¿Un enemigo? Methinks Trump needs to find himself a hobby for amusement

Much rhetoric has been spewed from all angles with regards to President Donald J. Trump’s need to go on a rant last week in which he labeled those people who work in the newsgathering business as “the enemy.”

TRUMP: Does majority listen?

Which amuses me, in a sense. Because it does not come as a shock to me to learn that certain political-type people are basically insecure enough in their own existence that they see great conspiracies at work by those who serve to keep the public informed as to what takes place in our society.

HECK, I HAVE been called worse. I know of a rant that exists somewhere on the Internet that labels me a subversive and suggests I have no business being in this country.

The person who wrote that did so after I wrote a commentary for a former employer pointing out his own crackpot nature. Besides, I later discovered that the website he used to publish his rant was also filled with rants lambasting several television news anchors and reporters – and in fact the entire Telemundo television network.

I felt in good company then, and I’m going to feel like I’m on the right side of things now by having the Trumpster tremble at the very thought of my news brethren. I can make people of his ilk tremble and quake in their pants just by pulling out my notepad and pen and taking down what they say.

Which is what really bothers the people who have such negative sentiments. The idea that they can’t control every thought they spew out into the world – although the truth is if they only put a little thought into what they said, there’d be no reason for them to be fearful.

JUST LIKE TRUMP’S most recent rant – the one about the terrorist attack in Sweden that apparently never happened. I suspect that what really happened is that Trump became aware of reports indicating an increase in the number of non-native people coming to Sweden.

They're not supposed to be presidential 'friends'

And if they’re foreigners, of course they have to be up to no good. So naturally, there has to be terrorism at its root.

At the very least, it could turn out that a Swedish bikini team (remember those ads for Old Milwaukee beer?) of the future wouldn’t be filled exclusively with blondes whom Trump could fantasize about grabbing by their most personal of body parts.

Oh, the horrors!

IF IT SEEMS like I mock the people who are most critical of my professional life, you’d be correct. It’s just too difficult to take them seriously.

The extent to which Trump likely comprehends Sweden

Besides, I find enough government officials who are secure enough in their personalities that they comprehend the nature of the give-and-take of dealing with a reporter-type person. I’ve also been encouraged by the sense of support I have read coming from many people who are offended at how paranoid our president appears to be.

There may be that poll of a few weeks ago that said some 90 percent of people who voted for Trump back in November were satisfied with his behavior. But I sense that the 54 percent who voted for Hillary Clinton or someone else because they absolutely did NOT want the concept of a “President Donald J. Trump” are emboldened even further.

Society as a whole has the right idea. Besides, I know personally that as a reporter-type person, I’ve never viewed my work as a potential source of material for making friends. Being able to tolerate each other is the best I often hope for in my professional dealings.

Obama relegated to lesser role with each passing day

SO DO I fear being labeled “the enemy” (or the “opposition party,” as Trump aide Steve Bannon put it a few weeks ago)? I do realize that Trump has shown signs of being unstable enough to try to go too far. But I also believe that sense will prevail in our society.

There have been too many times during the three decades I have covered news that government officials have surprised me by doing the right thing. Who knows, it may even turn out to be Trump himself who comes to his senses? Maybe, maybe not!

All I know is that I now find humorous that Columbia Journalism Review study of 2014 that found former President Barack Obama’s press relations to be terrible – he “gives long answers, leaving little time for other questions and rarely makes news.”

Somehow, I sense many now feel a longing for the good ol’ days of a month ago – and the Trump legacy could be that it makes many realize how much more sane and sensible the Days of Obama truly were!

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