Microphones can be notoriously frustrating, when you’re trying to speak. I’ve had more than enough bad mic experiences on a Sunday morning. Microphones have squealed, barked, or at times shocked us with a high-pitched shriek. On occasion, we’d discover a utility working nearby, using the same frequency, as the church’s wireless mic.

And it’s frustrating to be the person trying to manage microphones too. Some sound systems are super sensitive, where just a fraction of a turn on the dial will set it off. Batteries go dead, somebody turns up their hearing aid, or electricity in the air messes with the sound system. So I can understand former president Trump’s frustration in Milwaukee last week, when his microphone did not work well. A person wants their message to be heard.

What I don’t understand though, is how he could curse and swear at the contractor, and whoever  was working with them . . . Or how he threatened to “Knock the hell out of the people back stage.”  Nor do I understand how when he said that, the crowd cheered.

As Trump talked about his anger and being up there seething . . . Behind him were those frantically trying to repair the situation. Attempting every trick in the book they knew, to figure out what was wrong. Doing everything they could, to get around whatever interference was messing with the sound.

I expect common decency and respect from people looking for my vote. Especially, respect for the ordinary working men and women, whose labor holds the country together.

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in God’s holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false.” Psalm 24:3-4a