Trump’s Promises

So far every promise Trump had made during his campaign and since his inauguration has come to naught. Yes he claims he will do something but so far most of this has been stymied by the courts or yet to be approved by Congress. And the latter is not exactly cooperating with the details. The decisions are still very much in doubt.

Trial balloons are launched frequently by the Trump camp. The budget proposals. The executive orders, the stump speeches to sell and resell the trumpcare proposal that will replace either Obamacare or Ryancare.

So much is up in the air. Trump supporters are now seeing that he cannot fulfill all of his promises. So far not even one.

Words are cheap when not backed by action. And when actions are thwarted, spokesmen for the trump camp change the meaning of the words trump uttered or shift the meaning of the intent. Either way what is promised and what is accomplished are not forthcoming.

Most of us can heave a huge sigh of relief! Most of the attempts by trump to enable his point of view and ideological slop have met solid resistance in Congress and the Courts. So the immediate change is not made. But time does remain to craft a different approach and a toned down accomplishment.

No one will claim government is perfect. For God’s sake, government attempts to represent and manage a country of 330 million people. That is not done easily. Or efficiently or speedily. That is a given.

But we don’t throw babies out with the bath water when we don’t like something. There is much yet to be preserved before making a change. That is reasonable. That is logical. And that is the role of policy.

Ideological purists don’t agree, evidently. But then they usually don’t. I’m done trying to assuage them. It is their task to find mental health in the midst of their own breakdown. Not my job!

A turn to reasonable thinking, cooperation and collaboration will accomplish much more than the present adversarial approach. The system does not need to be this cantankerous. So lighten up, people!

Discuss issues that matter. Set sights on reasonable points of agreement and move on from there. Purists should go to the beach and chill out. Let the rest of us get the job done.

It is trump’s job to staff his administration with people who understand government and specifically can navigate the US government as it is presently constituted. He cannot make the system different by decree. He is not King. He has to work within the system for desired changes, then move on.

So far he is batting zero.  When that happens, he utters more epithets, tweets or scurrilous reports about someone’s wrong doing. So far no proof of anything. That means he is distracting the public and his supporters from his poor results so far.

The rest of us, however, are watching an accumulation of embarrassing missteps. And trump’s loss of equilibrium. Like a spoiled brat he continues to scowl his way through the days and cast aspersions on others.

Best to shut up and stick to the work on his desk. Build the team. Delegate to them. If not, for heaven’s sake resign so someone who does know the system can get work done.

March 17, 2017