Cal Thomas: What not to do

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, March 21st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Next up, Cal Thomas has some good advice for President Trump.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: President Trump made a rare appearance at a church last Sunday. It’s a safe bet the sermon was not based on Proverbs 15:1— “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

If it was, it didn’t appear to have much effect.

Before and after church, the president engaged in a tweet storm that insulted several people, including the late Senator John McCain. Trump accuses McCain of being complicit in the leak of the Steele Dossier, a private intelligence report compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele for a political research firm.

According to Newsweek “…major parts of the dossier have been verified by subsequent investigations into Russian election meddling.” Other parts remain wholly uncorroborated.

The president referred to McCain as “last in his class at Annapolis.” This was too much for McCain’s daughter, Meghan. She fired back on ABC’s The View, saying the president is leading “a pathetic life.”

She added: “He spends his weekend obsessing over great men, because he knows it, and I know it, and all of you know it: he will never be a great man.”

This is the problem with insults and anger. They invite similar responses. Harshness only serves to degrade the office.

Are such things a cause of our deep decline into the cesspool of decadence, or are they a reflection of much of the country’s mood? I fear it is the latter, but good examples can set a higher tone. It is why we instruct our children not to call other people names. Don’t we? If we do, why do so many tolerate it with Mr. Trump?

The president’s behavior is not only offensive—it’s unnecessary. It casts a needless shadow over legitimate accomplishments—from judges to the economy.

But one can favor the policies of the president while criticizing his uncouth behavior.

Kindness, grace, and humility go a long way and accomplish more than perpetual anger and demeaning people with whom one disagrees. The president should try it, not in a manipulative way, but seriously.

As my grandmother used to say: “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

Perhaps at church Sunday there was a Bible in the pew. The president should have opened it to Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Try it, Mr. President. It works. This advice comes from one who wishes you success.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Cal Thomas.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) This combination photo shows TV personality Meghan McCain at the 26th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. on March 21, 2015, left, and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 7, 2019. 

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