The expression “children should be seen and not heard” has its roots, some say, in an English proverb of the 15th century. I think this saying would be appropriate for our times. It could be applied to a huge swath of politicians, talking heads in the media, cable television hosts who are more interested in ratings than reality, and the woke sideshow barkers who want to fashion our nation into a tyrannical dystopia.
Exceptions to this proverbial admonition should be made when it comes to the sayings and revelations of grandchildren, whose innocent wisdom often exceeds that of adults. I recall a few years ago, my grandson wanted to go outside on a chilly and windy day, and I said “Isaac, it is too cold outside right now.” To which he instantly replied, “Well Grandaddy, then put on a jacket.” Exquisite insight duly followed.
We don’t see much exquisite anything from politics these days. Nor do we see much common sense. What we do see exhibited is, frankly, nonsense. Policies and practices that enable, not abate crime; burgeon, not constrain profligate spending and debt; favor class warfare, not entrepreneurial energy; encourage laziness, not industry; and incite bitter disunity, not E pluribus unam. The latter is our national motto, or at least, that is what the Founders wanted it to be. It has become quite hollow now. In effect it could read “Hate America First.” The woke among us have made that their imprimatur in all they say and do. The English proverb truly applies to them.
I wish the proverb applied to presidents. We are besieged in this age with the ubiquitous presence of presidents. Hardly five minutes pass in a day when “presidential news” is not on the television screen. I fear the day when I go to heat something in our microwave oven and there, in the glass window before me, appears the picture of the current president rattling on about something which is either silly or dishonest. Take your pick. Both are often heard. And if having to suffer presidents spouting on about this or that thing isn’t bad enough, we are treated to the circumlocution of their press secretaries who distinguish themselves in the art of gratuitous spin.
I’m quite certain the prominence of things presidential in a normal day was not the expectation of our Founders. They believed, rightly so, that the print press would hold politicians accountable. But not every second. Of course, they never imagined mass electronic media carried in a person’s hand as surely as a sixth finger. Were they here today they might recommend amputation as a cure.
Our Founders saw the need for a chief executive in the organization of a republic. That is our form of government: a republic, not a democracy, despite the uninformed politicians who wax on about “saving our democracy.” Save us from their ignorance. But I digress. It’s easy to digress these days when there is so much confusion surrounding us. Including the overexposure of our president routinely invading our living room to tell us how we should live, think, speak, and so forth. Thank heaven for the weather channel as an immediate escape from mind-numbing rhetoric.
Besides, our Founders hoped that our presidents would not so much govern us as rather attend to our Constitution to ensure that it was followed. Seen any of that lately? It was the Congress that was intended to be the chief agent in representative governance that would pass laws the voters empowered them to create. The Founders even emphasized the point with respect to the President in the very oath of a chief executive.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
That is the role of a president, not a “legislator-in-chief.” It was not imagined he would be the nanny-in-chief either. Certainly not the court jester-in chief. Some have mastered those roles all too well.
In 2024, we the people will have an opportunity to elect a new president. Maybe we will be offered choices that are less silly, less narcissistic, less loquacious, less glib, and less incognizant. Possibly we will have a choice who is bright, yet humble. Educated, but not indoctrinating. Accomplished, not braggadocios. Focused, not frighteningly dazed. Selfless, not narcissistic. And one who can exhibit the kind of self-control and commitment to constitutional principles that are needed in a nation where individuals are credited with the dignity and ability to largely govern their own lives.
Maybe just maybe, we can find someone among the 332 million of us equal to the task. A president we would be happy to both see and hear.
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