Happiness, indeed

I am appreciative of our President; and if his unwavering insistence on blow-drying each and every Presidential utterance is more than simple tumescent inexperience, I may even be proud of him. Knowingly or not, he has brought into the light what we have previously worked very hard to keep hidden just beneath a veneer of brittle civility. By styling his tact and comportment as he has, he has become a caricature of America; and by that, I mean he is a caricature of what we had become before we promoted him from billionaire buffoon to Billionaire Buffoon. The seemingly irreparable divisiveness created by our ignorance and our arrogance, did not originate with this President. He has simply awakened the slumbering beast and continues to provoke it; multiple times daily.

I understand that the traditional division of conservative vs. liberal will not neatly or completely fit into a rough-hewn wooden box of ignorance nor into a hand-painted porcelain egg of arrogance. However, based on personal observation, there are many followers within each camp that do appear to neatly and completely fit within their respective container. They appear to fit by allowing one characteristic to swallow the other characteristic whole, before spewing it back at their perceived opponent; essentially creating an inverted mirror image. Temperamentally, the two camps are more alike than they are different.

When ignorance ingests arrogance, it often heaves it back as proud tradition. When arrogance ingurgitates ignorance, it often lurches back up as pompous certainty. Maintaining unnecessary tradition is arrogant; alleging absolute authority is ignorant; both stymie progress.

More succinctly said, tradition is the arrogance spewed back by ignorance, and certainty is the ignorance spewed back by arrogance.

If indeed, our President's ultimate purpose is to painfully tear at the already-gaping wound created by our ignorance and our arrogance, thus forcing us to come closer together in order to heal, I am indeed, proud to be an American. It is time to heal. If however, his ignorance is genuine, then perhaps and regardless, his larger-than-life example will aid the rest of us in recognizing our own ignorance and arrogance; and I promise, each one of us cycles, (and sometimes devours), our fair share of each. In varying circumstantial degrees, each one of us consistently practice ignorance and arrogance, as well as all of the human failings and some occasional number of human virtues that fall in between.

Recognition is an opportunity for learning, and reasoned learning is an opportunity to move forward. It has become clear that to make progress we must change direction; and we must change behavior beyond just painting a shiny new veneer.

Thank you Mr. President. You are, indeed, leading by example.

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