January 24, 2019--Trump's Day

Peter Baker of the New York Times reported yesterday about what Trump's presidential life is like now that he is ignoring his domestic and international agendas while focusing exclusively on how to manage the politics of the government shutdown.

On Tuesday, for example, the president's public schedule listed only two things--his daily intelligence briefing (we know from other sources that he does not read the written summaries and spends perhaps 10 minutes listening to his National Security Council briefer before drifting off in boredom) and lunch with Veep Mike Pence (how long does it take to gobble down a Big Mac or two?)

Baker sees this to be a bad thing and cites what critics, for example, are saying about Trump's cancelled trip to Davos. It's the place where governmental and business high rollers gather annually to hobnob and come away feeling good about themselves and each other after, for a couple of days of not talking about exerting more power or making more money, they commit themselves to also doing some good in the world. 

Others are saying that this is also traditionally the time of year when a few days before the State of the Union address presidents and their cabinet members float ideas for new domestic programming to see if thy will fly before inserting them in the speech. Like what Trump's plans for infrastructure would look like.

But do we want Trump to be more engaged in the world and domestic affairs than he currently is? That would be not engaged at all.

The last thing Trump wants is to have to share the world stage with the likes of Jami Dimon of JP MorganChase or Bill Gates. He showed up at Davos last year for half a day and after insulting a few people, including Angela Merkel, headed off to Mar-a-Lago. 

Loner Trump doesn't do group.

And thus isn't Davos the last place in the world we'd like Trump to be? Or worse, at a NATO meeting? And shouldn't we be happiest when he is not saying anything about his domestic agenda? 

In Trump's case less is much more. 

I'd be thrilled if he locked himself away in his bedroom all day to watch Fox&Friends and reruns of The Apprentice. Like it says in the Hippocratic Oath, so he would do no harm. A totally disengaged Trump is thus the way to go. 

Therefore, I wish the New York Times and CNN would stop chiding him for doing so little since Trump doing nothing should be the plan.

January 15, 2018--Davos

Donald Trump is going next week to the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

This is to say the least a little surprising because the people who attend are for the most part the kind of "globalists" he and his base of supporters abhor.

But treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has his boss's back. He claims those who show up are not elitists but, according to a report in the New York Times, more akin to "Average Joes."

They quote him--"I didn't realize that it was the global elite. I don't think it's a hangout for globalists." 

On that basis alone, if he is sincere and thus that ignorant about some of the forces that shape the world's and America's economy, he should be summarily fired. How can a U.S. secretary of the treasury be so, how to put this, out to lunch? Or, out shopping with his wife?

For example, though neither Trump nor Mnuchin will have to reach into there own pockets to pay the $70,000 for a ticket--we the taxpayers will--this smacks of elite to me.

It does allow participants to hobnob with the likes of Bill Gates and the IMF's Christine Lagarde (assuming she's not in jail) and of course other pundits such as Bono, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Shakira.

Here, though, is my favorite part of the Davos schedule--

To help people keep their heads screwed on straight, to have the semblance of an authentic experience, to quote the Times, "for more interactive entertainment, one popular event is the simulation of a refugee's experience [where] attendees crawl on their hands and knees to better understand what it's like to evade an advancing army."

When I read this to Rona, she cried, "NOOOO. Please, tell me it isn't true!"

Sorry girl, but I checked other sources and it appears to be true, though I doubt Mnuchin and Trump will get down for that.