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By Scott Tibbs, October 6, 2017
Note: I sent this open letter to President Donald Trump last week.
Mr. President,
I am writing you as someone who supports your agenda to Make America Great Again to please tone down your rhetoric and to be more disciplined on Twitter. Your tweet threatening the leadership of North Korea was a dangerous provocation and the nuclear-armed nation is publicly claiming it was a declaration of war.
The leader of North Korea is a brutal mass murderer who has no problems brutally slaughtering his own family and may be mentally unhinged. He clearly does not care about his own people and would not hesitate to sacrifice millions of lives if he felt that was necessary to preserve his power.
I am not worried about North Korea hitting the continental United States. I wish your critics would take a deep breath and calm down before predicting American cities will be destroyed by North Korean nukes. That said, unnecessary war with North Korea would be incredibly destructive in lives lost, property destroyed and economic calamity. Our allies in Japan and South Korea are especially vulnerable to North Korean aggression.
Obviously, we have to show strength and make it clear that there are lines. That is best done through measured, vetted diplomatic statements and not through a hasty 140 character post on social media. I appreciate that you are showing strength, but there is a difference between showing strength and exhibiting reckless behavior.
Mr. Trump, you are the President of these United States. With that office and incredible power should come a sobering responsibility to be measured, disciplined and thoughtful in your words and actions. Sadly, you have been none of those things far too often. If you cannot act more diplomatically and control your impulsive behavior, then it is time for you to close your Twitter account, because it is clear you cannot use it responsibly.
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