Quotation of the Day – April 9, 2017

“Many men are intoxicated by what comes out of their mouths; what is extraordinary about Trump is how little it takes to get him drunk. More worrying is how little it takes to get his followers drunk. … Whatever Making America Great Again might entail, Trump has not once been able to show that greatness means anything to him but wealth and power…“I love the poorly educated,” Trump declared last year at a rally in Nevada. That could have meant that he loved them despite their disadvantage. But it was impossible to avoid the opposite conclusion, that he loved them because of it, that it was the condition of being poorly educated itself he loved.” – Howard Jacobsen, Guardian, April 8, 2017

Quotation of the Day – April 8, 2017

This administration is more like a medieval monarchy than a modern nation-state. It’s more “The Madness of King George” than “The Missiles of October.” The key currency is not power, it’s flattery. – David Brooks, Feb. 18, 2017

Lincoln famously had his “team of rivals,” and Obama followed suit to some extent.  What we have now is more a gang of rivals than anything resembling a team. “Game of Thrones” may provide a useful playbook. They say that proximity means power, and Priebus leaves the day-to-day performance of his job to an assistant so he can spend every waking minute at the boss’s side.  He better watch out – Bannon is said to be sharpening his knife. But so is Kushner.

Thought of the Day – April 6, 2017

Trump’s M.O. is to govern through surprise, making pre-emptive moves without warning, first to keep his enemies (real and imagined) off balance, and more particularly because he is convinced the government bureaucrats are out to sabotage him. So he excludes them from the process, and is surprised when it turns out their expertise is actually necessary for getting things done.

Quotation of the Day – April 4, 2017

“It’s as if Trump is the don and he only trusts his close family members. There’s no indication that experience in the real estate business prepares one for the tasks at hand. It’s the hubris of a businessman imagining he can run government just because he’s a businessman.” – Thomas Mann, of the Brookings Institute, quoted in today’s Washington Post

People say, “Run government like a business.”  Sounds good  on the surface, but doesn’t really make sense.  Business has an interest in profit maximization.  That can never be the interest of government.

Thought of the Day – April 3, 2017

Among the remakes of “12 Angry Men” have been a version where the jurors all think the accused is innocent, then one by one come around to a guilty verdict; and another where all the jurors are female – “12 Angry Women.”

Why not do a remake with Obama as the cool, unflappable juror originally played by Henry Fonda, and Trump as the angry, excitable one played by Lee J. Cobb?  Wouldn’t have to change the script at all.  The casting alone would be enough of an update.