The Question of Morality

As I prepared breakfast yesterday morning, I heard the news in the background reporting on the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. I stopped for a minute as I heard what appeared to be Trump defending Kim Jong Un. Wait. Did I hear this correctly? Trump believes that Kim Jong Un didn't know about Otto Warmbier's torture and time in prison? Trump believes Kim Jong Un "feels badly about it."? I already have my issues with Trump, but this I simply could not believe.

Later that day, I came across an article in the New York Times called "Morality and Michael Cohen" written by David Brooks and posted on February 28, 2019. This was perfect timing after hearing about Trump defending Kim Jong Un. In his article, Brooks writes with pure emotion as he questions Trump's, Cohen's, and Republican House members' morality. In addition, Brooks is challenging all of America to take a look at their lives and evaluate whether they are being true to their morals. Brooks first addresses that Trump seems to mainly care about his brand and writes, "In turning himself into a brand he's turned himself into a human shell," suggesting that Trump has completely turned himself off to doing what is right. In Michael Cohen's testimony on Wednesday, Cohen reveals many of Trump's questionable actions. Brooks discusses how he feels Cohen in telling the truth, but he doesn't "believe he [Cohen] is a changed man . . . He's [Cohen] just switched teams and concluded that the Democrats can now give him what he wants." By observing the actions of Trump and Cohen, Brooks is questioning the morality of Republican House members. Brooks believes they are traveling down a slippery path where they turn their moral sense off at work and try to turn it back on when they return home. Is this true? Could this be true with many politicians? Brooks goes on to address America in general by wondering if Trump supporters are completely distancing themselves from their morals to defend and support a man that is morally corrupt. He writes, "Immorality usually bites you in the ass. If you behave in a way that betrays relationship and obliterates the truth and erases your own integrity, you will sooner or later wind up where Michael Cohen has wound up--having ruined your life."

David Brooks is a Republican columnist at the New York Times and describes himself as a moderate. He has worked as an editor for The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Editor and as a contributing editor fo Newsweek and The Atlantic Monthly. While I admire Brooks for speaking his mind, a number or writers and journalists criticize him for not supporting his views with facts and statistics. Furthermore, when Brooks has included supportive facts, they have turned out to be untrue. However, an opinion writer named Tom Scocca has defended Brooks by saying that Brooks may not turn to facts "because he perceives facts and statistics as an opportunity for dishonest people to work mischief." I appreciate how Brooks wrote this article. He uses what he is observing and what many Americans are observing every day to form an opinion. It many not be full of hard facts and tons of statistics, but I don't think that is always needed when writing about morality. All Americans--Republicans, Democrats, and those in the middle--need to find a way to stay true to their morals, and we need to decide if Trump is a leader we can be proud of or if he is leading us down a path where we all end up lost.