Nutter's Washington

More Advice for Trump: Focus on the Important Stuff, the Campaign is Over

 

Now the Inauguration ceremony is over, it is time to govern, or so it would seem. However, Mr. Trump does not seem to read the papers to know he is actually the President of all Americans. (Although some seem not to recognize him as President at all) The campaign is over. It is different now.

The weekend seemed a bit rough for the President. He wants to continue to take on everyone-media, the Women’s Marchers, the “intelligence community” and inexplicitly the determination of the number to people who attended the swearing-in and parade. Facts are not important, consistency is not required. Hey, we all are not stupid.

Hard to make this stuff up and hard to understand. If anyone thought Mr. Trump was going to suddenly turn into a pussycat or a Bush-like milquetoast, they were not paying attention. However there is a line. In order to be successful, Mr. Trump is going to need public support. The bellicose tone is tedious.

So, let’s again give some advice, this time three suggestions:

• The campaign is over. Do not sweat the small stuff. Who cares how many people went to the Inauguration ceremony? It does not matter, it is only ego and mega-egos have taken down many arrogant people. By making it a big deal, it makes it even a bigger deal. A leader knows when to pick his battles.
• Denigrating or questioning the motives of the Saturday marchers just fuels the fire. Let it go. Be generous to them. Why give credence to the opposition? These people are never going to support you or your policies, no matter what. They will not be listening but why energize them?
• Get organized. The election was 10 weeks ago and you should have had an initial agenda and set of actions to take. Set the priorities and get on with it. Jumping around, general statements and blah blah just creates doubt. This can be cured but credibility and competence are important.

At this point, I am not sure where all the hate (and it is hate) comes from. In speaking with people whom attended the march, I was taken with the amount of venom. I asked how would they have felt if there had been a big protest after Obama was elected? Would these people have been racists, or patriot Americans exercising their rights to assemble? Good question. However, the country will continue to seethe until both sides stop it. I am not optimistic.

Advice for Trump: Ditch the Children and Twitter

 

Mr. Trump held a press conference of sorts yesterday. It was a most entertaining but frightening affair. I do not think he fully understands what he is about to undertake, nor is he ready for it.

In order to be successful. and be successful for the country, Mr. Trump needs to maintain and retain public support. He needs to understand the cartoon, bombastic mannerisms in the campaign will get old quickly.

There is no doubt there is a wide swath of organizations (including government ones), interest groups, media outlets, celebrities, officials and political hacks that are trying to delegitimized Mr. Trump and his election. That in and of itself is disgusting, particularly the way it is being done. Who knows what is true anymore? Be that as it may, the new President needs to act like a President.

Therefore, I am going to give advice to Mr. Trump on a regular basis. These are the first four of such gems.

1. Get rid of the children. No one cares about them. No one elected them. Children of government officials, particularly the President should not be seen nor have any major role in government. Sure, as a parent be proud, love them, take care of them but get them off the stage.

2. Do not act like a jerk or seem to be a jerk. Stop belittling people. Stop the character assassination. Stop the hyperbole. Temper the confrontations. There are better ways to make a point.

3. Understand that Vladimir Putin is not a friend of the United States. The Russian Government has done about everything possible to take advantage of the weakness and incompetence of the Obama Administration. Do not seem like a patsy, making excuses.

4. Stop using Twitter. Not dignified, not helpful, confusing and comments seem almost non sequitur at times. Major government policy is not prone to 140 letter messages. There is considerable to accomplish, take a measured and calculated approach. That means no midnight blurts.

Mr. Trump will be unlike any Chief Executive the country has ever had. It will be entertaining and as we say around here “you can not make this stuff up” Washington needs to be shaken up, new policies enacted but he will fall short if the helter-skelter demeanor continues.

Good Luck and take my advice. 

Mr. Obama: Wave Goodbye

President Barack Obama gave a “ farewell” address last night. I did not watch, nor do I care. I have not believed anything Mr. Obama has said for some time. He has a week left in office and then the long antagonistic national nightmare will be over.

For a long time, I tried to be very objective about the actions taken by Mr. Obama. Unlike fewer and few Americans, I want the President to be successful even if I disagree with the policies. From the beginning of his initial election (and elections do indeed have consequences), he has disappointed. Mr. Obama leaves a nation, the world in many respects in a much darker and alienated place. His way of thinking he was right all the time has led to policies that will be wiped away.

It is hard to think of many achievements in the last eight years. There are plenty who would disagree with me, those that could not ever find a fault with Mr. Obama. Those that believe any and everything that has gone wrong is the fault of the opposition, due to racism, xenophobia, zealots and the unwashed. Nothing was ever his fault.

Let’s take a quick look at the record of some of those achievements in no particular order:

• Doubling of National Debt to over 20 Trillion Dollars
• Deposing the Libyan Dictator only to walk away with an even deeper problem
• Deal with Iran giving them billions of dollars to expand influence and promote and sponsor terrorists
• Leading from behind
• The Arab Spring
• Death and Lies in Benghazi 
• Not even a good faith attempt at needed tax reform
• Flood of illegal immigrants from all over the world
• Attack on Freedom of the Press (ironic, isn’t it?)
• Curbing of religious freedom
• Improper use of IRS to punish “our enemies” (aka American citizens)
• Slow economic expansion, largely wasted stimulus
• Growing income inequality gap
• Higher taxes
• Extraordinary, excessive and improper use of Executive orders
• Expanded entitlements
• Rise of global Russian influence
• Failure to enforce “red line in the sand” in Syria
• Expansion of Chinese military in South China sea
• Failure to get anything at all for Cuban people in Cuban outreach
• Polarizing race relationships
• Isolation of former friend Israel
• Massive wave of new Regulations
• “You can keep your own doctor” health program
• Rise of ISIS
• Failure to recognize and address domestic terror

Wow, those all came out in about a minute. Enough.

Mr. Obama is some ways is a much better person than Mr. Trump. Thoughtful, has a political philosophy (albeit misguide and naïve) moral to an extent. However, as  the soon to be former President, I hope he moves silently into the night. No need for a farewell, just wave goodbye.

Mr Obama: Enough Already

President Obama in acts of desperation is showing a callous disregard, and his own insecurity, for the election results by issuing midnight regulations, foreign policy edits and policy directives. He simply believes he knows best and has always known best about everything. There is no room for anyone who holds a contrary view. This is why his Administration will prove to be mostly transitory. There was never any attempt to build mutual support. 

Like a spoiled brat, he continue to whine. Mr. Obama actually embarrasses himself by pushing the petal to the metal until the very end. He wants to campaign until forced to leave his post. However, Mr. Obama has been God’s gift to the Republican Party with the Republicans now in full control of most states and the federal government.

He is not acting like someone who wants to have an orderly transition but anyone who has watched him would not expect any thing more from him. I doubt Mr. Obama will go quietly into the night but he should.