A Glimmer of Hope
Currently, there is much ado about what the first 100 days of the Trump administration will bring. But what about the first three days? That is all we have as this column is being written.
First, his inauguration speech was a surprise. In his short 15 minutes of acceptance, there was a hint that he might act presidential from that time forward. Shortly after leaving the steps of the capitol and the reviewing stand, however, he was back on his twitter account.
The subject this time was the size of the inauguration audience. Trump was upset because the media was not reporting the audience as the largest ever. Never mind that the audiences for both of Obama’s inaugurations were larger than Trump’s, the new President thought the report was not fair.
His tweet on the subject was followed by the White House’s first press briefing. Sean Spicer, the Press Secretary, attacked the gathered media, telling them that they had misreported the number of people who had attended the inauguration. He claimed, as did Trump, that Friday’s attendance numbers were the largest ever—a statement that is demonstrably false.
He took no questions from the reporters before storming out of the room.
Someone needs to tell President Trump that this is no way to start a presidential term of office. Previous actions, however, indicate that such advice would fall on deaf ears.
Unfortunately, actions on the other side of the aisle are no better than those originating in the White House.
More than 60 Democrat members of Congress refused to attend Trump’s inauguration because, in their words, he is not a “legitimate” president.
How juvenile and dumb can adults be? This is like the reaction of a Pee Wee League team losing a game. The loss is always someone else’s fault, the umpires made bad calls, the other team fielded ineligible players, or anything except that the losing team just did not play well.
Representative John Lewis and others think Trump is in the White House only because of the unthinkable, illegal Russian interference in the election. No thought is given to the facts of Trump rolling over 15 primary opponents without any Russian meddling and that Republicans now control 2/3 of the state capitols.
The possibility that a majority of the voters who trudge to the polls are beginning to believe that Democrats no longer listen to or represent productive, self-sufficient citizens never crosses Lewis’ and other’s minds.
The Democrats’ boycotting of the American tradition of peaceful transfers of power is aggravated by the senators, under the leadership of Chuck Schumer, delaying the installation of Trump’s cabinet.
Trump broke the records on vetting and nominating individuals to head his cabinet departments. He began the process within the first week after his election by the Electoral College. As of the writing of this column, however, only two have been confirmed by the Senate. By contrast, seven had been approved by the first day of Obama’s first term.
The confirmations are being delayed by Schumer’s stalling tactics even though he and his colleagues acknowledge that, with one possible exception, all of the nominees will be approved.
Finally, as already noted, Trump’s short inaugural speech was not soaring rhetoric that will be enshrined in history. It was, however, one of the most presidential like statements he has made during the entire election cycle.
Unfortunately, some of his media critics did not see or hear it that way. Chris Matthews, who has made his dislike of Trump very clear, refers to the inaugural address as “Hitlerian.”
This just shows Matthews’ ignorance of Hitler’s beliefs, actions, and rhetoric. Hitler’s objective was to subject the German population to his dictatorship and to murder any who stood in his way.
By contrast, the theme of Trump’s speech was to return power to the people—to all the people—and to move power out of Washington. What could be more anti-Hitlerian?
So here’s the perspective.
Except for the ridiculous hubbub over the size of the inauguration, the first three days of the Trump presidency offered a glimmer of hope for a productive, profitable four years.
enough
