I don’t understand hating. I really don’t. But, it appears to be out there, and, out there in full force.
Let me explain my confusion about hating.
I have lived longer than many will live, and I have met more people the world over on 6 of the 7 continents than many will ever meet, but I cannot think of one person over all my years and travels that I have ever hated.
Oh, there are some that I disliked more than others, and there are others I have liked more than others. And, there are some I would prefer not to be around, while there are others I wished I could be around more.
But, I can’t think of one I hated, or disliked enough that they would make me rant and rant and rant, and wish ill-will upon them, or make them the focus of my being.
I spent 4 years in the military under 2 Presidents, one from each major Party. To me, both of these men were my Commander-in-Chief, and as such, they were the men whose orders I would follow and who’s office I respected.
Since before entering the military, and afterwards, I have been a citizen under the leadership of another 12 Presidents, so 14 in all, none of which I have hated or even disliked enough that I wished ill-will upon them.
In fact, while I may not have liked many or almost none of the policies some of these Presidents attempted to put into law, I always hoped that they would be successful when it came to the safety and protection of our citizenry and the Country, the economic growth which would benefit all, even if some benefited more than others,, and the health of our citizenry.
I hoped they would help maintain peace around the world so our Country was not drawn into unnecessary and endless wars.
And, I hoped more than anything, their policies and actions would help move our Country to that place our founding fathers set out to reach, to that more perfect Union.
To me, and maybe this is because of my military time, these men were the leader of our Country, and in my mind, based on my travels to so many other Countries, the greatest Country on earth, regardless of what some others may try to tell us.
Which brings me back to my opening statement, which is, I don’t understand hating.
What that means is, I also don’t understand a good portion of our population that has hated one or more of our Presidents.
What drives a person to hate someone else so much, especially a person they never met? The question becomes even more baffling when the hatred is directed at a President that is no longer in office and not causing any policies or laws being put into place. It makes me wonder about the hater’s sanity.
What makes a person almost seem to use every waking hour to try to find one more thing a particular President said or did, which makes them go berserk, and so much so, that they have to reach out to other, mostly like-minded individuals, to spend so much of their limited time on earth, to tell everyone why they hate a person?
Presidents, presently and in the past all men, woman sometime in the near future, are only people. They are not infallible. They are not perfect.
They have to have, however, some amount of 7 traits, according to “presidential expert,” Alan Schroeder, which makes them want to take that long journey to that place in history, and all the abuse that goes with it.
Those traits are: narcissist; pioneer; extrovert; celebrity; performer; married; and genius or intellect.
I would agree with that list, and add one more, an 8th trait; visionary They have a vision which they believe will make this Country better. Their idea of better may not be mine, but they have to want whatever it is they see as “better” so much so that they want to make the journey
As I look back over all those 14 Presidents under which I have lived, they all had some amount of each of those traits; much stronger in some than others, and much weaker in some than others. And some of those traits which were more out front, or perhaps way in the background, are what made their public like them or dislike them more.
To hate a person, however, that has taken it upon themselves to lead this great Nation, this great, Exceptional Nation, and like it or not, lead the World, takes a certain amount of shallowness, in my mind.
It also tells me that the hater has a very limited world and mind, because there is so much more to the world than focusing on one person to the extent that that is your life.
My thoughts.
JustAMan 