You know, I’m, like, a smart person,” Trump said in a “Fox News Sunday” interview in December 2016. “I don’t have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years. It could be eight years — but eight years. I don’t need that.” [1]
It was that quote from The Washingon Post that made my wife and me rustle up another pot of coffee. A long morning of reading loomed.
The ‘same thing and the same words‘ refers to Trump’s daily intelligence briefings. His aversion to reading forced the briefers to present just oral reports – and bare bones at that.
Amazing….
and stupid!
As we sipped our hot, fresh java, my wife and I discussed the pros and cons of such an approach to our nation’s security.
As a former instructor, I am familiar with the variety of learning styles – reading, auditory (hearing), experiential (doing) – that are present in every class. My wife’s job in the healthcare industry also entailed instructing people, and she, too, is familiar with those styles – albeit often with people of reduced capacities.
So the fact that he prefers one style to another is not the point of our concern.
Other presidents have done the same – often mixing or combining the form of presentation. And Richard Nixon skipped it entirely, relying instead on the genius who was his Secretary of State – Henry Kissinger – to bring any problems to his attention.
Where the problem lies, is in Trump’s attitude – ‘You know, I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years.‘
Knowing that you do NOT know everything, and being comfortable with admitting it, opens a person to more learning and greater understanding.
Forgive two examples, but my wife and I each have one we feel will provide clarity by tapping into two topics with which ALL of our readers have experience.
Doctors and weather.
If you or your spouse or your children are ill, do you go to your next door neighbor who teaches English for a diagnosis of the malady and a suggested course of treatment – or do you go to a person whose entire career – the book learning and the practice – has been in the study, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses and diseases?
Yes, we’ve read or heard about all the examples of where medical professionals have erred – but that’s not the point, it’s your IMPULSE to act with the knowledge you have – English teacher or doctor?
Also, the world, like the weather, is always changing.
Just because it’s sunny for two days in a row, does NOT mean that the weather IS the same. On the surface – sure – but unseen are the real weather controllers – high pressure, low pressure, being on the front side or the backside of said pressure, temperature, dew points…and on and on and on.
While it may LOOK the same, if you TRULY know weather, you know you need to monitor all those controllers to see what’s coming.
Like the medical examples, weather experts are VERY often mistaken because weather is volatile and those controllers change constantly – what was true ten minutes ago, may not be true now. We know this, but still we consult TV shows, or phone/tablet apps that provide the best possible guess.
The impulse to act is driven by prior knowledge and prior experience. But an attitude that’s open to a constant input of controlling factors makes the all the difference in the perspective that governs that impulse.
‘You know, I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years.‘
Amazing.
Food for thought.
Mac
Works Cited
[1] “Breaking with tradition, Trump skips president’s written intelligence report and relies on oral briefing.” The Washington Post – February 9, 2018.
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