The Don Gives Good Speech
The Don gave a good speech to Congress. His confidence appears to be growing. He is more assured, less bullish, more measured. Once again the Don’s natural theatrical flair put to good effect. His interaction with Carryn Owens, the grieving widow of William "Ryan" Owens, the US Navy SEAL killed in a January raid in Yemen, was emotionally impactful and provided a series of stirring imagery that will certainly feature on countless pro-Trump videos over the coming years.
Tellingly, the Don sought to reassure his base that Owens lost his life in a meaningful operation that yielded great results. Having trolled Obama for years, the Don understands how important it is to immediately counter any possible line of attack against him. He appears to believe that sending out even the smallest hint of fallibility on his part will inevitably lead to his enemies attacking him. Being perceived as infallible by his opponents is the Don’s first and greatest form of defence.
There’s a big problem with this stance. If a human being believes himself incapable of making a mistake, then a mistake must therefore, logically, only occur because someone else messed up. Once we accept infallibility as the Don’s default position we must understand the impossibility of William “Ryan” Owens dying in an operation he was associated with being less than perfectly conceived and perfectly executed. If something did go wrong, well, he wasn’t physically on the ground with the soldiers and can’t be held responsible for an operational error. If he had been there everything would have gone perfectly, but he wasn’t and he can’t be everywhere at once. If a mistake was made, and no one has proved any mistake was made, then, sadly, regrettably, it was made by someone else - as in one of the impeccably qualified generals who now work for him.
After a month in office it is already clear that there will be no sense of collective responsibility with this President. He will be right on everything, claim the credit for what works and point the finger in another direction when anything (as it inevitably will) goes wrong. And why shouldn’t he? He doesn’t make mistakes.
If a President of the United States believes themselves incapable of making a mistake it follows that every one of his Secretaries and Heads of this and that will inevitably be absolutely responsible for anything that goes wrong during his term. No good will come from this stance. A president requires loyal partners and has to give loyalty in return. There are only so many men and women of good will who will be willing to throw themselves on their sword to save his blushes (How long before the troublesome issues related to Michael Flynn resurface and cause trouble for the Trump administration?).
These are all considerations for the future; it’s the Don’s words now and in the past which are of ever growing importance. During his election campaign the Don was, by being an untested political warrior, able to bloody every single one of his opponents by contrasting their words against their actions.
Candidate Obama slaughtered candidate Hillary with her vote for the Iraq war. Obama in turn was criticized by his own supporters for not delivering on his promise to close Guantanamo, backtracking from his red line comment about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and severely tested by his mistaken assurances that everyone could keep their doctor under Obama Care. During his congressional address the Don’s past words hung over the assembled gathering (and his credibility) like a bad smell.
Over the course of 2015-2016 the Don promised to:
Declare China a currency manipulator on Day One of his Presidency
To appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s many sins with a view to having her locked up behind bars
To immediately repeal and replace Obama Care
To make his taxes available for public scrutiny
The Don hasn’t even come close to delivering on any of these assurances. Not one. Again, the Don can be relied upon to give good speech but he’s not providing any evidence that his word is his bond.