The Morning Rant: J.V. Edition

Repudiation of a sitting president is par for the course...for the opposition. That the inside-the-beltway Republicans are doing it is an indication of their stupidity and shortsightedness. One of the strengths of the Democrat Party is a ruthless enforcement of the orthodoxy. Any deviation is met with swift correction. That is how Obama was able to push through deeply unpopular measures; his party cracked the whip and tolerated no dissension in the ranks.

But the current mess of a Republican Party is incapable of unity. The tax overhaul is a perfect example. That could have been used by Republican candidates all across the country as a rallying cry for their tickets. Look at us! We are taking care of you,,,the voter! More money in your pockets! But infighting and political expediency and nasty, vitriolic sniping at the president took precedence. Look back at the eight years of a tremendously divisive Obama presidency and you will not find any Democrat resistance to him that approaches what has happened to President Trump, courtesy of the Republican Party, in his first 10 months in office.

The economy is improving, President Trump has returned to a more robust foreign policy that does not accommodate tyrants, the culture war being fought in this country seems to be evening out...the Right has won some battles. That should be a recipe for electoral stability. Not always success, because we can't win everything, but the bedrock of America is ably represented in the White House. It is up to the Republican Party to take advantage of that tremendous opportunity.

I am not Pollyanna. Dissension is a part of any free people. And I want the Republican Party to disagree, if and when necessary, with the president. But they need to do it within the strictures of a winning strategy. And making every disagreement with President Trump part of the news cycle, and making sure it dwarfs his accomplishments is a recipe for failure. We got a small taste of that yesterday. And I don't like it.

But the elites will learn, one way or the other, that subverting the President is a bad idea. If Ryan and McConnell are smart (and I don't think they are) they will adjust their rhetoric and fall in line with the president...in public. Private discussions of their policy differences are fine. In fact they are necessary. But if they don't present a united front to the American people they are going to discover that we do not suffer fools, and 2018 will be ugly.

THis is a well-crafted answer, and one that succeeded on all fronts. He slapped down the idiot who asked a domestic policy question at a press conference in another country with another head of state at the other podium. Then he gave an excellent answer to the loaded and inflammatory question.

If this is the trend of his pronouncements then I am optimistic that we have a very capable president.

That there is Pulitzer level reporting.

posted by CBD at 11:30 AM

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