Most of us remember, after Obama was elected, before he ever took office, the Republican leadership meeting to strategize ways to block his agenda on every level. Their goal, to make certain he was a one-term president, was hardly a secret. And, while they may have lost the war (we thankfully had President Obama for two terms), their obstructionism won them many battles along the way. They were willing to shut down the Federal Government. They threatened to default on America’s debt. They opposed much needed infrastructure bills. Individual states turned down millions in Medicaid, ensuring that millions would remain without health insurance. And, they obstructed everything from diplomatic to judicial appointments, ensuring that posts were left unfilled… All to frustrate Barrack Obama and his administration. Indeed, I cannot remember any president in resent history that has been as thoroughly disrespected as he was. And, through it all, Obama handled the Republican efforts with grace and professionalism. Never once did he, or anyone in his administration, to my memory, resort to lying to the press to build himself up, or whining to the press about being treated unfairly.
But now, just three days into his term, Donald Trump and his administration show clear signs that they’re starting to crack under the pressure… From Sean Spicer's press briefing today:
That’s what I’m saying. You’re minimizing the point here, Jim. It’s not about one tweet, it’s not about one picture, it’s about a constant theme. It’s about sitting here every time, and being told, “No. Well we don’t think he can do that, he’ll never accomplish that, he can’t win that, it won’t be the biggest, it’s not gonna be that good, the crowds aren’t that big, he’s not that successful.” The narrative and the default narrative is always negative and its demoralizing. And I think that when you sit here and you realize the sacrifice the guy made, leaving a very successful business because he really cares about this country, and he wants, despite your partisan difference, he cares about making this country better for everybody. He wants to make it safer for everybody. And so when you wake up every day and thats what you’re seeing over and over again, and you’re not seeing stories about the cabinet folks that he’s putting, or the success that he’s having in trying to keep american jobs here, yeah, it is a little disappointing.
It’s not always gotta be negative, Jim. Some days we do do the right thing. some days we are successful. And part of this is saying when we’re right, say we’re right. When we’re wrong, say were wrong. But it’s not always wrong and negative. There are things, theres a lot of things that he’s done already, a lot of amazing people that he’s appointed, a lot of success that he’s having. And it would be nice once in a while for someone just to say—report it straight up—he appointed this person, here’s their background. Not why they’re not going to get nominated. Not why it’s not going to happen.
I will say this… I agree with Sean Spicer about one thing. The media should spend more time talking about all of the “success” he’s having so far. I for one think the fact that, largely because of his rhetoric, Congress has introduced a bill to withdraw us from the UN should be getting a lot more play in the media — along with exactly what destabilizing the UN would do to global security. And, they could certainly cover his executive order reinstating the “global gag rule” on international health groups offering abortion counseling. Or, the press could just stick with Spicer’s script and cover “the cabinet folks that he’s putting”. They could talk about what a complete nightmare Betsy DeVos would be as Secretary of Education; how unqualified she is. They could print transcripts from her disastrous confirmation hearings. (Grizzly bears, really?) They could write about Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions’ poor record on civil rights and the environment. They could hammer Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson for his ties to Russia. They could cover HHS Secretary nominee Tom Price’s problems with insider trading. They could have a field day with Secretary of HUD nominee Ben Carson’s confirmation hearings. And, they could cover the fact that so many of Trump’s nominees have failed to fill out all of their ethical and financial disclosure forms.
If I were Sean Spicer, I’d be careful what I wished for.