White House, outhouse, s#!t#ouse

As a young boy, I lived on a small farm outside Lawrenceburg. Our toilet facilities consisted of an outhouse along with a Sears-Roebuck catalogue. In mid-July, the smell and the flies were quite unpleasant, and winter trips to the outhouse meant a very cold behind.

I was thinking about those days while reading about President Donald Trump’s Jan. 11 remarks to a group of U.S. senators in reference to the condition of African nations.

I don’t believe Trump knew what he was talking about. As a man of wealth and privilege, he never used, probably never even saw, an outhouse. So he would have no way of knowing what he was talking about when he made his remarks, demeaning to 1.3 billion black, white and Asian people who call Africa home.

If Trump had ever found it necessary to use an outhouse, perhaps he would have chosen not to use such phrasing.

But would he have changed his words if he had grown up on a farm in Kentucky? How will he “Make America Great Again” by heartless criticism of nations and people who do not have the freedoms that exist here?

A great nation would offer a hand up, not a kick in the head.

This story was originally published February 14, 2018 at 5:08 PM with the headline "White House, outhouse, s#!t#ouse."