It appears the president believes only rich people are qualified to serve in his Cabinet. Apparently, he doesn't know the secret: You don't have to be smart to be a multi-millionaire. You just have to have a rich daddy.
A self-described poor woman from rural Tennessee told National Public Radio how much pain she was in because of the loss of all of her teeth. She was waiting at a free health clinic, hoping to get some relief. She volunteered, “I voted for Trump.”
The next day, I listened to President Trump tell supporters in Cedar Rapids, “I love
Actually, it doesn’t.
Why does a president of the United States believe poor people are disqualified from serving?
Candidate Trump promised to drain the swamp. We should have asked him to define what he meant by “the swamp.”
If you’ve been to a swamp, you know the calm waters on the surface are deceptive. They hide the alligators and poisonous snakes lurking below. A swamp may appear calming, but you’d never want to dive into its waters.
So, when you heard candidate Trump say he’d drain the swamp, didn’t you figure that once he was president, the water would be gone and, once exposed, the alligators and snakes would crawl and slither off? Did anyone who applauded that campaign slogan really think that once the water was gone that the alligators and snakes would reign?
Yet there they are. The same predators who have always roamed Foggy Bottom. Trump wanted voters to believe he was promising to rid our government of the influence of the wealthy and self-serving well-connected. I figured he’d heard the concerns of the ordinary folks who are frustrated by the power wielded by the elites. When Trump used the “draining the swamp” metaphor, I pictured a coming together of a government to which folks on Main Street could relate and a government that could relate to folks on Main Street.
Instead, as the swamp was drained, the alligators and snakes flourished. They proudly took over the swamp. Why? Because they are a part of the social and business circle in which the president is comfortable. The president is at home with these swamp dwellers.
What he told that Cedar Rapids crowd is that he isn’t comfortable with poor people. He wants to be surrounded by aristocrats and oligarchs now, as he has been all of his life. Jesus may have said “the poor will always be with you,” but Donald Trump said, “Not with me, they won’t.”
When it comes to putting people in charge of “Making America Great Again,” he is clear. “I just don’t want a poor person.” Why not? What’s wrong with poor people, Mr. President?
Does Trump figure that if poor, they aren’t smart? What’s the difference between Trump and many poor people? It’s not IQ. It’s not a willingness to work hard. It’s not found in what each knows or doesn’t know what it means to struggle for their family and community’s well-being.
The significant difference between many poor people and Trump is that he had a daddy who could bankroll his life.
When I was the director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services, I made a concerted effort to get to know those we served – poor and low-income families across Wyoming. I learned that false stereotypes animate conservative policymakers. Seeing people as poor because they are lazy, incapable or make bad choices leads to bad public policy.
Professor Jay Zagorsky conducted a study at Ohio State University. His conclusion? “Your IQ has no relationship to your wealth. Intelligence is not a factor in explaining wealth. Those with low intelligence should not believe they are handicapped, and those with high intelligence should not believe they have an advantage.”
Having a close adviser who has experienced poverty might make Trump a better man and a better president.
If Trump really wants to drain the swamp, he needs to understand this. People may become a part of the swamp just because they are rich, but people don’t become rich just because they are smart.
Rodger McDaniel is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. He resides in Laramie.
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