(from http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/trump-s-presidency-enters-uncharted-waters-n793446))
The president’s job approval rating hovers between 35 percent and 40 percent. Key American corporations have withdrawn from his business-advisory councils after the response to Charlottesville. He’s regularly lashing out at members of his own party. His top advisers are calling up liberal publications — and letting loose. Forty percent of Americans want him impeached, according to a new poll. . . And we’re (at publication) on the 210th day of his time in office (without a major legislative accomplishment under his belt, and with a special counsel already investigating him and his team).
(from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/opinion/trump-classified-data.html?smid=fb-share)
". . . There are three tasks that most mature adults have sort of figured out by the time they hit 25. Trump has mastered none of them. Immaturity is becoming the dominant note of his presidency. . . First, most adults have learned to sit still. But mentally, Trump is still a 7-year-old boy who is bouncing around the classroom. Trump’s answers in these interviews are not very long — 200 words at the high end — but he will typically flit through four or five topics before ending up with how unfair the press is to him. . . He is ill informed about his own policies and tramples his own talking points. . . most people of drinking age have achieved some accurate sense of themselves, some internal criteria to measure their own merits and demerits. But Trump seems to need perpetual outside approval to stabilize his sense of self, so he is perpetually desperate for approval, telling heroic fabulist tales about himself. . . “In a short period of time I understood everything there was to know about health care,” he told Time. “A lot of the people have said that, some people said it was the single best speech ever made in that chamber,” he told The Associated Press, referring to his joint session speech. . . By Trump’s own account, he knows more about aircraft carrier technology than the Navy. . .He is thus the all-time record-holder of the Dunning-Kruger effect, the phenomenon in which the incompetent person is too incompetent to understand his own incompetence. . . "
. . . at the dedication of the Bush (league?) Library last week, the honoree's father, George H.W., along with Bill Clinton and Jimmy
Carter, dutifully latched on to the positive about the junior Bush's
eight years in the Oval Office, eliminating the negative and, "as in
Johnny Mercer's old song, didn't mess with Mr. In Between."
Nothing about the futile war in Iraq, the
economic meltdown, the suspicious circumstances of 911, the blatant robbery of the civil rights of Americans the honoree left behind. The former presidents essentially praised W not as a great national leader but
a well-meaning guy whose heart was in the right place in spite of all the obstacles he faced. Obama praised his predecessor for his "incredible strength and resolve" regarding 911 and actually called W "a good man" who was "comfortable in his own skin."
The entire affair was an exercise in the suspension of disbelief over major decisions in foreign policy, treatment of war detainees, and dealing with a domestic economy in trouble as he departed office. Nevertheless, W maintained the same composure he has shown since leaving office (and during his tenure, come to think of it)-silent and immune to public criticism. His major contribution to his party has been in keeping a low public profile, steering clear of becoming defensive and of criticizing the Obama administration.
How will history will appraise George W. Bush? The most recent Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates that his approval rating has climbed from 30 percent in 2008 to 47 percent now, and his disapproval has dropped from 68 percent then to 50 percent. But he still he has a way to go to rival another once-dismissed president, Harry Truman. From a low of 22 percent approval, Truman rose steadily and is now among the 10 most highly regarded presidents.
Insurmountable for Bush? I certainly hope so. [Source: The Bush library and the willing suspension of disbelief
The former presidents gathered in Dallas glossed over the unpleasantness of 43's administration, but history will not be so kind
April 29, 2013|By Jules Witcover Jules Witcover is a syndicated columnist and former long-time writer for The Baltimore Sun. His latest book is "Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption" (William Morrow). His email is juleswitcover@comcast.net.]
