Trump Cares About Looking Good, Not Doing Good....
Jul 25, 2017 18:12:35 #
Trump Cares About Looking Good, Not Doing Good
As the Republican health-care bill was collapsing, the president was golfing. (Public policy isn't about him.)
by Timothy L. O'Brien
385
July 25, 2017, 6:18 AM PDT
More fun than health care. Photographer: MacNicol/Getty Images
President Donald Trump was enjoying a steak in the White House on Monday night, apparently unaware that the Senate's effort to replace Obamacare was imploding.
"If we don't do this we're in trouble," Trump told his dinner guests, according to Politico's Josh Dawsey. “We have the Senate, House and White House, and we have to do it or we’re going to look terrible.”
Trump Tells GOP to Stay in D.C. Until Obamacare Repealed
Shortly after dinner ended, Republican senators began abandoning the legislation that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to force on them. That turn of events ultimately launched POTUS on a series of Twitter posts arguing that everyone but him was responsible for the debacle. Why take to Twitter? Because things did, indeed, "look terrible."
An obsession with how things "look" -- and not the substance of how things "are" or how things "work" -- has been a hallmark of Trump's brief White House tenure, as it has of his much longer waltz on the public stage as a businessman and celebrity.
That's why, time and again, the president fumbles or changes course on policy, as he scrambles to preserve the impression that he continues to hold the winning hand. Along the way, he glides above the wreckage he creates for v**ers dependent upon him, for a political party currently held captive by him, and for his own, oft-stated desire to get things done in Washington. (Here's a list, from March, of 68 times that Trump promised he'd repeal Obamacare.)
Trump always jumps into the fray when he realizes, sometimes belatedly, that his public standing as a "winner" is threatened. Absent that peril, he lacks the patience, insight and interest to deal with the architecture of public policies such as health care. He also lacks the energy and political know-how to use the powers of the presidency effectively when key parts of his agenda are in play.
The president had legislative aides monitoring Senate maneuvers, and presumably they kept him informed about a potential meltdown. But the White House is also stocked with neophytes, many of whom aren't much better at this politics stuff than their boss.
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One might think that Trump, having suffered through the embarrassment of an ill-fated health-care bill in the House, would have placed his shoulder more forcefully behind the Senate's effort. But where was the president over the weekend? He was playing golf at the Bedminster, New Jersey course he owns and treats like a home. He also took the time to tweet a bunch of advertisements for a professional tournament his business hosts there:
Presidents who have understood the power of their office and how to deploy it effectively and momentously -- from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, through the Roosevelts, and on to Ronald Reagan -- wouldn’t have dared being as remote and as feckless as Trump.
"If you are a great leader you are inevitably thinking in terms of larger ends," Lyndon Johnson's biographer, Robert Caro, has said of the presidency. Examining the relentless cajoling, arm-twisting and parliamentary maneuvering LBJ used to get the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, Caro said Johnson combined "emotion" and "passion" with "political genius" to get the v**es he needed.
Nothing in Caro's observation is partisan or ideological. It's simply a prescription for running a White House that has impact, and for being the steward of a presidency with significance.
Confronted with the reality that passage of the Civil Rights Act would doom Democrats politically in the South for a generation or more, LBJ, a Democrat and a Texan, famously replied: "Well, what the hell's the presidency for?"
How would Trump respond to that question? If his role in the unraveling of the Republican health-care bill is any guide, one of his answers might be, "It's there for the taking and it needn't be for anything other than making me heard and allowing me to stroll into the history books."
That suggests that even though mothballing Obamacare has been a Trump talking point for months, he can live with his failure to do so. And that also explains why Trump now says he just wants to let Obamacare collapse.
Trump has also failed, thus far, to make good on other campaign promises such as a big tax cut, imposing robust sanctions on trading partners like China, building The Wall and starting to upgrade the nation's infrastructure.
He could evolve, of course. But expecting remorse or reflection that might lead him toward greater political commitment and magnanimity is a misunderstanding of what has always animated his thinking and actions. Unless the subject is Trump, he doesn't care too deeply about outcomes.
http://www.bloombergview.com
So in other words he is lying to the People, who gave him their V**E!!!.Like this story says, he is Stuck on himself, and to Blazes about keeping his word to do right by America. Until he keeps his word and keeps his promises to the people, in my opinion!!!! he can go climb a Greasy F**g Pole, and slide on his Arse. I had faith in him, but now i don't see any hopes of him following through with what he promised.All he cares about id destroying our Future and leaving us for Dead!!! He needs to get his head out of his Arse, and do his job as our leader. What do y'all think of this Mess?
As the Republican health-care bill was collapsing, the president was golfing. (Public policy isn't about him.)
by Timothy L. O'Brien
385
July 25, 2017, 6:18 AM PDT
More fun than health care. Photographer: MacNicol/Getty Images
President Donald Trump was enjoying a steak in the White House on Monday night, apparently unaware that the Senate's effort to replace Obamacare was imploding.
"If we don't do this we're in trouble," Trump told his dinner guests, according to Politico's Josh Dawsey. “We have the Senate, House and White House, and we have to do it or we’re going to look terrible.”
Trump Tells GOP to Stay in D.C. Until Obamacare Repealed
Shortly after dinner ended, Republican senators began abandoning the legislation that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to force on them. That turn of events ultimately launched POTUS on a series of Twitter posts arguing that everyone but him was responsible for the debacle. Why take to Twitter? Because things did, indeed, "look terrible."
An obsession with how things "look" -- and not the substance of how things "are" or how things "work" -- has been a hallmark of Trump's brief White House tenure, as it has of his much longer waltz on the public stage as a businessman and celebrity.
That's why, time and again, the president fumbles or changes course on policy, as he scrambles to preserve the impression that he continues to hold the winning hand. Along the way, he glides above the wreckage he creates for v**ers dependent upon him, for a political party currently held captive by him, and for his own, oft-stated desire to get things done in Washington. (Here's a list, from March, of 68 times that Trump promised he'd repeal Obamacare.)
Trump always jumps into the fray when he realizes, sometimes belatedly, that his public standing as a "winner" is threatened. Absent that peril, he lacks the patience, insight and interest to deal with the architecture of public policies such as health care. He also lacks the energy and political know-how to use the powers of the presidency effectively when key parts of his agenda are in play.
The president had legislative aides monitoring Senate maneuvers, and presumably they kept him informed about a potential meltdown. But the White House is also stocked with neophytes, many of whom aren't much better at this politics stuff than their boss.
Clear thinking from leading voices in business, economics, politics, foreign affairs, culture, and more.
Share the View
One might think that Trump, having suffered through the embarrassment of an ill-fated health-care bill in the House, would have placed his shoulder more forcefully behind the Senate's effort. But where was the president over the weekend? He was playing golf at the Bedminster, New Jersey course he owns and treats like a home. He also took the time to tweet a bunch of advertisements for a professional tournament his business hosts there:
Presidents who have understood the power of their office and how to deploy it effectively and momentously -- from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, through the Roosevelts, and on to Ronald Reagan -- wouldn’t have dared being as remote and as feckless as Trump.
"If you are a great leader you are inevitably thinking in terms of larger ends," Lyndon Johnson's biographer, Robert Caro, has said of the presidency. Examining the relentless cajoling, arm-twisting and parliamentary maneuvering LBJ used to get the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, Caro said Johnson combined "emotion" and "passion" with "political genius" to get the v**es he needed.
Nothing in Caro's observation is partisan or ideological. It's simply a prescription for running a White House that has impact, and for being the steward of a presidency with significance.
Confronted with the reality that passage of the Civil Rights Act would doom Democrats politically in the South for a generation or more, LBJ, a Democrat and a Texan, famously replied: "Well, what the hell's the presidency for?"
How would Trump respond to that question? If his role in the unraveling of the Republican health-care bill is any guide, one of his answers might be, "It's there for the taking and it needn't be for anything other than making me heard and allowing me to stroll into the history books."
That suggests that even though mothballing Obamacare has been a Trump talking point for months, he can live with his failure to do so. And that also explains why Trump now says he just wants to let Obamacare collapse.
Trump has also failed, thus far, to make good on other campaign promises such as a big tax cut, imposing robust sanctions on trading partners like China, building The Wall and starting to upgrade the nation's infrastructure.
He could evolve, of course. But expecting remorse or reflection that might lead him toward greater political commitment and magnanimity is a misunderstanding of what has always animated his thinking and actions. Unless the subject is Trump, he doesn't care too deeply about outcomes.
http://www.bloombergview.com
So in other words he is lying to the People, who gave him their V**E!!!.Like this story says, he is Stuck on himself, and to Blazes about keeping his word to do right by America. Until he keeps his word and keeps his promises to the people, in my opinion!!!! he can go climb a Greasy F**g Pole, and slide on his Arse. I had faith in him, but now i don't see any hopes of him following through with what he promised.All he cares about id destroying our Future and leaving us for Dead!!! He needs to get his head out of his Arse, and do his job as our leader. What do y'all think of this Mess?Jul 25, 2017 19:45:22 #
atomikmom wrote:
Trump Cares About Looking Good, Not Doing Good br ... (show quote)
The people who should go climb that f**g poll are Ryan and McConnel and all the c*******t in the democrat party who have caused all this mess.
Now what has Trump lied too you about? Now you seem to think he isn"t working,Well your wrong he is the hardest working president in my life time.I really think your demorat roots are showing.
Jul 26, 2017 08:45:45 #
lpnmajor
Loc: Arkansas
atomikmom wrote:
Trump Cares About Looking Good, Not Doing Good br ... (show quote)
Indeed. Trump is only concerned about "ratings", a term he constantly referrers to, as though his Presidency is no more than another TV reality show. How he calculates those ratings is unknown, since his version of events rarely match reality, and he manages, somehow, to convince himself of success regardless of actual evidence.
The fact that the Senate was involved in a critical v**e, critical for his party, both politically as well as financially, didn't concern Trump at all.......since he was only concerned about the rally that "broke all records" and getting the accolades he believes he is due.
I put it this way; were Trump to catch himself on fire, receiving 2nd degree burns over 85% of his body, he would spin that as a "win", for getting to build new skin.......and blame his enemies for striking the match.
Jul 26, 2017 16:46:43 #
I am NonPartisan!!! and don't ride in either boat. Not The GOP's or Dems. If they do something good, then i agree with them.If they disrespect this country and it's people, then either way y'all look at it. Both Parties Suck the Big One. I v**e for the person not the Party.Jul 26, 2017 19:31:55 #
Jul 31, 2017 17:12:07 #
When y'all play the game, then y'all pay the Heavy!!!!Price!!!! that all i got say.
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