Trump said he didn't know about the Russian bounties, and it is fake news anyway.
Things aren't going well in America.
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| CBS: Things going poorly |
There is a meme circulating about Trump: he is inattentive to the job and he isn't very good at it.
Trump likes to tweet. He likes rallies and cheering crowds. He likes that part of the job. He doesn't like experts with their briefing memos and the complicated parts that deal with policy, legislation, and the business of government.
Trump's management style did not use to hurt him. Now it does. For three years, with an economic recovery underway, unemployment down and the stock market up, there was an idea out there that less government and fewer regulations were the good thing that kept the good times rolling. Trump sold the idea that he inherited carnage and immediately turned it into greatness. The public bought it and credited Trump. Even people who were disgusted by Trump gave him grudging credit.
Trump was a message guy, not a manager guy. That was the story on the street and Trump embraced it. He openly said those CIA briefings were repetitive and boring. The word got out that he wouldn't read memos unless they had his name in them, repeated throughout. It got around that he got news, information, and policy ideas from Fox, not his staff. Former top aides all have the same message, that he doesn't take advice, he acts impulsively rather than strategically, and that he simply does not know how to do the job and doesn't care to learn. It didn't hurt him.
Trump's biggest symbol of effectiveness was getting judges through. He proudly outsourced that to the Federalist Society and Mitch McConnell.
The whole picture fit his populist brand, all consistent with the Reagan idea that government is the problem, not the solution.
Then the virus. Trump's response to the virus was on brand for Trump. He minimized the threat, announced that state governors were in charge, then positioned himself as a virus control skeptic.
Problem: the virus came back. Now, even on Fox, there are whiffs of complaints about competence. Their news shows have public health people talking about missed opportunities.
Problem: the virus came back. Now, even on Fox, there are whiffs of complaints about competence. Their news shows have public health people talking about missed opportunities.
This newest story is that Russia paid Taliban fighters to target and kill American soldiers, while at the same timeTrump was pressing for friendlier relations with Russia. Trump said he didn't know about it. That excuse falls into the middle of the virus-inattention idea.
The NY Times says they have some twenty sources for the story, but all of them are anonymous. There is room for Trump to call it "fake news," but that is complicated by the fact that Trump's biggest sycophant, Lindsey Graham, says we need to get to the bottom of it, and number three House Republican Liz Cheney is saying the same thing. Foreign policy hawks suspect it isn't fake and are saying so aloud.
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| Gallup: Unsatisfied America |
The idea is perking: Trump is dropping the ball, and as with the virus, it matters. If the NY Times article falls apart, then Trump will come out of this a winner, but if not, then a different idea will gain more momentum, that Trump just isn't very good at the hard work of being president.
2 comments:
Let’s see. It was in his daily memo briefing. Does that mean he did know? I guess if he doesn’t bother to read the memos he didn’t know. I worked with inmates for 30 years and one thing I learned and taught my clinicians under my supervision was that inmates lie. Donald Trump is a liar, don’t believe anything he says without confirmation from someone or something that is reliable.That was how it worked for dealing with convicts.
It's almost as if he doesn't want the job anymore. He's the lead lemming and as they reach the edge, some are going "whoaaaa this guys wants all of us to go over?" Even Hannity had a funny/confused look on his face when Trump couldn't articulate a semi-coherent answer to the softball question about what the next term looked like.
We all knew pretty early on that Trump never understood the seriousness of the job. It even worried the most optimistic among his supporters. Remember when people hoped that he would never face a real crisis? Or cross our fingers he wouldn't create one? A crisis? How about a hat trick? Now Russian-backed assassins? Like everything else flying out the doors of his clown-car administration - we can't even keep count!
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