Let’s ask a kid to do it
It turns out that Trump didn’t know much about how to be president when he started.
Trump’s ascension to the presidency is an unlikely story. The flashy New York billionaire and former reality TV star cuts a very different image than any American president before him. He’s the first with no government, military or political experience. In an age of frustration with the political establishment on both sides of the aisle, that background had a certain appeal.
Only to people who don’t think.
No one would say that about any other job that relies on skills and knowledge. Why does anyone say it about as skill-heavy a job as being president? Why does anyone encourage this ridiculous idea? Pig-ignorance is not a good qualification for being president. I’m frustrated with the way airlines treat people; that doesn’t mean I want random bypassers assigned to fly the planes.
Trump’s unique background has also brought with it some problems. He’s faced setbacks and turnabouts, from immigration executive orders hung up in the courts and a failed health care overhaul attempt to changing his mind on his approach to Syria, Russia, China and NATO. All of it points to on-the-job training for Trump, who had a resume before taking office that could be considered, for a president, entry-level, experts say.
“This man is without experience, and it’s showing,” said Robert Dallek, the presidential historian and author of multiple books on presidents, from Roosevelt and Truman to Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan. “Particularly in his dealings with Congress, he’s been an utter failure in the sense that he’s gotten nothing passed. He’s issuing all sorts of executive orders, like immigration limits; they’re failing. The attempt to get health care reform failed. I’d give him failing marks for his 100 days.”
Also there’s the little matter of making us an international pariah within a week of taking office.
Here’s the thing: experience is not the same thing as corruption, and the first does not entail the second. The way to deal with corruption is to deal with corruption, not to put incompetent novices in the top job…especially when they’re more corrupt than anyone who has ever sat in that chair before.
It seems to have always been a feature of American political culture, though of course Trump is its apotheosis. This Atlantic article points out how decades of films have been based on this notion, perhaps best illustrated by the Kevin Kline film Dave.
I know I’m probably reading too much into a fairly disposable lightweight comedy, but I’ve always found the message of that film to be odious. The kicker for me is the scene where Kevin Kline’s character, who has spent the last couple of weeks pretending to be the President — we’re supposed to find him charming and empathetic despite his participation in a coup d’état — consults his CPA neighbor for advice on the budget. Of course, after a few hours at his kitchen table, good ol’ Dave (who runs a temp agency when he’s not trampling the Constitution), and the guy who helps him with his taxes, come up with a brilliant plan to balance the budget, which I guess didn’t involve making hard choices about priorities at all but just needed some plain ol’ folks to sort out.
The article also quotes a scene from a debate in the Chris Rock film Head of State. It’s actually striking how similar the Chris Rock character’s refrain (“When it comes to paying farmers not to grow food, while people in this country starve every day,” Gilliam says, “yes, I’m an amateur.”) is to Donald Trump’s line in the debates (“Hillary has experience, but it’s BAD experience.”)
And it does strike me as being a uniquely American phenomenon. Maybe it has to do with the revolutionary origins and a backlash to the British aristocracy. Maybe it’s not having the constraints of a parliamentary system, where becoming the leader of your party requires the support of the caucus, who actually care about things like competence and familiarity with government. I’m not entirely sure.
With one notable exception, I’m ashamed to say…
Screechy – ohhhhhh yes, so have I. For exactly those reasons. I remember feeling quite disgusted watching it in a theater when it was new, and I haven’t changed my mind when catching bits of it on tv. It’s so anti-intellectual and so stupidly sentimental – yes “Dave” is a nice guy and the prez is a cold fish but so what. That is not the issue. Yes that budget thing is infuriating. And no I don’t think we’re reading too much into it: these things help to shape people’s views, especially subliminally.
http://www.stonekettle.com/2017/04/the-hubris-of-ignorance.html?spref=fb
Not so. Entry level implies some basic level of knowledge; an entry-level teacher is one who has finished college and passed teaching certification, but has no teaching experience. An entry-level anything is one who has the basic skills necessary, but hasn’t done the job, so must start at the bottom to learn the job itself. He has skills so far below entry level that he can’t even see entry-level. He’ll have to climb up dozens of Trump towers to get to entry level.
He has entry-level skills for a fry cook, but not for a president.
Just make sure you have a strong drink handy if you read the AP interview with Trump.
So much to choose from, but in keeping with the thread topic:
Yeah, who knew that the U.S. government was big? Who knew that sending the military on missions might involve loss of human life? It’s all just a reality show, isn’t it?
Ah funny you should mention it, I was blogging it at great length late yesterday afternoon when I lost internet, so I had to save it to resume today. Yes, it’s horrific.
I suspect you overexaggerestimate his competence overall, iknklast. Just look at his steaks ffs!