America First

Donald J. Trump is officially the 45th President of the United States.  His inauguration was painted on a canvas fitting of the campaign.  The overcast skies of a cold, grey, January day was the backdrop for the man the majority of voters in America did not want to become president to take the oath of office.  The fact remains, Trump is the president.  His inaugural speech was no less combative than the campaign and struck an uneasy tone of nationalism, America first, America first, America first…

In general, the idea of prioritizing the national interest is not bad.  It is both patriotic and a measured expectation to which we should hold all our leaders accountable.  Unfortunately, the tone and context in which Trump wraps his American first banner is disconcerting.  It's premature to say Trump's vision strikes of nationalism in the same manner as that of Germany in the 1930's; for now, Trump's America first mantra echo's the fictional Gordon Geko's catch phrase "greed is good."  

It's often hard to tell where Trump first ends and America first starts.  Trump can hardly complete a statement without lavishing praise upon himself over his own decisions, business acumen, or alleged intelligence.  As president, Trump now sees himself as the embodiment of America.  Trump first now equals America first. 

Despite the implied narcissism, the nationalistic rhetoric plays well to the minority that elected him.  From exit polls to Facebook posts, supporters want Trump to fix "it" for them.  The "it" represents many different complex problems that few of them fully understand but the literal translation of the sentiment is the Trump/Geko ideal of me first.  

Me first isn't a core principle on which to run our democracy.  It's not the core principle on which to run one's own life.  Me first doesn't appear in the Constitution, the Bible, the Koran, or even Emily Post's book of Etiquette.  Trump supporters deep down must know that.  Of course, it will probably take an awakening to the fact that in the Trump administration the pronoun "me" never really meant them in the first place.