Not Russia. Not China. Not IS. Not even North Korea. No, Washington itself has become America’s worst enemy.
The country has elected a President whom some love and others hate. He won because he spoke to millions of Americans whom the political class had forgotten. He has some good ideas some bad ones. He is unversed in the protocol of politics and has a novel approach in his methods. But Trump is the elected President and he should be allowed to govern. The American system of government is designed to ensure that there are checks and balances so that neither the Executive nor the Legislature can have a free hand. It was written carefully and after much thought by adults who wanted to chart a better way of governing. But the system they devised, which has hitherto been a beacon for the idea of democracy in the advance of human freedom and self expression, demands that it shall be operated by grown ups, measured and wise.
Somehow it has fallen into a state of paranoid hysteria. The President cannot govern according to his mandate. The Legislature cannot agree on its own proposals. The Russians are blamed for everything. The interests of ordinary Americans are being lost in the turmoil. The rest of the world is astonished. And there is no resolution in sight. But sooner rather than later America has to get a grip and move on. Trump has ploughed forward using executive orders and bits of congressional legislation which gives an impression of happening things, but key issues remain unresolved. These are important because they are promises made to his core support which Trump must keep.
Replacing Obamacare
Cutting Taxes
Building New Infrastructure
Repatriating Jobs
Improving Relations with Russia
Fairer Trade
Sustained Economic Growth
Some of these have been nibbled at but none is really on the move. Obamacare replacement has hit the buffers. Some executive orders depend on money from Congress which has not been approved. All this can be resolved but not until Capitol Hill gets down to the real business of governing. Meanwhile Trump’s approval ratings hit new lows. This blog follows Rasmussen, who came nearest to predicting Trump’s victory. They tend to poll higher for Trump than other polling groups but even they now put him at his lowest rating thus far. Obviously this is not good for Trump, but it is not good for America either. Whatever your politics.