Editorial

Rookie mistakes

All the president’s errors

This new president is clearly in over his head. We're not even a month into his administration and the wheels are coming off. The press is snickering, as always. Saturday Night Live has been reborn. Yet one more time again. And with all the gifts this particular administration hands the folks at SNL, who can blame the writers for taking advantage?

It's only February, a month after the inauguration, and columnists are writing as if this administration is in its final days. We've said it before: A presidency isn't the place for on-the-job training.

The Cabinet nomination process has been a train wreck. Were these people not vetted before they were sent up to the Hill? Or prepared for all this by friendly experts and Washington insiders? A few of the choices held their own, sure, but some key nominees looked amateurish. There are too many kids running around in the White House. The Cabinet, at least, should look professional. But what can one expect when a bunch of folks who want to run Washington have never been in Washington?

The president's advisers are, shall we say, sending mixed signals. No telling how much chaos is really going on behind the scenes. What we wouldn't give to be in a room for a few of those pre-press conference meetings.

Oh boy, does the new president hate to be criticized in the media. He is famous for his thin skin. He turns colors when angry, which is probably often these days. And criticized he is, and deserves to be with some of these decisions. This new modern media helps his opposition, too. You know what we mean. As far as the traditional media goes, well, this administration gives us what the military calls a Target Rich Environment. Although some of us are hesitant to declare a presidency DOA after less than a month on duty. (Or as our own John Brummett put it: "I'll hold off on preparing an obituary for the [administration]. Diaper rash and ear infections are noisy, but seldom fatal.")

Why would any new president allow all these distractions? Why follow the unnecessary rabbit paths that lead to only rabbit holes when there's so much big work coming in the months ahead? Maybe the president isn't as smart as the public once thought. Al Franken looks giddy.

Indeed, somebody described the new president as "incredibly inept," and another said the man has "the common sense of a gnat." Those are the printable comments.

What does the president plan to do about this struggling economy? Dispatches say he's got a sketch somewhere. Of the few specifics that are leaked, experts are already questioning if they'll actually work. Yes, the new president talks a good game. Always has. But We the People need more than talk just now.

Congressmen are already backing away from this president. When the First Lady is in the news, it's not for a good reason. (Boy, is she a different kind of First Lady.)

People are making fun of the president's weight. Critics say he has the wrong policy on Russia.

It remains to be seen if the president's plans on immigration will stand up to congressional opposition and the courts. The Senate, for its part, dealt the administration a serious blow when it barred HIV-infected foreigners from entering the country. With Dale Bumpers and David Pryor casting votes against their fellow Arkansan.

And as far as international relations go, the president is warning Haiti's military rulers about tougher measures . . . .


What?

Of course these were the stories coming out of Washington in February of 1993 as the new president, Bill Clinton, began to get his bearings. For weeks, for months, it was . . . "incredibly inept," Saturday Night Live, Cabinet stumbles, diaper rash and ear infections.

Moral of the story: All new administrations make rookie mistakes.

How about we see where this goes before declaring a failed administration in its first three weeks?

Editorial on 02/16/2017

Upcoming Events