View From The Top

Last week I was going to make some offhand joke about the "president" pardoning turkeys, wondering what war crimes they might have committed. And I suppose I have done just that, though in a much less emphatic way than I might had I used an entire entry up on that bit.
But it's scary to think this is the vein in which I found myself mining. The story of newly reinstated Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher opens a window into the parts of life that the "president" does not understand. Will not understand. The insulated life that he leads, and has led for all of his seventy-three years, causes him to act in what he may believe is everyone's best interest, but he has no real idea what that might be.
He tells us to congratulate him for making the stock market go higher and higher. Economists who have made a living studying such things know that such leaps and bounds eventually lead to a "correction." Simply put, what goes up, must come down. Much in the same way that the impact of Chief Petty Officer Gallagher's pardon opened up a can of worms that has a reach far beyond this one case, there is no sense of logical consequence. This is what a life of insulated privilege has created in this individual. A man who has skated free from most, if not all, of life's bouncy surface thanks to the cushion of money that has always been there. Even Richard Nixon, in his famous "Checkers Speech," recounted his humble beginnings: "I'll have to start early. I was born in 1913. Our family was one of modest circumstances, and most of my early life was spent in a store out in East Whittier. It was a grocery store, one of those family enterprises. The only reason we were able to make it go was because my mother and dad had five boys, and we all worked in the store. I worked my way through college, and, to a great extent, through law school. And then in 1940, probably the best thing that ever happened to me happened. I married Pat who's sitting over here. We had a rather difficult time after we were married, like so many of the young couples who may be listening to us. I practiced law. She continued to teach school."
And so on. 
Richard Nixon became a millionaire, but it is important to note that he did this after he had been President. After he had served in the United States Navy. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. Our current "president" did not serve in the armed forces. He routinely ignores advice from those who are currently serving or those who have. This is how he feels his title "Commander in Chief" should be regarded. Top down. 
His view of the world is that from on high. He does not consider those who might have come from other circumstances or how his often surprising decisions might affect those of us down here. Looking up. Which doesn't seem right. Or fair. 
Or democratic. 
See how I did that?