A friend of mine who was born in Syria but moved to the United States when he was four-years-old told me that he hopes that the international community doesn’t treat the lives of the Syrian people’s suffering like it’s reality TV.
I sure hope they don’t, but they sure are treating President Trump’s presidency like one.
In fact, so many Trump supporters are betrayed by the actions of the president on Thursday night, I’m inclined to believe this is far greater than reality television.
By launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Idlib that killed at least 74 and injured over 500 people, many of whom were young children, many feel Trump had a knee-jerk reaction.
Or maybe it’s the realities of being the president of the United States? No one besides the 44 men who stood in his position truly knows the meaning and responsibilities of being the commander-in-chief. Trump is just realizing it now.
It’s like the famous quote made by Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent in “The Dark Knight”: You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain.
That’s this week for Trump’s relationship with his base in a nutshell. This is the type of storyline that comes out of wrestling like in the WWE. No one person can stay good forever. They’ll come to a point in their career where they may feel like they’re doing the right thing, but ultimately, they’ll be seen as the bad guy.
We may not fully know where these airstrikes will lead us. Will it result in a full-scale war that gives war hawks the ultimate satisfaction? Or is this a quick smack to the back of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s head to remind him just what we’re capable of if he doesn’t behave?
Of course, it’s too early to tell. But for the disillusioned Trump supporters who don’t know what to think about their president anymore, it’s time to rip that band-aid off now. No politician should ever be worshiped or idolized. They’re human beings like you and me. They’re not capable of maintaining a perfect record. They’ll ultimately disappoint you.
The quicker you learn this, the more likely you are to not get duped the next time.
Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an assistant editor at Red Alert Politics (which is also published by the Washington Examiner‘s publisher, MediaDC).
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