South Dakota Top Blogs

News, notes, and observations from the James River Valley in northern South Dakota with special attention to reviewing the performance of the media--old and new. E-Mail to MinneKota@gmail.com

Friday, September 18, 2020

On the matter of the CEO of the United States

I was the business editor for a newspaper, a job I did not particularly like because dealing with some businesses was disagreeable.  Those were the businesses that tried to get things published that were not true, things that created a favorable image that did not correspond to the reality of the business.  Because businesses buy advertising and have promotional organizations such as chambers of commerce working in their behalf, it can be hazardous for a local newspaper to publish accurate reports on how some businesses conduct themselves.  Newspapers are careful not to offend the business communities that support them.   So, often they print pieces that give businesses good but false images.

The editor of the newspaper wanted to keep an amiable relationship with the business community but said we should never print anything that was not true.  When we received glowing press releases from businesses, our task was to boil them down to the hard, verifiable facts.  That often led to contentious calls with public relations personnel.  Such press releases often contained quotations from high corporate officers, and our attempts to verify and clarify facts often led to confrontations with those officers.

CEOs do not like to have their pronouncements challenged for clarification or evidence on which they are based.  Within their companies, anything the CEO says is gospel and no one who wants to keep their job dares refute it.  Thus, when a CEO must defend a statement before the press, they get enraged that their words are not accepted with the same obsequiousness as they are within the company.

That is the problem Donald Trump is having in trying to be president of the U.S.  He thought he could run the country like a business, but he finds that he is called out when he lies, his bumbling is criticized, and his vanities are not tolerated.  He reacts by insulting and abusing those who challenge him.  And he throws juvenile tantrums in public, which erode any inclination to  work with him.

On the other hand, those who support him and carry out his orders are regarded as degraded sucks.  Being a suck does not reap the same rewards in a democratic  nation as it does within a company.  

Trump is demonstrating for the world why a democratic organization can't be run like a business.  A  leader who tries to dictate in a democracy  is constantly challenged by people with better information and better minds.  A leader has to respond to the people and has to find ways to reconcile differing ideas and ways of doing things.  That is beyond anything in Trump's experience and abilities.  And his absurd lies degrade the entire nation.  Here is an example of one of his tweets today:

‘VOTING STARTS IN VIRGINIA TODAY, AND WE ARE GOING TO WIN. YOU HAVE A CRAZY GOVERNOR WHO WANTS TO TAKE AWAY YOUR GUNS, WHICH HE WILL DO WITHOUT ME IN OFFICE. HE IS IN FAVOR OF EXECUTING BABIES AFTER BIRTH – THIS ISN’T LATE-TERM ABORTION, THIS IS A STEP WAY BEYOND!





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Aberdeen, South Dakota, United States

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