The news media continues to provide extensive, blow-by-blow negative coverage of U.S. President Donald Trump. Social media also approaches the president angrily and abusively upon every decision and action he takes. All appears to be anti-Trump without any positive comments. The fact remains that he won the votes to get to the White House office. Now, whatever Trump may be, he does not join the ranks of brutal authoritarian leaders that have brought on massive tragic deaths of his people. He is not a Mao Zedong who killed approximately 78 million of his own people, nor is he a Joseph Stalin who killed approximately 23 million of his people. In my own time, that I remember well, Trump is not a Pol Pot of Cambodia who killed approximately 1.7 million of his own people. There are others.

Now I say this: if the journalists wish to berate and rail against someone or something in the same manner, then why not pen what is going on with the leaders in the Zimbabwe crisis, Myanmar Civil War, Yemen Civil War, Ethiopian Civil War, Sudan armed conflict and follow the millions upon millions of U.S. dollars given as humanitarian assistance to each of the countries? Continuous subjective fuming and seething against the U.S. president does not cast one in a good light. Those who are bitter remind me of Bertrand Russell's words: "Few people can be happy unless they hate some other person, nation or creed."

Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency have uncovered unnecessary government expenditures, and it is simply sound and prudent judgment to halt these expenses. Even the proposal to eliminate the U.S. penny (1-cent coin), which the U.S. Mint reported produced 3.2 billion in 2024 at a cost of 3.69 cents each, illustrates this point. Many oppose that! Furthermore, there have been past Congressional representative proposals to retire the penny (1990, 2001 and 2017).

Mind you, I am not aligned with any political persuasion, neither Republican nor Democrat. I do not vote, and many may argue that, in that case, I have no say in what the government does. OK, I accept that, but it doesn't erase my taxpayer common sense opinion. Everything mentioned above is about money and power or power and money. Pennies are money. There was an early age time that they meant so much to me because they could buy penny candy and Bazooka bubblegum. You could get two pieces for one penny, then, it went up to a penny a piece. Then, to 2 cents each, then to 3 cents each. Today, people drop pennies and don't bother to pick them up. The humble penny has limited circulation, decreased utility, and diminished buying power. For convenience, cash register purchases could be rounded to the nearest nickel, while electronic transactions would continue to reflect amounts to the penny.

Recall, George Burns did say: Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair. You could very well add other professions to his satirical comment. That's my two cents' worth.

The author (wrjones@vsu.edu) published the novella "Beyond Harvard" and teaches English as a second language. The views expressed here are his own.