About those phot-ops

It’s sad that most Americans still don’t understand the mindset of politicians. All politicians love photo-opts, an occasion that lends itself to (or is deliberately arranged for) taking photographs that provide favorable publicity for those involved in the process. Unfortunately a national catastrophe is an ideal event for such an opportunity. The closer the photo-op is scheduled after such an event the greater the impact.

Our president recently held such an event after the shooting of young people in an Orlando, Florida nightclub.

Another such photo-opt occurred recently, in Baton Rouge, with Donald Trump and his entourage along with U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. While many might argue that Trump’s visit to our state was good because it lifted the spirits of those that suffered tragic loses, it seemed to serve as yet another example of what many politicians have become in our nation, insincere, partisan, self-fulfilling opportunists. They play on our emotions with the ultimate goal of grabbing media headlines, and sadly, many don’t really care about the sincerity of an act as long as they derive some benefit.

Sincerity is the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy. It helps define the character of an individual. In our money-driven, high tech society, it is a trait that often gets lost.
Unfortunately quite often it takes a tragedy of the magnitude of the 2016 Flood to demonstrate true sincerity. Taylor Swift was one of the first to show it. No fanfares, no photo-opts, just a simple donation of $1 million given with love to Louisiana flood victims by a 27-year-old multi-Grammy award-winning American singer/songwriter.

Senators Bill Cassidy and David Vitter got it right; they didn’t have time to join the recent photo-op because they were busy with flood recovery efforts.

The residents of Louisiana showed it and continue to show it with their tremendous out- pouring of sincere help to those in need.

In this time of great tragedy let’s remember it’s those who give without expecting something in return that deserve our respect and praise, not those who simply want to grab the headlines.

Talk is cheap, sincerity is priceless.