A self-serving POTUS

PUBLIC SERVICE IS A STATE OF MIND

A few weeks ago we went to see the film Jackie ( about the events in the life of Jackie Kennedy following the murder of her husband JFK. The Americans like to say that one of the great things about their country is that any citizen can become president. And at least it's true that someone could have a greater chance of achieving that status than someone would of becoming head of state in the archaic UK system of government. But anyone? Not quite.

The Kennedys weren't anybodys within the US social structure. They were part of the patrician class, born to wealth, privilege, influence and a life well beyond the reach of any ordinary American. Jack became president, but his brothers Bobby and Teddy were also prominent senior politicians of the period.

Current White House incumbent (but for how much longer?) Trump is hardly anybody either. Like the Kennedys he was born into extreme wealth and has become a weel kent name to the media through his activities. And that's where the similarities end.

I was a civil servant for more than three decades. An abortive attempt at a career in retail showed me I wasn't interested in a job where the idea of serving the public was underlaid by the desire to extract as much money as possible from them, and pass it on to other people who didn't do much for the privilege. Over the years I developed a clearer understanding of the importance of having a public service ethos in government work. By which I mean that the first consideration in any decision should be looking at how it can best benefit the public. That might then be subject to all sorts of other pressure - finance, resources, practicality, other legislation etc etc - but that should always be the starting point.

Most civil servants think that way. Recent governments, especially the Tories, have taken a much more aggressive approach, seeking to monetize everything they can. You only have to look at the steady destruction of the NHS to see what damage that causes. In many departments senior management has been brought in from outside industry with a view to turning public services into money making businesses as far as possible. Thus no longer delivering a public service....

The Kennedys might have been brought up as spoiled brats in many ways, but they also had inculcated into them a notion of public service. Perhaps even of duty, that old fashioned aristocratic notion. They were flawed individuals in many ways, but they did have a world view that put the interests of the people, at least as they saw them, at the forefront of their thinking. They had an understanding of what constitutes public service.

Trump only understands service in one way. Whatever he does it must be in the best interests of Donald Trump. He has none of the qualities required in government. A spoiled brat, but with no concept of duty or serving others. Trump is a disaster.

If he's impeached, which seems already to have become a very realistic prospect, he would be succeeded by the vile, homophobic Mike Pence. But, bad as the latter is, the current VP could never be as bad as his present boss. He does, at least, have some notion of what it means to serve the public having held elected office for sixteen years. Pence would be a terrible president. But still a hundred times better than the orange one.