By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | An out of state reader prompted today’s entry when he asked a question about the election.
What really concerns me seriously are the protests and riots by the young. It is obvious that they do not know the mechanics of government, and I suspect this comes from more than a generation not studying the basics of civics.
Most of the United States recognizes that you win some and you lose some. But once an election is over, you are either smiling or you form the loyal opposition. It’s simple as that. We keep our mouths shut–except for comment when things go astray—-and you wait another four or eight years.
It appear to me that Mr. Trump won because he stayed on message. His handlers kept pleading with him to stop the Twitters, keep to the script that they had written. But no, he either cannot or did not do that, but was his own man and followed his gut in saying what he wanted to. That resonated with his people, and they stayed behind him all the way.
Whether he can do all that he talked about…….gutting Medicare, bomb Isis, not pay attention to the generals…..that is behind him now. He can “reconsider” (as he already is about Medicare as shown on 60 Minutes)…..and take the route he wants.
Trump may have been a pragmatist during the run up for the presidency in doing his own thing. Now he can, if he wants, shift gears and go into a new direction…..and come up with some reason for doing it.
All those people who say that they want government to be run more like a business disregard one thing: the Constitution of the United States. You just cannot always apply the rules of business to the business of government. And Mr. Trump, if he does not recognize that already, will soon learn that. And the sooner, the better.
Trump
Where Mr. Trump will get some of his early opposition, we feel, is from the Congress, and its Republican leaders. They won’t go along with some of his ideas. If he is smart, he will try to work with them and keep them on his side. If he does not, he may be doomed as a president, and doomed not necessarily from the Democrats, but from the people in leadership in his own party.
If this happens, Mr. Trump may feel the frustration that many presidents have felt. From what we have seen of his personality, he may not react as others……..and we can see him resigning, and letting others have all those problems.
For a person as old as he is (71), this could bring on a quicker negative response.
We hope not. We hope Mr. Trump finds his pace as a president, and actually makes some of the improvements in our system that it is obvious we need. If he can somehow get changes in the tax code, get better results from the IRS and the Veterans/ Administration, somehow get improvements in Medicare that we all can live with and cover many more Americans, his administration will be a success.
Yet it is all so complex. Adding on the burden of international diplomacy, agreements on trade, our national defense, and all the many ramifications of government…….is a daunting task. Mr. Trump may ask himself later on, “Why did I get myself in this mess?”
No doubt other presidents have wondered that. We’ll see.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us