upon us and we can’t go back to change 2016. While I wish Hillary Clinton was to be sworn in as President, there is no doubt that Donald Trump is the catalyst for political activism that I have not seen in many years, which may be very good for America. The New Year is also the time for resolutions.

My primary intention is to ignore Donald Trump’s “tweets”. If he wants to say something important 140 characters just doesn’t cut it for me. Unfortunately, Donald has the media in the palm of his hands, and for each blurb there’s a feeding frenzy of speculation over what he is really saying or meaning and the possible implications. So far, the media has not learned a lesson from the presidential campaign that tweets are simply Trump’s tool to generate personal publicity and have little or no useful meaning. His supporters pretty much ignored what he said in favor of how he spoke.

And, predictably, one of Trump’s advisors will deal with the fallout from the frenzy and we’ll often hear the best spin from among several possible good or bad interpretations. For example, with the determination that Russia ‘hacked” into organizations involved in the 2016 elections, whether or not it helped Trump’s cause, the spin is that the organizations are to blame for poor security, not that Russian meddling in our electoral process itself is a serious concern. Reince Priebus, RNC Chairman, and designated White House Chief of Staff, essentially said that since countries routinely attempt espionage it’s really no big deal (Face the Nation 1/8/17). Really?

Beyond spinning, you may also hear an advisor such as Kellyanne Conway tell a journalist generally not to listen to what Trump says, rather people should judge him by what’s in his heart (CNN 1/9/17). What? Well, if Trump’s statements don’t reflect what he means maybe he shouldn’t be saying anything. Because very few people seem to know what is in Trump’s heart will he need an interpreter by his side (or someone with a stethoscope to “listen” to his heart) each time he says something? I certainly hope we, and the world, don’t have to experience 4 years of guessing between what Trump says and what he means.

As Trump might say – “It’s sad, so sad.”

Paul Demler

Jamestown