How can someone in such a big office be so small?

“Do you think the three UCLA Basketball Players will say thank you President Trump? They were headed for 10 years in jail!” – Trump tweet 11-15-17

“To the three UCLA basketball players I say: You’re welcome, go out and give a big Thank You to President Xi Jinping of China who made your release possible and, HAVE A GREAT LIFE! Be careful, there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life!” – Trump tweet 11-16-17

“Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!

Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!” – Trump tweet 11-19-17

 “The President would have left American students in a foreign jail because their families didn’t lavish sufficient praise on him. How can someone in such a big office be so small?” – Congressman Adam Schiff tweet 11-19-17

“And who could forget the feud between President Trump and LaVar Ball, which started over a pair of designer sunglasses” – A history professor in 100 years.” – Rogue WH Snr Advisor tweet 11-19-17

Let me be very clear, what the three UCLA basketball players did in China was wrong. Shoplifting, stealing in any country is against the law and a boneheaded move in a foreign country like China. I won’t make any excuses for their behavior, I don’t need to. All three have since learned that those were the most expensive designer sunglasses they ever put their fingers tips on.

After their release, I watched the press conference the three players held. They were contrite, remorseful and sincerely apologetic. They offered the kind of response you would expect from kids who represented an institution like UCLA.

If there was anyone out there that had been in cave for the last eleven months, or who just arrived on our planet from Mars and knew nothing about “our” current President his four tweets above would pretty much encapsulate who Trump, the man, is. They would immediately realize what is most important to him, what he deems most valuable, Donald J. Trump.

I tried to imagine myself as one of the fathers of these kids. Yes, I would be very grateful for the Presidents help in getting my son home. No, I wouldn’t be happy that he would use this event to pump-up his own self-worth, his own self-importance. People that are secure in their own skin don’t need this kind of reassurance, hell the man is President of the United States. In the minds of many of his loyal followers the only higher authority is God.

I think Congressman Adam Schiff  truly summed it up best; “How can someone in such a big office be so small?” 

Yup, if I had been that guy coming out of the cave I would crawl back in, roll a big rock over the entrance and set my alarm clock for January 20, 2021, the end of Trump’s term in office and pray that I didn’t have to wait that long.

“The smallness of how Trump defines his role as the most powerful person in the country has real and lasting effects on how people perceive the president and the presidency. And none of those impacts are good ones.” –  Chris Cillizza, CNN

And he still just can’t let it go;

“It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence – IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!” – Trump tweet 11-22-17