Dear Donald: It's Not Always About You

Mr. Trump;

When you are already holding the top job in the United States, you shouldn't need to keep campaigning, and especially not with children.

Are you really so insecure that you need to see a bunch of kids, ranging in age from 7 to 20 years old, chanting your name and booing the first black president?

You weren't even a Boy Scout, sir, and yet you have the unmitigated gall to call out former President Barack Obama for not speaking at the National Jamboree. The man was a Boy Scout, in every sense of the term. He may not have attended a Jamboree as President, but he did address the 2010 crowd at the 100th anniversary of the event via video. Am I saying that your predecessor was without fault? Absolutely not. Contrary to what you seem to believe, sir, the nature of being human means we are all going to make mistakes and sometimes, those mistakes are huge.

Your predecessor, however, knows enough that when you're speaking with a bunch of kids who are involved in a service organization designed to make life better in general, you don't turn it into a political rally, and you sure don't turn it into a self-aggrandizing moment of grandstanding.

You led these kids in chants where people were booed. What threat does Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton pose to you at this point?

You emphasized the importance of wealth with no mention of the importance of public service.

You skirted very close to really inappropriate discussions about how much "fun" your friends had upon becoming wealthy. The implications were heavy with that part of your speech, sir, and to say that I felt as though I needed a shower afterward because I felt disgusted by your diatribe would not be an understatement.

What the hell are you thinking?

You're talking to kids, Mr. Trump. You thanked them at one point for voting for you yet the lion's share of them would either have no clue what you were on about or wouldn't even be able to vote.

One of the first things I teach my students is to know your audience. It doesn't matter if you're writing or giving a speech; if you have no idea who you're talking to, you're going to lose them, and quickly. I can't see how most of your audience would even feel as though they understood what you were even talking about. Let's also remember that you lost the popular vote, so even if the Boy Scout in question was of voting age, they may not have voted for you or, for that matter, even voted. According to The Daily Dot, only 59.7 percent of eligible voters turned out, and while that seems like a decent number, it still means that there are a lot of eligible voters who did not come vote.

Most of the time, if you tell little kids to clap, they're going to. Tell them to cheer, and they're going to. There are many who will just do so because everyone else is, and it looks like fun. Are you so narcissistic that thousands of youngsters cheering for you — and likely not even knowing what you stand for — fuels your ego?

You went on the attack — mostly against the media, but also against your predecessor. You seemed concerned that the media would underreport the size of the crowd simply because you were there — shades of when you said your inauguration was the best attended back in January. By the way — it still wasn't. Obama's first inauguration back in 2009 holds that honor.

You cursed. While grown ups cursing in and around kids has been going on for a number of years — either accidentally or on purpose — one would think that you could have restrained yourself long enough to get through a speech. Also, why did you imply you weren't going to talk politics when clearly that was your intent in being there?

You threatened to fire the Secretary of Health and Human Services during the televised speech. Seriously? In front of a bunch of kids, you're threatening to take someone's job?

Mr. Trump, your speech was neither presidential nor an example of the standards to which the Boy Scouts should align themselves. It was a farce and an opportunity for you to demonstrate once again how desperately inappropriate you are for this job.