Incompetence Has Consequences

There are rumors that the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is planning to change the illustration next to the word incompetent to a group photo of the Trump White House staff with the president front and center.

Day after day, Trump, and his staff prove that they were not even near ready for prime time. Since their first day at the White House, it has been chaos. It started with the insistence that the Trump inauguration crowd on the Mall was the largest in history. That despite photographic and eyewitness evidence that it wasn't even the largest crowd of the decade. It has been mostly downhill since then.

While the crowd size issue had no real consequences except to show Trump as delusional and a liar, the firing of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was a real problem. The numerous stories about that firing again proved that this team has no clue how to run an administration or to communicate with the media and the public. The drama and confusion have continued on an almost daily basis. No two people in the White House have the same story on almost any situation or event. 

For someone supposedly an expert in PR and self-promotion, Trump and his staff have been amazingly out of touch. There are no good answers to the reasons for this. They are either too arrogant to care, too out of touch to know better or too stupid do their jobs. None is a good option. 

Trump has absolutely no chance to cram what should have been 70 years of knowledge into his inattentive and self-centered brain. His only chance to right this sinking ship is to hire competent staffers, listen to them and stay on script. No more midnight Tweets, no more blatant lies that are easily refuted, no more "alternative facts", less paranoia. In simple words, act like an adult, act like a president with a professional staff.

I am not a Trump fan and while I don't want him to be able to advance his agenda, I also don't want him to fail so completely that it harms the country. I want the citizens of the country and the world to still have trust and respect for the US government.  

My guess is that if we had a few weeks of calm at the White House, the media and the public would give Trump a second chance. It would take time and discipline and some behavioral changes. I will never agree with most of Trump's platform, but I take no pleasure in seeing the office brought down. I want to get rid of Trump via the 2020 elections, not a constitutional crisis and impeachment. 

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Top Secret

Apparently, President Donald Trump allegedly is more willing to give information to the Russians than the American people. It has been reported that Trump shared classified information with the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador to the US during a White House meeting last week. It reminds me of the old Beatles' song Do You Want to Know a Secret?

After the Washington Post broke the story, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster refuted that Trump divulged any sources or methods. His statement does not deny that the president shared confidential information with the Russians. In fact, Trump has since admitted in a Tweet to giving information to the Russian representatives. 

Intelligence experts, including former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, have stated that the source may, in fact, have been compromised. If not directly, indirectly. It is also a certainty that the information will now be passed to Russian allies Syria and Iran. 

The meeting between Trump and the Russians had been requested by Putin and was behind closed doors with no US press access. The meeting came to light when a Russian photographer, who was allowed access, published the pictures in the Russian media. So, it was a closed-door meeting at the request of Putin, one day after Comey's firing for investigating Russian connections to the Trump campaign, and sensitive information was given to the Russians. Whether right or wrong, the optics of this situation are absolutely horrible. Another faux pas by Trump is that he did not bring up the topic of Russian meddling with our presidential campaign. A lost opportunity. 

This is the same president who won't share his tax returns with the American public, won't say yes or no about recording in the White House, changes stories about the Comey firing, and disseminates "alternative" and changing "facts" about almost every situation. 

We may never know whether the information shared with the Russians will cause problems for us or the sources in the future. The point is that Trump didn't know that either prior to blabbing. Trump may have the right to disclose the information he did. That does not mean it was right to do so.  

Electing an inexperienced, unqualified, and unprepared person to the presidency has consequences. 

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Is Trump Trolling Us?

One of the questions I have heard repeated over the past few days is "Is Trump trolling us and the Congress" or some variation. The question is being asked by those in Congress, media members, and at least in my case, regular citizens. 

The question was being asked in regard to the following Trump tweet. "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"

There are actually two questions here. First, is this a threat by the president? Second, is Trump taping his conversations? It is the second question that brings up the trolling question. Trump and his surrogates have refused to comment on the taping issue. Sean Spicer has stonewalled the press on their questions about White House taping. Trump has also declined to answer questions on the subject.

I'm not overly concerned about whether Trump is taping his conversations. That is legal and is his prerogative. I would point out that White House taping has a track record of not turning out well for the occupants. 

What is concerning is that the term "trolling" comes into the discussion. Is the president trolling Congress? The fact that those in the government and the media think that Trump may be lying or trying to fool them is disturbing. It appears that there is little confidence in the veracity of what comes out of Trump's mouth or from his surrogates. (That last sentence was written with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.)  

It would be one thing if the administration was putting out misinformation as part of a particular objective or a long term strategy with foreign governments. This looks like a scramble to do damage control for a botched firing.

Trolling and president don't belong in the same sentence. Congress, the people, and the world need to have some confidence that we are not being trolled or played. 

Unfortunately, this too will probably quickly pass as Trump and his minions stumble into the next cluster fuck. 

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Adios James Comey

FBI Director James Comey was fired on Tuesday, 5/9/17, by President Trump. I have mixed emotions about this move. 

Comey certainly made a mess of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. There were several missteps during that investigation. His press conference in the summer of 2016 stated that the FBI would not pursue criminal charges against Clinton and the case was closed. Then during that press conference and subsequent Congressional hearings, Comey went into great detail to chastise Clinton for her behavior. Unprecedented actions by an FBI Director.  The public revelation that the investigation was being reopened just a few days before the November Presidential election was also a first. This was because new evidence had been found yet the evidence had not even been read. It turned out that this new evidence was, in fact, the same old evidence so the case was again closed and Clinton was off the hook. Of course, the damage had already been done. Many people assumed Clinton's guilt because of the old adage, "where there's smoke, there's fire".

Comey again made a mess of his Senate testimony recently when he talked about the Clinton email investigation, his actions and the ongoing investigation into Russian influence and tampering of the 2016 Presidential campaigns and election. 

I agree that Comey has tarnished the reputation of the FBI and cast doubt on their non-partisan and non-political charter.

On the other hand, it is suspicious that Trump would fire Comey while there is an ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged contacts with Russia. The firing was recommended by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions was a member of the Trump campaign and is potentially under investigation himself. 

The official reasons for Comey's firing is that he strayed from established FBI and Justice Department procedures and traditions during the Clinton investigation. Somewhat ironic in that many think Comey's reopening of the Clinton case in late October 2016 hurt her campaign and helped Trump get elected.

We may never know the real reasons and timing for the dismissal. We now have to hope that Trump takes the stated reasons for the firing to heart and actually appoints a nonpartisan, nonpolitical, competent person to head the FBI. Will the Russian connection investigation be dropped? Will the Clinton email investigation be reopened? 

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The Health Care 13

These are the 13 Senators that have been chosen to craft the Senate version of Trumpcare. Notice anything these Senators have in common? Notice anything missing from this group? 

My guess is that the plan these people come up with will have wonderful coverage for prostate exams and procedures, Viagra prescriptions and other ED procedures. Mammograms, Pap smears, birth control, prenatal care maybe not so much. 

Last time I checked, women made up almost 51%, African Americans over 12%, Hispanics around 17% of the US population. There are also the Asians and Native Americans. Yet, the Republican Senate leaders think a 100% white male group can determine the health care needs of the entire country. Not just white males, but old conservative rich white males in probably fairly good health. How arrogant can they be? It also shows how out of touch they are. If for no other than PR and appearances there should be at least token diversity on the panel. Then even if the white male leaders ignored female, black, chronically ill or poor input, they could claim those constituencies had their say. 

To be fair, Senate Republican leaders invited Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) to the Tuesday working meeting. There has been no indication yet if she will be a permanent member of the group, or if this is a one-off deal. This only occurred because of the public, media, and Democratic uproar. Another indication that the old farts are tone deaf and do not have their finger on the nation's pulse.

I am not delusional enough to think that the Republicans will produce a comprehensive, affordable, fair health care bill regardless of who is on their working committees. My only hope is that it might be slightly less draconian with some diverse input. Make no mistake about it. The purpose of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) or whatever it is called is to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, Obamacare) and provide tax relief for the rich and some savings to pay for 2018 budget. It is only marginally about health care. 

My hope at this time is that the Republican House and Senate can not reach an agreeable compromise and the AHCA flounders for the next two years. 

We'll see whether the Republicans can govern from their majority position or continue to disagree among their various factions. It's only the nation's health care at stake.

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Trumpcare Redux

Many Republicans and Trumpers are celebrating over the passage in the House of The American Health Care Act (AHCA). Nothing has really been accomplished yet. This bill still has to go to the Senate, be revised, go to conference committee, go back to the House, go back to the Senate, then to the President. That's the best case scenario. If the bill has changes after the conference committee it basically goes back to the end of the line and starts over. There is also the possibility that after any changes, the vote will also change. 

One big issue with this bill is that no one knows what is actually in it. Most of the Representatives questioned after the vote admitted that they haven't read the bill and are not sure what is or isn't in it. Several other Representatives who voted for it have serious reservations. They are publicly saying that they hope the Senate makes positive changes to the bill and fix its problems. 

Another big issue is that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not evaluated this bill. That means we don't know how much the bill will cost or what effect it has on actual healthcare. The predecessor bill, which was never voted on, was projected to cover 24 million fewer people and to cost more than The Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare. Since the CBO hasn't reviewed this iteration of the AHCA, we don't know how much those numbers changed. 

Let me also point out that the Republicans voting for this bill are so thrilled with it that they exempted all Representatives, Senators and staff members from this health coverage. Another example of politicians abiding by the "do as I say, not what I do" rule. 

It seems to me that Trump and the Republicans were way more interested in passing any repeal and replace bill, a victory, than actually improving health care. Donald wanted to prove he is "winning" and Speaker Paul Ryan needed some kind, any kind, of victory in the House. This governing as the majority party is proving way more difficult and complicated than anyone knew. 

I am more than happy for the Republicans to be joined at the hip to this disastrous health care bill. My hope is that during the coming Senate/House negotiations the bill dies a long and painful, for Trump and the Republicans, death. Then even though the bill fails, those who voted for it will still be tied to it for the 2018 elections. I fear that if the bill ever becomes law that many people will suffer because of the reductions in health care and the increased costs. That would be extremely sad but it may take that to finally boot the Republicans out of office and get truly affordable and comprehensive health insurance and care in place. A bipartisan enduring solution, not one that changes with every election. 

This chapter in the Trump administration has just begun. We'll all be watching it unfold over the coming months. My wild and probably unrealistic wish is that we come out of this exercise with a wonderful health care bill. I'm not optimistic.

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Trump History - Civil War

Apparently, Donald Trump never took an American history course in school. If by chance he did take that course, he must have failed it or his rich daddy bought him a passing grade. I'm not sure where to begin with this discussion of Trump's statements about Andrew Jackson and the Civil War. He is so confused and wrong in his views of both the Civil War and President Jackson. I suspect he would lose a debate with most high school students let alone educated adults. The man is an embarrassment.

Trump on the Civil War: ‘Why Could That One Not Have Been Worked Out?’

This statement from a president who couldn't even work out a health care bill with his own party. In the 1850's, slavery was the hottest issue in the country. To a much lesser degree, states rights were in the mix but that was mostly because the southern states wanted the right to continue slavery and to expand it to new western states as they entered the union. The elimination of slavery was a threat to the whole southern economy. Despite that, many people, smarter than Trump, worked hard and long on trying to achieve a satisfactory and peaceful compromise.

"People don't realize, ya know, you think about it – why? People don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?"

What people don't ask why there was a Civil War? If you ever took an American History course, I'm pretty sure you were asked that question. I certainly was, more than once. I even had to write papers that addressed that issue. It is estimated that there have been over 50 thousand books written on the Civil War. I have to think that at least a few of those authors asked "Why". I'm a very slight Civil War follower. I just looked and I have about 10 Civil War books on my bookshelves. Every one of them muses about "why"  and speculates about "what if" it had been avoided. 

"Had Andrew Jackson been a little bit later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War"

Jackson was out of office in March 1837, 24 years before the Civil War, and was dead by 1845, 16 years before the war. Yes, Jackson did settle a dustup between the South, mostly South Carolina, and the Federal government over federal tariffs and states rights to ignore those taxes. It was an important issue and potential crisis for the nation and preservation of the Union, called the Nullification Crisis. That being said, a disagreement over tariffs and taxes is nowhere near the incendiary issue that slavery became in the 1850's leading up to the Civil War. In fact, Jackson was a southerner who was in favor of slavery and was a slave owner. 

Trump has become enamored with Andrew Jackson. A fascination that only began during the campaign at the earliest and only because svengali Steve Bannon put the idea in his head. It appears that he thinks of himself as the current day Jackson.  A tough, big-hearted populist who comes from outside the Washington establishment. A candidate who was in one of the most vicious campaigns at a time when the country was deeply divided. Jackson actually lost the election in 1824 although he won the popular vote but lost the election in the House of Representatives. The exact opposite of Trump's situation who lost the popular vote but won in the Electoral College. The brutal and personal election was in1828 which was a landslide Jackson victory. So Trump's and Jackson's election history is not actually that similar. 

Because he sees himself as the current day Jackson, Trump has to build up Jackson as a superman. That means he embellishes Jackson's accomplishments and therefore his own abilities. Since Trump is historically ignorant, he mixed and matched the timeline and some events to fit his view of Jackson. 

If ignorance is bliss, Trump must be happy as a pig in slop. Wouldn't it be great if our president had at least a rudimentary knowledge of our history and the Constitution? It is not only scary but very disappointing.

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Flips & Flops

Donald Trump flip-flops on almost everything. He also denies having said one thing when he now says the opposite. That is called flip-flopping or lying in most circles. Not so with this administration. Below are a number of issues that Trump has changed position on in no particular order or relative importance. Can we really trust anything that comes out of his mouth? As the symbolic first hundred days of Trump's presidency passes, here is a partial scorecard. I'm sure there are many more to come.

• NATO is obsolete. NATO is no longer obsolete. 
• China is a currency manipulator. China does not manipulate their currency.
• Will drain the DC swamp. Immediately filled his administration with billionaires, donors, politicians, and Wall Street insiders.
• Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad can remain in place. Bashar al-Assad must go.
• We should not bomb Syria over chemical weapons. He did bomb Syria over the use of chemical weapons.
• The president must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria. No Congressional approval for his bomb strike.
• No cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. His failed healthcare bill would cut Medicaid by $880 billion over 10 years. 
• Trump has known Steve Bannon for many years. I didn't know Steve until I hired him late in the campaign.
• The Export-Import Bank is unnecessary. It's a very good thing.
• Immediately pull out of the Paris climate accord. Undecided about the Paris climate accord.
• Why would anyone ask for immunity unless they are guilty? Michael Flynn should ask for immunity.
• The One-China Policy is negotiable. Fully supports the One-China Policy.
• Fed Chairwoman Yellen is keeping interest rates artificially low, is very political, should be ashamed of herself. I like her, I respect her.
• Why is Obama constantly using executive orders? Trump has issued 32 executive orders in his first 100 days. 
• Unemployment numbers are all phony. Positive unemployment numbers are now very real.
• Criticized Obama for playing golf. Has played golf almost every week since he took office.
• Instituted a hiring freeze on federal employees. Modified/removed his freeze.
• Obama's presidency is not transparent. Trump won't release White House visitor logs. (Obama did).
• After the failed Trump/Ryancare bill (repeal and replace) they would do tax reform first. Now healthcare is back on the front burner.
• Will accomplish and fulfill almost all his campaign promises within the first 100 days. The first 100 days is a ridiculous standard.
• Grading the first 100 days is "ridiculous". My first 100 days were the best ever.
• He's going to terminate NAFTA immediately. He will try to renegotiate NAFTA.

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