“What’s in a person’s heart and soul will not likely be changed by the ability to command a helicopter to land on the South Lawn.” Robert Dallek
“In a President, character is everything…you can’t buy courage and decency, you can’t rent a strong moral sense.” Peggy Noonan
Spring is here, the yard’s a mess and your daughter just announced she’s getting married. She added her fondest wish is for you, her parents, to host the ceremony – in your back garden.
Being doting parents, you agree enthusiastically. The next few days are spent trying to find the right landscaper to construct a wedding-worthy backyard.
As luck would have it, you hear about a landscaper who, your neighbor says, promises he’s the best in the area. Actually, it wasn’t your neighbor who said he was the best, it was the landscaper himself. True, the neighbor didn’t hire him; still the guy sounds very competent.
Recognizing the importance of your decision, you set out to do your own background check and get referrals from those who previously used the company… which promises to MYGGA (Make Your Garden Great Again). Nice slogan; exactly what you’re looking for.
So you contact Seniors vs, Crime to inquire about MYGGA and you discover the owner, Mr. Grump, has a multitude of complaints filed against him. Clients report he doesn’t keep his word – saying he’ll be at your home on a given day, but doesn’t show up. Mr. Grump says the owner(s) must have misunderstood. Well, that’s possible. Then there’s the problem with installations. He promised to provide specific plants but installed others instead. Grump said the promised plants weren’t available and these were better choices anyway. And because they were better, they cost a bit more. Actually, quite a bit more. Well, you get what you pay for, right?
Meanwhile, Grump is calling frequently to tell you how great his company is and provides you with recommendations from homeowners A and B all the way through the alphabet. But when asked for names and phone numbers, you get trumped; Mr. Grump says he’ll provide them but never does. He does provide photos of gardens he says his company installed and they look wonderful. You again ask for contact information but Grump says it’s privileged; homeowners don’t want to be pestered with calls. Perfectly understandable.
The basic background check reveals that while Grump hasn’t been arrested and has passed all of his drug tests, it appears some local codes may have been violated. And there were/are multiple lawsuits filed by growers who weren’t paid for plants and disgruntled homeowners who said they didn’t get what they paid for. All were settled out of court …which must mean Grump was right. Right?
You also discover Grump has questionable hiring practices. It appears his labor force was not adequately trained to use heavy equipment, to read planting guides, or informed they had to clean up the mess they made. Well, perhaps that too is understandable since key members of staff have the same last name as the owner…Grumps all over the place. Nice that he’s taking care of family. You like his values. Grump texts you promising the BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL GARDEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD! And with that, you sign the contract.
Prologue: The bride and groom eloped to the great disappointment of all involved. The foundation of your house is severely damaged resulting from a collision with a backhoe. The garden is in such disarray that complaints have been filed with the Deed Compliance Office; neighbors and the HOA are suing you. MYGGA is no longer in business but you understand Grump has opened a new enterprise; it’s a course about how to identify scam artists. The cost to enroll is several thousand dollars. You eagerly sign up.
Lessons learned: Because you did your homework, you wouldn’t have hired Grump in the first place. Surely, a potential POTUS deserves as much formal scrutiny as your landscaper. So here’s a suggestion: all candidates running in the Primaries for POTUS, regardless of Party, should meet all the requirements for Top Secret clearance. If key cabinet and other officials are subject to these clearances, a potential president should be as well.
When this nightmare ends, perhaps Congress can propose a special committee of legal and governmental experts, to include former Presidents and/or Vice Presidents, (with the exception of those impeached, which will include the current occupant); to develop a list of prerequisite attributes needed to be a successful President. Voters could use their best judgment, having that list of universally accepted attributes, to help make their decision.
For the length of this country’s existence, we’ve been incredibly lucky. Universally accepted norms of behavior and performance have been taken for granted and when the occupant of the White House failed, actions were taken to remediate the problem. The difference now is one of severity; Trump has done catastrophic damage to the foundations of our country and its institutions that will take years to repair. Much of his failure is due to his lack of character and a paucity of ethics. What is abundantly clear is that Trump could not attain Top Secret clearance. That alone should be a disqualifier. Further, a list of universally accepted attributes available prior to the Primaries would, to continue the gardening metaphor, further help weed out the Grumps. From there, judgments could be based on the policies and promises of individual candidates.
In the end, voting will always be a leap of faith. At least a list of basic essentials combined with Top Secret clearance, can assure that proven character and ethics will serve as the people’s safety net and that candidates like Grump/Trump will never again make the final list.
Villager Marsha Shearer is a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com
