Old Marcus Aurelius spot on there. Thank you for the reminder.
This is from a modern commentator, posting on Facebook in response to Dan Rather's remarks on the ending of DACA.
Edwin Castro writes: "No president can do everything right. The job is just too big for any one person to handle. Trump's anger, his vindictiveness, his jealousy and sheer sense of malice only makes his predecessors look better. Trump is too small, too petty for the job. I'm not talking hand size, I'm talking about spirit. Heart. He has none. That's the tragedy of this. America has survived 2 World Wars, slavery, domestic terrorism, riots, Jim Crow, McCarthyism, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, 9/11, assassinations, a civil war, Vietnam and Watergate but America could be brought down by Trump.
"Nobody knew health care was so complicated."
"I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me."
"When you're a star, they let you do it. Grab em by the p*y, you can do anything."
"I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose any votes."
“I know words. I have the best words.”
Trump is what happens when arrogance, incompetence, ignorance, bluster, and a lifelong lack of accountability, coupled with an endless series of enablers, gains power and we will all pay for it. A man like Donald Trump should never have made it this far. There is far more to being president than the title. A leader takes responsibility for their mistakes. A leader leads by example, not by meaningless, hollow words. A leader is someone who doesn't deceive, deflect and distract from the truth. A leader works to reduce people's suffering instead of intentionally inflicting it. A leader lifts people up instead of putting them down. A leader tries to unite people for the common good, rather than divide them with petty, hateful rhetoric. A leader has empathy and does not ridicule, disparage or humiliate others just to feed their own ego.
Donald Trump is not strong, noble, honest, honorable, humble, compassionate, generous, or caring. As a human being, he has none of these qualities and he never will. He isn’t capable of it. Donald Trump is an aberration. He may have the title but he should never be considered a leader. I disagreed with Obama on several issues but I genuinely believed he was trying to do good. He was a man. He was smart, compassionate, decent and utterly confident in himself and his abilities and it showed. I don't believe he did everything right. No politician can solve every problem they face in such a complex world. It’s impossible. I do think that he at least tried to leave the country better than he found it. You may disagree with that, that is entirely your right. Trump is the exact opposite and it is utterly demoralizing. I’m tired of feeling so tired."