Paar: No more celebrity presidents

Sam Paar, Staff Writer

The 2016 election was bound to be unprecedented either way it swung: to the left was who may be the first female president, and to the right was a man who had never held a position in politics. A year later, with Donald Trump in office, he has surprised much of the population in both good and bad ways.

Regardless of public opinion of what he has or has not done, myself and an increasing number of citizens seem to feel the same way: celebrities should not be holding office positions. 

Kanye West wouldn’t know where to begin with foreign policy. The Rock would be surprised and appalled at much of what goes on behind closed doors. Oprah might be a great business woman, but she certainly would not know how to run the business of America.

To me, this would be as though I went to California University for four years for my English degree. In the right place, this degree could be very useful. If I play my cards right, I can get a fantastic job and have a happy, long career dealing with my English skills.

However, if I one day decided to walk into a hospital and ask about applying for a position as a doctor, I would likely be told where the door was. Why do we see such a crucial position such as being the leader of one of the most powerful first-world countries differently?

The American dream is a vastly defined idea but can be generalized to one premise: everybody wants to see themselves do well. Of course, celebrities like Trump have lived this dream to the fullest.

As a multi-millionaire, what more could he ask for aside from overseeing making laws that regulate his taxes? Even though Oprah is talking about running for the left half of the political spectrum, it’s hard to have good faith that she wouldn’t do the same.

In a lot of cases, big time politicians are also well-off in a similar way that celebrities are. However, the difference is that many of those lawmakers have been through tedious law schooling and have extensive knowledge on economics and can, to a certain extent, comprehend how much of an impact the laws they pass have on society.

How would somebody like Kanye hold up against Senators that have been in office for years?

A year and some days later and I am yet convinced Trump knows what he’s gotten into. An experienced politician such as Barack Obama, who prepared all his life for such a position, hardly knew what he was getting himself into.

How can we as Americans feel comfortable voting in yet another individual who may slip and crumble under such pressure?

Some may argue that Ronald Raegan was an actor before a politician, which is a valid argument.

However, he was senator before he was president; this is crucial, because it made that transition much smoother. It is also worth mentioning that he brought about the idea of “Trickle-down economics”, which benefit the illustrious one-percent.

Hate him or love him, nobody can deny that Trump has been a wild card like America has never witnessed before. Whoever runs in 2020 against him has some persuading to do with the far-right, but with an approval rating of 38.8 percent, it’s hard to say if may be elected for a second term.         

However, if it’s yet another celebrity figure, the American public may struggle with the decision.