If Trump is the Number 45, What is Mulgrew?

   I was astonished and struck by the surreal absurdity that 'our' UFT president, Michael Mulgrew, is using the number 45 to refer to Donald Trump. At first I thought it was a hidden joke thrown in by blogger and HS Executive Board member Arthur Goldstein on his recent blog http://nyceducator.com/2017/03/uft-executive-board-march-20-2017.html . (45 is actually an auspicious number http://www.ridingthebeast.com/numbers/nu45.php  )  It was not. It got me thinking about what it means to be a leader, what it says about our union and our country. This is the United States of America, not a dictatorship. We have a democracy in which Trump - love him, hate him or don't care - was elected president. Get over it, he's the president. (We have a voice and many ways to use it. Fixation on his legitimacy is ridiculous.) The same can be said about Mulgrew's election as UFT president. (We had to get over that as well.) A union exists for many subtle reasons, but its main focus should be on its members and elevating the profession. A leader needs those goals to direct his or her members, otherwise you just have a large group of unfocused people that can quickly become a mob - although I highly doubt it with our demoralized rank and file. A leader, especially under these circumstances, shouldn't be so afraid that he won't utter the name of the person who intends to end his members jobs and severely curtail the profession as a whole. It's not leadership. It's indicative of everything that's wrong with the UFT. Fear, apathy, and yet another embarrassing incident that is unintentionally humorous to the objective observer. If Trump is even aware of it, I'm sure he's laughing himself off his golden toilet seat - not quivering with fear.