Since the new administration has begun its time in leadership, we have beheld the eruption of social justice issues, a resurgence of communities of hate, and further divide created amongst Americans. I, like so many others, took to the leadership to find direction, and I find it perplexing that we have arrived at a place where the majority of our communication from our President comes from Twitter, especially since eight short years ago, citizens were up in arms at the then President Elect Obama wishing to retain his BlackBerry Smartphone for use while in office. I believe we have seen a large shift in public sentiment, where the esteem of the highest position in the country can be judged in 160 characters. But are we in a moment in time where we, for the first time in history, know the fleeting thoughts of our Commander in Chief? It could be argued that while it is against the status quo, candid sentiments could be seen by citizens and that this is the most transparent it’s ever been.
We operate in a society where we thrive on facts, finding fault in facts and basing large decisions on “alternate facts.” Facts should have a standard, and while opinions can be different from one another, there has to be a baseline, a general level of “truth.” To me, the hardest thing to accept is that facts can actually have no standard and the question of “where do you get your news?” is less of an actual question and much more a statement of judgment. How much transparency is “too much” transparency? Does the left hand really not know what the right hand is doing? Is the use of Twitter, as a means to address the public, too loose? Where should the line be drawn? I find myself appreciating the fact that the status quo of a seemingly “old” way of governing is being shaken up and changed, thus making it more approachable. A new, more modernized version of presidential communication is being ushered in, but I do not think that excuses the insults, attacks on the press, and the general disregard for our international allies. To me, it is too far: it is no longer transparency, it’s showboating.
Is the cost of this level of transparency further loss of public trust? Are certain constitutional rights more important than others? Is the right to a free press less important than the right to bear arms? From where I am sitting, only time will tell.
I do like the transparency but wish he would choose his tweets more wisely. More often than not, he engages his Twitter before engaging his brain. As for the right to bear arms, I’m a firm believer that all law abiding citizens should have the right to bear arms for protection against criminals, and a tyrannical government.
Being transparent is a great thing in my opinion for our government. Twitter is an amazing platform and it allows for fast distribution of news where needed. But, most things that the President should be addressing need more words than Twitter allows for the full context of the subject to be understood. Personally I don’t think that the President should be addressing concerns on a personal account on such an informal application like Twitter. So even though he is being more transparent than ever, it is allowing more confusion than ever, because now the news has to report on a sentence of thought and not a well-structured press release. That allows room for interpretation which results in all of the “fake news” we seem to be getting. I say the transparency is good but the delivery and platform need to be more professional.