Nitro Express
02-14-2017, 02:20 AM
Later presidents reveled in what the pundits are eager to call disarray, but what probably was not disarray at all. Neither Lincoln nor FDR were constrained by ideology. Lincoln encouraged aggressive disagreement even in time of a war that early on was not going well at all. “My policy,” he said, “is to have no policy.”
Roosevelt, who sometimes shifted right and sometimes left, was secretive and manipulative and liked to pull surprises. He enjoyed keeping his staff and the public guessing.
Donald Trump does, too. In fact, the rigid ideologues in the modern White House were usually Democrats. Jimmy Carter, perhaps from his experience in the Navy, did not like controversy. Barack Obama, as columnist George Will observed, “never learned anything from anyone with whom he disagreed.”
Donald Trump seems comfortable with controversy, dissent and even with something outrageous. His skepticism of nearly everything but his own ego leads him into the high weeds, but his talent for spreading outrage distracts the opposition. If he’s crazy, as some Democrats insist, it might be the craziness of a fox.
Some lunatics are smarter than others.
Roosevelt, who sometimes shifted right and sometimes left, was secretive and manipulative and liked to pull surprises. He enjoyed keeping his staff and the public guessing.
Donald Trump does, too. In fact, the rigid ideologues in the modern White House were usually Democrats. Jimmy Carter, perhaps from his experience in the Navy, did not like controversy. Barack Obama, as columnist George Will observed, “never learned anything from anyone with whom he disagreed.”
Donald Trump seems comfortable with controversy, dissent and even with something outrageous. His skepticism of nearly everything but his own ego leads him into the high weeds, but his talent for spreading outrage distracts the opposition. If he’s crazy, as some Democrats insist, it might be the craziness of a fox.
Some lunatics are smarter than others.