Many, if not most, politicians have a credibility problem: the quality of being believable or trustworthy. Politicians tend to change their opinions (ie, flip-flop) whenever they feel appropriate (eg, voter resistance). At times, political integrity can be a scarce commodity. Voters know and – to some extent – even expect that.
In Western politics, blatant lying often results in a removal from office, when the undisputed truth comes out. Politicians are, however, often allowed bending the truth in their favour. Blatant undisputed lying removes the charade of their “political” integrity.
Leaders of nations are often accused of jeopardising national credibility. The 44th President of the USA, Barack Obama, was no exception (eg, AP-2009, Atlantic-2014, Brookings-2010, Hill, Wiki). At times, Obama was “assuming that his personal credibility would outweigh the public’s doubts about the competence and integrity of the government he led” (Brookings-2010). Note LO: italics in quote by me.
Following the above, the 3 pillars of national and/or personal credibility appear to be: competence, integrity, and predictability. A May 2018 GPF article adds an interesting 4th pillar: national (self) interest. Pursuing personal self-interest would, however, undermine national and political credibility. This is where my conclusion deviates from the May 2018 GPF article.
The 45th President of the USA, Donald Trump, has created substantial talk about U.S. credibility. Some examples: GPF, Hill, NY Mag, NYT, Straits, USA Today. Reasons for this talk are: flip-flopping on North Korea (summit), threatening to withdraw or withdrawing from international agreements like Iran nuclear deal, NAFTA, NATO, and Paris climate change.
To some extent, one could argue that Trump is delivering on his 2015-2016 presidential campaign promises. In that context, his decisions are merely political rather than incompetent, shady and/or unpredictable. However, it’s (very) hard to reconcile his campaign of Make American Great Again (MAGA) and Trump’s actions against American national (self) interest.
Trump’s efforts against American national (self) interest, amongst others, include:
– decreasing tax rates while being at the top (rather than bottom) of an economic cycle;
– increasing government spending while having record deficits and record national debt;
– starting simultaneous trade wars with allies (Canada, EU, Mexico) and frenemies (China, Turkey);
– befriending enemy Russia despite an official investigation on Russian interference in 2016 US Presidential elections.
Many, if not most of us, can live with (temporary) political incompetence, lack of integrity, and unpredictability. It gets incredible when national (self) interest is no longer pursued.
So Incredible (2008) by Ilse DeLange – artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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