#988: Character Counts

As per the Cambridge Dictionary, “gentleman” (dʒen·təl·mən) is defined as a man who is polite and behaves well toward other people. According to the Nobel Prize-winning author/poet/playwright George Bernard Shaw (pictured at left), “A gentleman is one who puts more into the world than he takes out.” According to my late father, Henry E. Stone, who was was widely-known as an exemplar of that unique breed, a gentleman is well-mannered, and can effortlessly navigate social and professional settings with confidence and proficiency. Deeply honored to be his son, I have always believed that a gentleman strives to do the right thing . . . even when no one is watching. To me, being a gentleman is a lifestyle. You must live it, not just simply act like one when needed. To be a gentleman (or its female equivalent, a “lady”) is to possess the essence of character.

Alas, in today’s world, to be a gentleman is, for the masses, often considered to be a sign of weakness; a limp-wristed response to reality. Bravado and braggadocio, condescension and cruelty, the hydra-headed marks of the boor, have increasingly become the norm . . . especially in many forms of public life. Just this past week we witnessed the boorish clown-car insanity of Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene during a House Oversight Committee, in which she clashed with Democrats Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez over . . . over what? Over Greene’s comment to Rep. Crockett that hit out at Texas Democrat: "I think your fake eyelashes are messing up your reading." New York Democratic Rep. Ocasio Cortez immediately came to her colleague’s defense, calling Greene's remark "absolutely unacceptable," thus prompting the Republican firebrand to respond: "Are your feelings hurt? Aw." It devolved from there. Chairman James Corner, a Kentucky Republican, branded Greene's remarks "un-decorous" and she agreed the comment could be struck from the record but refused to apologize. Later, in a thinly veiled attack on Greene, Crockett said: "If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody's bleach blonde, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?" (Historically speaking, Congress has never been what one might call a paragon of etiquette. This coming Wednesday marks the 168th anniversary of South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks caning of Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner until the latter lost consciousness.)

On the same day that Reps. Greene, Crockett, and Ocasio-Cortez went after one another before the nation’s cameras, President Biden and FPOTUS Trump agreed to meet for two campaign debates — the first on June 27, hosted by CNN and the second on Sept. 10, hosted by ABC. Included in their apparent agreement were two changes from previous norms: first, the debates would be done in an empty hall, and second, when one candidate’s time expired, their mic would be automatically silenced.

Shortly after their agreement was announced, Trump senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles sent Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon a memorandum, challenging Biden to agree to at least two additional debates, suggesting one be held each month, with events in June, July, August and September. “Additional dates will allow voters to have maximum exposure to the records and future visions of each candidate,” the two Trump advisors wrote.

Trump later posted on Truth Social that he had agreed to a third debate, this one hosted by Fox. “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that I hereby accept debating Crooked Joe Biden on Fox News. The date will be Wednesday, October 2nd. The Hosts will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. Thank you, DJT!” he wrote.

Biden campaign chair O’Malley Dillon responded with a statement accusing Trump of having “a long history of playing games with debates: complaining about the rules, breaking those rules, pulling out at the last minute, or not showing up at all. No more games. No more chaos, no more debate about debates. We’ll see Donald Trump on June 27th in Atlanta – if he shows up,” she wrote.

If I were a betting man (which I am not), I would wager that Trump and his team will pick a fight or find a flaw which will give them a reason to back out of any and all debates. The former President will of course pin the blame on the man he can no longer refer to as “Sleepy Joe.” (Trump’s continually nodding off during his most recent trial has driven a stake into the heart of this childish epithet.) In theory, if not in practice, Trump’s debating Biden without his gang of fans could potentially be as disastrous for him as taking the witness stand in his own defense; being a boor, he simply has no “off” button. Biden, on the other hand, is a gentleman with more than a half-century’s worth of political experience under his belt. Unlike the former POTUS, he understands, in the ironic words of Oscar Wilde, “A gentleman never insults anyone unintentionally.”

It never ceases to amaze me how many Trump fans seem to really, truly believe that Joe Biden is “the worst, most corrupt President in the history of the United States.” Whether they do in reality is anyone’s guess; it is impossible to know what anyone thinks or believes when they put their head on the pillow at the end of a long day. But “worst?” “Most corrupt?” Do they know anything about the presidencies of James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, or Franklin Pierce? Are they unaware of the utter corruption of the Harding and Nixon administrations? Are they willing to unquestionably accept the rantings of a former president who possesses less experience and character than any of the other 44 Chief Executives? The dumbing down of the American electorate is frightening to behold . . .

This past Friday, the White House Press Office issued a 216-word release. It announced that President Biden had just declared seven counties in Texas to be major disaster areas due to “severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding beginning on April 26, 2024, and continuing.” The declaration President Biden signed was both simple and straightforward; nowhere in its 216 words was there even a hint, a scintilla of any partisan political gamesmanship.

The disaster declaration focused solely on the causes and victims of the disaster. There was no implied or express demand that the Texas governor pay homage to President Biden or that Texans “remember” Biden’s generosity in the upcoming election. Turning disaster aid into an opportunity for transactional grift was an invention of Donald Trump.

Nor did President Biden comment on the fact that the period from April to May in Texas was previously known as “spring,” but is now an unrelenting series of “severe storms, floods, tornadoes, and straight-line winds.” See Texas 2036, Texas' weather is getting wilder. While the effects of climate change in Texas deserve discussion, using the grant of emergency aid as a platform to do so would be insensitive and opportunistic. Texans are suffering because of natural disasters. They deserve relief from the federal government. President Biden granted it without hesitation or political agenda. That’s the way disaster declarations should be issued. That’s the way a President is supposed to act.

President Biden’s declaration was that of a caring human being seeking to do what is correct. This marks him as a man of character . . . a gentleman who, despite being far from perfect (who amongst us is?) deserves to be treated with respect. As a gentleman, it is simply not in his nature to hurl epithets and nasty nicknames at members of the (dis)loyal opposition. Then too, as a gentleman, it is not in his character to self-aggrandize whenever he does that which is simply the just and right thing to do. But please, do not mistake him for being a weakling, a dotard, or an inept politician.

He is a man of character and, please believe me, character really, truly counts.