Testing, Testing

Our dear leader is fond of bragging about all of the tests he passes with flying colors. (Like the basic memory test he recently took; he did not understand that the test in question is used as an indicator of mental decline among older people, and passing it basically means you’re not demented. I’m not convinced.)

Well, I’ve got a test that I defy this guy to pass.

I am in my community’s Rotary Club, and from the first meeting I ever attended as a guest, I have been all in on the Four Way Test:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

The actual title for those four questions is “Tshe$ Four Way Test of the Things We Think, Say, and Do.” That is an important clarification, and any good Rotarian will compare anything he or she thinks or is about to say or do with the tenets of The Four Way Test.

Can you imagine what would happen if the principles embodied by those four simple questions applied to our current president? Let’s break it down:

Is it the truth? The guy is lying constantly, bringing to mind the old joke, “How can you tell when a lawyer is lying? He opens his mouth.”

Is it fair to all concerned? You can make up your own mind based on what you see for yourself. I happen to know something about the fellow who was Trump’s in-house counsel for 30 years, and he once told a friend of mine, “Every deal Trump makes is good for Trump and nobody else.”

Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Everything the man says and does is devised to divide. In his mind, “win-win” doesn’t exist; in every transaction, Trump must win and everybody else must lose.

Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Puh-lease.

The irony is, many – if not most – staunch Rotarians are also staunch Republicans and firm, if not enthusiastic, Trump supporters. Then again, people supporting Trump in defiance of their core beliefs is nothing new: many Jews, Latinos, Christians, even African-Americans have made a deal with this devil because he has convinced them that he is in their corner. But, “Is it the truth?” Not hardly.