TDSF.

It is really rather ridiculous for everyone to be all up in President Trump’s “first 100 days”.  It is not ridiculous for some type of early assessment to be made on his progress as President; but it is certainly ridiculous to assign an arbitrary number such as 100 to a man that is facing the challenges he is facing.  Let’s get real…Obama left this country and this world in a colossal mess.  At the end of his tenure, our nation was like a pickup truck with the front end over the edge of a steep cliff over a deep holler.  If it wasn’t for the fact that our truck is a 4WD with posi-traction, any reasonable person would have figured we’d be heading on over into the abyss.  Even though I think a six-month point might be more reasonable to examine our President’s progress; I will render my humble opinion on his record so far.  The media do what they do; I suppose if they can do it every hundred days, they get to do it more often.

Every President in my lifetime has come into office with partisan opposition to his agenda.  However, every President in my lifetime has also come into office with some semblance of a media honeymoon…some longer than others.  Obama came into office with more political capital than any President I can recall.  He squandered it in a foolish, selfish, and stupid fashion.  It all went downhill from there.  President Trump, with all of his many flaws and the poisoned WDC political environment, has come into office with absolutely nothing but media animus and an opposition party that stands for little else than “anyone but Trump”.  Regardless of what opinion you might hold of The Donald, it is hard to deny that few, if any, incoming Presidents have faced greater domestic and global challenges, encountered a greater level of vitriolic partisan opposition, and experienced a more strained relationship with the media than has President Trump.  While any person elected President in 2016 would have faced the same geo-political challenges, one cannot help but accept that no other candidate would have been skewered (on many occasions, self-inflicted skewering) like President Trump.  I think we can all agree that had Hillary Clinton been elected President in 2016, the media embrace would have been saccharin beyond reasonable tolerance.  So…let us discuss the last few days since President Trump’s inauguration; or, to put it another way, TDSF…The Donald So Far.

Foreign Policy.  Every President comes into office shackled and cursed by their campaign rhetoric and the irresponsible remarks made in the heat of the contest to obtain the presidency; Donald Trump is no different and likely one of the more “shackled and cursed” in memory.  Fortunately, President Trump has felt no serious allegiance to many of his prior foreign policy positions.  He has initially shown a surprising willingness to adjust his actions to the realities of the planet.  Now this not akin to admitting errors in prior judgment; he has not yet achieved that capacity of humility.  He has, however, demonstrated a refreshing grasp that the global society is complex, arbitrary, and unpredictable; populated by predominantly good people and many inept or evil leaders; and subject to “on the fly” decisions of great consequence.  I will not presume, especially at this early date in his Administration, to judge the wisdom of the President’s foreign policy actions.  I will note however, that I find it refreshing to hear him reaffirm our nation’s preeminent role in world affairs.  The plain and simple fact is that the United States is uniquely qualified to take leadership positions on global issues of war and peace.  Their failure to do so leaves a vacuum that gets filled, to varying degrees, by the most opportunistic, ruthless, or ambitious; seldom by the most able or best equipped.   Obama’s denial of this plain truth was infuriating and the President’s embrace of the principle is reinvigorating.  I also find the President’s choice of foreign policy Administration officials to be sound and even more so is  his apparent willingness to give them the authority and the autonomy to make serious and consequential decisions.  The world finds itself in a very dangerous time and we can only hope and pray that God’s wisdom guides our President’s decisions in this area.  Unfortunately, the President himself is guiding his oft-times irresponsible rhetoric and tweeting regarding world affairs.  There is some benefit to having a truly unpredictable American President that forces foreign adversaries to guess about his intent; the problem is that our foreign allies face the same dilemma.  We can only hope that experience will teach this President to hold his counsel a bit closer to the vest and keep his fingers a bit further from the keyboard.  I look forward to the time when the President will openly acknowledge some of his prior misconceptions about global politics, his awesome but limited ability to influence global politics, and his fallibility in decision making that makes even his best efforts the choice of a flawed man.  There is a delicate and impossible to fully achieve balance facing America.  We must use our power and authority for global good and justice; enforcing universal tenants of morality and humanity.  At the same time, as is oftentimes said, we cannot be the world’s police; controlling the internal affairs of other nations to conform to our own visions.  Calls must made and actions must be taken when certain lines are crossed (genocide, chemical weapons, nuclear irresponsibility); but we cannot, and should not, attempt to micro-manage the perennial civil disorder that occurs on this planet.  Choosing when, where, and how to use the awesome power of the American military and financial machine is a truly intimidating task that would require of any man the Wisdom of Solomon.  So far…Trump seems to understand this concept.  It is yet to be determined whether or not he is up to the task of managing it.

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Domestic Policy.  The two most surprising things I have found about this President (after, of the course, the mere fact that he won the election) is that he is obviously making a supreme effort to keep his campaign promises and that he appears to be showing outstanding judgment in selecting members of  his Administration.  Like him or not, the Trump you saw and heard in October of 2016 is the same man that inhabits the White House in May of 2017.  He is implementing (or attempting to implement) the policy initiatives that he ran on and that, my friends, is as it should be.   Elections have consequences and we need to have candidates that do what they say they will do if elected.  It is encouraging to see the President roll back the intrusion of Government into our private and public lives.  It is good to see him shifting power and authority back to the states and the citizens.  It is good to see his disdain (although it is at times quite incoherent) for political correctness.  In the main, he is slowly bringing the massive and monolithic ship of state to a new heading towards a more conservative and less manipulative direction.  Like all so-called conservatives who have reached the Presidency, he is finding it far easier to change policy than it is to reconcile the finances.  I would like to see a greater awareness from our President regarding the national debt and deficit; but I will acknowledge the reality that the governmental spending malady is so ingrained and so chronic that the best we can hope for is a fundamental change in approach; that being an approach that accepts the need to be deliberately moving towards greater fiscal responsibility and a better understanding of what our government needs to do and what our government can afford to do.  I fear that one of our President’s more meaningful flaws might end up being the fact that he has always been a person of privilege; he has never really wanted for anything.  Many times, folks in that position never fully appreciate the consequences of facing demands without the resources to meet them.  Let us all hope and pray our country never reaches that point.  I applaud the President’s sense of priorities.  I like his immediate addressing of health care and tax reform.  I like the fact that the complex and divisive issue of immigration reform is being held over for later, and more extended, debate.  As for the wall…nobody really cares who pays for it or exactly when it will be completed; just get started on it and show some steady progress towards getting it done.

Leadership.  The President has shown positive signs of growing into his job.  Some of his recent speeches demonstrate a new-found grasp of leadership gravitas and his words occasionally approach inspiration and stirring emotion.  One of the President’s most consequential moments came when he nominated Justice Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.  His leadership during that episode was immaculate (with a big assist going to Senator McConnell…a dime for Mitch).  I find it really surprising that he has demonstrated a relatively effective grasp regarding the separation of power between the Congress and the Executive.  Now this grasp will surely be tested as his Administration endures; but for now, he seems to have a good understanding of what he can do and what he must rely on Congress for.  I especially appreciate his patience as the Republicans in the House go through the messy “fits and starts” of legislating.  Whether we like it or not, we the people must understand that these are largely amateur, citizen politicians in the House who represent a handful of counties each.  They are by nature independent people who come to WDC with an idealized vision of how government should operate and trying to organize them must be like herding cats.  It took the Democrats two years with complete control of Congress and the Executive to pass Obamacare.   Can anyone reasonably expect (or even desire) that Republicans will come up with its successor in a few months?  I have stated over and over that Congress must return to regular rules of order and that entails complex and sometimes difficult to understand discussion and debate.  This is how government should work.  The real test is whether or not the process leads to results.  That verdict is outstanding.

As much as I hate to include the media in this assessment, I feel it is necessary to do so.  I find it instructive to read about how the recent WHCA (White House Correspondents’ Association) annual WDC dinner has become something of a “come to Jesus” moment for the press.  Many (but not all) in the journalism community have observed that the President’s refusal to attend the annual event (contrary to tradition) has forced the organization to reconsider its place in this nation’s society and culture.  The WHCA (perhaps more aptly called the Obama Admiration Society) has devolved into a glitz and celebrity-driven club of headline wannabes without any apparent allegiance to any form of journalistic principle.  They have obviously lost their way and their sense of purpose.  I do not say this because the press is predominantly anti-Trump; I say it because the press is predominantly partisan, vindictive, sophomoric, unprofessional, and untrustworthy.  If in fact this most recent breach in the media/President nexus results in a reexamination of their relationship, then it might very well be a positive development.  While the media has been childish and irresponsible to the max in their approach to the Trump Administration, Trump has also been less than classy in how he has reacted to their negativity.  It is important that our President and our media have a civil relationship; one built not on personal beliefs, but on respect for the office and unique position that each side occupies in our nation’s culture.

All told, The Donald has been a pleasant surprise to me.  He has exceeded my expectations on the quality of his appointments, his adherence to his promises made, and his ability to recognize his own Presidential limitations.  Like a promising college freshman, here is hoping that he can finish out his rookie year with continued learning, leading to increased production and efficiency in his sophomore season.  I will continue to cringe at his random bizarre tweets and his occasional rhetorical bluster.  But if in the next couple of months, our Congress manages to pass health care reform and tax reform, we have an episode of bipartisan trough-feeding (aka infrastructure legislation), and if our President can grow into his office in some meaningful ways…then this reality show television personality that rode a perfect storm into the Presidency might end up being a pretty decent leader of our nation and the free world.   

A Grudging Acknowledgement to the Only Adult in the Room.

I have oftentimes been a very vocal critic of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.  While professing a personal devotion to “Senate Traditions”, I believe he has chosen his battles in a curious fashion over his long Senate tenure; a pattern that does not seem to jibe completely with Senate tradition.  I have also found it curious how he chooses when and where to exert his not insignificant influence when policy debates are in vogue.  That might very well result from him being an experienced, studied, accomplished legislative scholar who knows how to acquire power and how to effectively use it and me being an obscure internet blogger.  But on this day, when the Senate Republicans have determined to return the Senate to normal rules of order by choosing to execute the so-called nuclear option, I see Senator McConnell assuming the role as the only adult in the room.  While essentially everyone in WDC (regardless of political standing) seems to be embracing the circus surrounding President Trump and his Media Wars, Senator McConnell has been conspicuous by his absence.  He is the big dog that has not barked. 

While he is unquestionably one of the most powerful men in our government today, he has chosen to keep his own counsel.  He does not court the media; instead appearing only on those occasions when events seem to demand the opinion of the Senate Majority Leader.  Some might say that reality itself has rendered McConnell a low profile player; but that would be a large mistake.  Mitch McConnell is not a flashy, enigmatic legislator and has seldom sought the spotlight.  While it is true that when the challenges came close to his personal set of principles, he has risen up and gone public in a big way; his typical strategy is one of patience, deliberation, and a healthy respect for the letting things play out in a natural kind of way. 

Anyone familiar with his political career would readily acknowledge that he is not one to be trifled with when it comes to campaign etiquette.  He has shown no reluctance to competing at any level necessary to win; even though he oftentimes allows his opponent to determine what that level might be.  I have witnessed his effective ruthlessness when primary-challenged and general election-challenged here in Kentucky.  When immersed in heated political conflict, or when he chooses of his own volition that it is necessary, he can morph from the bespectacled man standing to the side to an acid-tongued warrior that knows no bounds to heaping sarcasm and ridicule on his rival.  There has always been fire in his belly when he chose to ignite it; perhaps his ascending position in the U.S. Senate has persuaded him to call on it more sparingly than in the past.  Experience has taught him that our Government runs in large part through its Senate; and he who controls that Senate has significant influence on government.

While McConnell was clearly not an early or even eventual energetic Trump supporter, he nonetheless always came up with the right words when questioned about The Donald, his Administration, and his Agenda. Exhibiting a quiet confidence borne of strength and power (some might call this arrogance), McConnell has remained relatively quiet while the political universe has debated New Travel Vetting Policies, ACA Repeal/Replace, Trump Campaign/Russia Collusion, and Obama Administration Political Spying.  When these subjects were broached with the Senate Majority Leader, he assumed a low-key response by acknowledging the regular order of the Senate and how the appropriate Investigative Committee processes work.  How refreshing is it to hear someone on either political side simply stand up straight, unflinchingly state the obvious, and say… “Let’s see how it plays out”? 

But when the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch came up, that old fire from down under began to heat up.  McConnell knows first–hand how the Senate Democrats mortgaged the integrity of the “advise and consent” clause for some short-term gains back in the early 2000’s. Although both parties have dipped their feet into this cesspool of hypocrisy, it is clearly the Democrats who have pioneered the political hijacking of the Senate role in Presidential appointments.  There has been a painful, shameful, and inexorable roll towards the Supreme Court Nominee nuclear option and as sad as it is to acknowledge the futile surrender that it represents; it is a welcome occurrence that we can put the charade behind us.  Once the nomination process itself became more important than the nominee, it was damn sure time to change things around. 

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As one who has been a life-long disciple of Senate tradition, it cannot have been an easy decision for McConnell to lead the return back to majority rule on Supreme Court nominees.  He knows far better than most that this rule change will come around to work against his party in future years and that any complaints pointed its way at that time will be hollow and specious.  The fact that it is Senator Mitch McConnell (he the long-time advocate for Senate rules of order) who has led the ignition of the nuclear option, speaks volumes to the fact that it was absolutely necessary.  It is a tragedy that the Supreme Court has become so politicized and is now considered by most voters as, at a minimum, a quasi-partisan body.  But if that is the fact, then it is also the fact that the best way to determine that body’s composition is through the ballot box.  And if we embrace that logic; then the simple majority rule for approving Supreme Court nominees is entirely appropriate and proper.