Damn democracy! Cursed making history!

This was to be an editorial on the perils of plastic straws. A safe, small topic.

Instead, there is a struggle to remember that there was a meeting of world leaders in Canada, then a NATO Summit, a visit to Great Britain and the critical meeting with Vladimir Putin. This is pushed aside by capital letter tweets meant to intimidate Iran – or divert attention from Justice Department probes into the 2016 presidential campaign.

Now the new news is the president threatens to shut down the government if funding for a wall is not in the budget this fall.

Head spinning troubles. Enough to make one want to turn off the TV.

Damn democracy. That Benjamin Franklin, saying, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Not one man – or woman, of course – a king, but each of us a citizen, responsible for responsible leadership in the town hall and the nation’s halls of power.

As citizens, our community always includes the nation’s capital as well as our street corner. And then there is the future to worry about, our integrity, or the lack of it, our courage, or the lack of it, our actions, or the lack of them.

Every one of us has a role in upholding our democracy, locally and nationally. Every newspaper publisher needs to decide how to address thinking globally while acting locally.

Discussing who is at the head of state and whom we have entrusted the presidency to are very much local issues. If we are misled by the head, the body politic will be confused. Clarity is needed.

What about the guy who leads the team, President Trump? He upholds the military against football players taking a knee. His first duty is to defend the nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. He has 17 agency heads reporting to him on issues of national security. These are his guys. He is their leader. They put their trust in him. And he gives equal weight to the President of Russia, a man who headed his country’s spy agency and who has a vested interest in saying he is innocent.

Take a step back from policies and positions. Consider the foundation of leadership: competency, character and integrity.

Whatever direction this president wants to take, his actions when he was in Helsinki, when he diverts our attention with saber rattling against Iran and when he threatens government shutdowns, requires asking this fundamental question: Is this man competent to be president?

Character. It starts with standing for the rule of law. Understanding that the buck stops at his desk. Allowing the FBI, an establishment institution if there ever was one, to proceed unimpeded. These are not clichés, they are indications of character. Saying “I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today” – that statement says volumes about this president’s character.

Don’t all parents tell their children that doing boring homework is a character building exercise? Our president doesn’t read briefings prepared by the best, brightest and most experienced staff on the planet.

Integrity. Isn’t our word our bond? If nothing else, “I give you my word?” How do you take back a submissive performance in front of the whole world? By clarifying this way: “The sentence should have been: ‘I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t, or why it wouldn’t be Russia,’ sort of a double negative. So you can put that in, and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.”

Nothing is ever Donald Trump’s fault. After the fact, there are clarifications, when he says something. For everyone else, it is fake news.

What to do with this president of the United States? My clarifying realization: He isn’t. He is president of himself, by himself, for himself. The good of the country? Where has this president sacrificed anything to advance the common good?

Treason is not the issue. Competency is. We reflect on astronauts having the “right stuff.” President Trump is proving by his actions, his decisions and his demeanor that he is failing at being presidential.

Character is the issue. In a casual, mean and selfish culture, we need presidents whom we can be confident represent the American people, our character and our history. We still want to point out to our children the president as an example to live up to.

Integrity is the issue. My integrity.

Because this paper’s publisher is competent, has character and integrity and cares passionately about his country, I am saying this president has no clothes. I will not be derelict in my duty.

And because I care about and am committed to the citizens of this community, I place this editorial here.

This is my job and I am being responsible to my readership.

What is your view of this president’s competency, character and integrity?

Share it with the community in these pages.

I do not write this lightly or gleefully. I present it with a heavy heart.

I print this editorial this moment because history will judge me harshly if I stay silent.

If this president wants to act like an emperor, I insist on saying he is not wearing any clothes.