Just to be clear: I don’t like everything about President Trump

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

I don’t like everything about President Trump. And I didn’t dislike everything about the other 13 presidents who have served in my lifetime.  

They all have their good and bad points.  

Jimmy Carter was probably the most honest, but he certainly had his faults, too.  

I would rank Lyndon Johnson worse than Nixon, just because Johnson got us into the Vietnam War.  

Trump? He has the impolite language of a schoolyard bully. I actually think his actions don’t reflect the sourness of his language. He is softer than his language.

It was a really impulsive and dumb idea to fire the Labor statistician just because you don’t like the unemployment numbers. Study it, present the case, and then fire her if the evidence warrants it.  

I really don’t like the president making money off crypto, watches and sneakers. Cheapens him, cheapens the office and has a thick cloud of impropriety hanging around it. 

I like his flagpoles and his proposed ballroom (although I worry that donors to the ballroom project may be buying influence).

I wish he would lose some weight.  

Don’t make the Fed’s interest rate a personal vendetta between you and Powell. Again, cheapens the office of the president.

I do like the high-energy level Trump exudes. Just hope there is enough left for another three and one-half years.

I like the efforts to reduce the size of the federal government, but I would caution – don’t stop now.

If you look back over the other 45 presidents, you’ll quickly discover that most of them had their flaws.  

One cannot aspire to or accept the position of president without some quirks.

We should be thankful that this system of government has lasted intact for 250 years.  

And we should question those elected officials who think it is not the best that has ever been. 

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.