An Open Letter to "You're Fired!"

Dear "You're Fired!",

I remember the good old days when my only understanding of "You're Fired!" was the scene in A Bug's Life when Tuck and Roll, the two roll polys, used the allusion as a punchline. A Bug's Life came out in 1998, long before anyone could have ever imagined that Donald Trump would become the President of the United States.

The fact that our President even has a catchphrase is worthy of a completely different letter, but Trump's lack of experience is not what I want to address this week. Instead, I would like to delve into the history of this statement: how it went from being a humorous and powerful exclamation to an empty one that no longer carries weight.

Let's start with The Apprentice. Donald Trump hosted a reality TV show in which contestants competed to win a position within his company. At the end of each episode, the eliminated contestant was sent off with Trump's trademark line, "you're fired!"

To the contestants on that show, or anyone else that Trump targeted during his business days, those two words meant everything. In some cases, it could end careers and permanently disrupt financial standings. Before Trump became President, he had power to control the people around him. I'm not sure if people respected him, but I think they did so more back then than they do now.

Of course, Trump appears to have more power today. He holds one of the most influential positions in the entire country. Some might argue that he is the most powerful man on the planet. However, those two words don't have the same effect.

Why?

Because everyone is quitting.

Just a little over a year into the Trump presidency, over twelve major people have resigned. By historical standards, that is practically unheard of. Reasons as to why some of these people left vary. Some, such as Rob Porter, were forced to resign due to sexual violence allegations. Others, like the Obama-era attorney general, Sally Yates, and Office of Government Ethics director, Walter Shaub, resigned because of fundamental and unsolvable disagreements with President Trump.

Personal autonomy is superseding presidential power. Individuals are standing up to the power of government, to the power of the most influential man in the world. A few years ago, it would have been an honor to work in the White House. Now, however, it has become a place of disgraced hypocrisy and idiocy. Respected politicians are choosing to withdraw. In short, they'd rather be without work than with Trump.

However, resigners are not the only ones responsible for delegitimizing Trump's power.

He's doing it to himself.

Trump's compulsion to lie has discredited his word. A few weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast in which the hosts played two truths and a lie with some of Trump's statements. They would read three quotes and then someone would have to guess which two were true. It was impossible to tell which one was a lie; each statement was absurd enough to be true.

Rants on Twitter, blind and thoughtless fervor, and claims of "fake news" have all made it impossible to trust Trump's word. At least when he was a reality TV star, people listened to him, and, for the most part, recognized his word as legitimate. Now, I personally don't trust anything that he says.

According to the most recent approval report by FiveThirtyEight (which compiles data from all polls), Trump's approval rating is just over 40%.

A survey of 170 political scientists and experts from the American Political Science Association ranked every president, and Donald Trump fell to the very bottom of the list (44/44). Think of every bad president we've had (some of the ones that top my list include Zachary Taylor, James Buchanan, and Andrew Jackson) and we are living with the worst in history.

I think our society is coming to the realization that there is no such thing as truth. There never has been, and there never will be.

President Trump has done us a favor in this way. We aren't going to let government walk all over us anymore. His insane antics have jarred us back into reality: we're awake and ready to fight. Politicians are going to have to start listening to what the people want. Trump can fire all of the officials that he wants, but he can't fire the American public. When it comes down to it, we're the ones in charge.

Even though Trump holds the most influential position that he ever has, he is the weakest he's ever been. We don't trust him. We don't believe him. We aren't going to take it anymore.

I hope that people continue to resign, and I hope with each person that walks away, we are continually reminded of the abnormalities of this administration. Only when we realize how far we have strayed from what government is supposed to be will we begin to pick up the pieces to get back on track.

Personally, there is one person I really pray will recognize his personal autonomy and choose to resign.

Heck, I'd be happy if his own words were used against him.

I think you know who I'm talking about.

Yours truly,