A rascal in the White House

The full quotation in The Washington Post editorial said: "They think we are in deep trouble, so we need a rascal in the White House to straighten out the mess." The reference was to the constant 30 to 40 percent of Republican voters who continue to support Donald Trump for president. Let's examine the basic premise of the statement.

Our country is in deep trouble:

Our country was in deep trouble in the 1930s when we were fighting to right our economy during the Great Depression. At that time we had 25 percent unemployment, a major stock market crash that cost Wall Street billions of dollars and no support base for our most vulnerable citizens: seniors and children. Our country was in deep trouble during the 1940s when we were fighting for our way of life with the totalitarian governments of Europe and Asia, Germany and Japan. Our country was in difficulty, but not deep trouble, with the recession of 2008 that caused us so much concern. The regulations in place and an alert government leadership handled that crisis.

Unemployment is now below 5 percent from the 2008 high of more than 10 percent. Gasoline prices are half of what they were seven years ago, primarily because we are no longer dependent on foreign oil. The stock market is up from below 9,000 to more than 16,000. Just as important, our military, which was fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has fewer than 11,000 soldiers in the Middle East, down from a high of 187,000 seven years ago.

Are we really in deep trouble? I don't think so. It has been much, much worse. So, if we are not in deep trouble, why do we think we are? That answer is in the constant negative political rhetoric from our representatives in Washington, D.C., and from the news media who quote whatever they say, no matter how far-out the assertion.

Do we need a rascal in the White House?

No, far from it. What we need is a middle-of-the-road president who will listen to the divergent voices in the country and make the moves necessary to pull us together like the big and diverse family we should be and, just under the surface, we are. Our next occupant of the White House must have an understanding of the responsibilities of president that were written in the Constitution and must be visionary enough to see a future the people can identify with. Just as important, that president must be able to communicate that vision so we can all see it clearly.

What we don't need is more negative rhetoric, more political name calling, more vulgarities from the debate stage and more demagoguery. It is time for the American people to rein in our emotions and look for logic and reason.