As President Obama astutely said in his 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner, “Eight years ago, [I] said that it was time to change the tone of our politics. In hindsight, I clearly should have been more specific.” The tone of American politics has changed from not always pleasant, but meaningful, discussion about politics, to all-out rage-tweeting at dictators as an excuse for foreign policy. Five years earlier, at the 2011 Correspondents Dinner, the host, Seth Meyers, made a statement about the state of American politics that now feels almost prophetic: “Nothing is more depressing about politics than the fact that ‘adult’ is now a compliment.” That statement still rings true today. President Trump is congratulated and called presidential when he is able to read off his teleprompter and not threaten nuclear war with sound effects as the accompanying entertainment.
The simple truth is that our country needs to hold our politicians to a higher standard. Trump’s ravings against minorities and immigrants should not be exonerated by the fact that he managed to hold a bipartisan meeting about gun control. His flippancy regarding American democracy (casually suggesting that Democrats who did not clap during his State of the Union address were “treasonous”) is dangerous and detrimental to American politics and to our reputation, both domestically and abroad.
We also need to hold our politicians to an even standard. The discrepancies between how we as a society and media-consuming culture view male versus female politicians is frightening. For instance, Hillary Clinton is criticized for “not smiling” during a debate. Elizabeth Warren is called “too shrill.” People zero-in on women’s physical aspects and attempt to use it to discredit their campaigns, while ignoring the problematic behaviors of male politicians, and while continuing to buy into the lie that being rich is synonymous with the ability to run a country.
It is problematic that people took more issue with the style of candidate Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits than with Donald Trump saying, in effect, that all Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers. It is problematic that it has become acceptable to say that Elizabeth Warren is not a legitimate politician because people don’t like her voice, but that Paul Ryan is a good representative for America when his budget plans over the years boil down to taking away healthcare for millions of Americans and giving tax breaks to real estate moguls like Senator Bob Corker, whose vote was needed to pass the latest tax bill.
American politics have devolved. The rest of the world is looking at America and, quite likely, laughing. Even Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in a video clip when asked about his view of Donald Trump’s performance thus far, could come up with nothing more complimentary than “I think he is doing his best.” Coming from a man who most likely wanted to see Trump get elected, that is a chillingly dim view of Trump’s presidency. Other world leaders were shocked at Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords, with German chancellor Angela Merkel saying that “Europe is on its own now.” Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, publicly invited American scientists to work in France, knowing that Trump cares very little about the truth.
American politics are at a low in terms of public discourse and government action. However, our democratic institutions must remain strong. We, as a country, have faced tough and divisive times. The Civil War, the Vietnam War, and the “war on terror” have all threatened to divide us as a nation, yet the power of the people has remained stronger than the people in power. The American people have come out time and time again on the side of democracy and justice, and we will continue to do so this time as well. One orange face does not define the American people, and it is up to us, the teenagers who will be voting in the next major elections, to uphold our democratic norms and common sense of decency, and to elect politicians who understand that to help run America is an honor and a responsibility, not a reality TV gig.