Trump too thin-skinned

On Monday, June 13, 2016, Donald Trump pulled The Washington Post's credentials to cover his events. It seems that he is upset with the newspaper's coverage of his campaign. Thus the Post joins several other news organizations which he has blacklisted. They include Gawker, BuzzFeed, Foreign Policy, Politico, Fusion, Univision, Mother Jones, the New Hampshire Union Leader, the Des Moines Register, the Daily Beast and Huffington Post. This list is a bit puzzling since the Union Leader and Des Moines Register are conservative newspapers.

While Lincoln was president newspapers called him a variety of names, including despot, tyrant, liar, swindler, and ignoramus. When Franklin Roosevelt was president some individuals would not even say his name but only referred to him as, "that man." Before his assassination, anti-Catholic jokes about John Kennedy were common, and Reagan was referred to as a cruel and stupid lizard. In other words, individuals in public life receive a great deal of adulation, but if a free press means anything, they must also have a thick skin.

Kathleen Parker a conservative columnist for the Post has stated that it is her opinion Trump does not value the First Amendment, and more troubling in the long term is his apparent assumption that he can block a free press -- much as tyrants, potentates and dictators throughout history have done. Undoubtedly, a state news agency which would control the news people receive would suit him fine.

Obviously, Mr. Trump does not have the temperament to be president.

JOHN PIEPHO, Cape Girardeau