Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
It’s Time for the President to Address the Nation, What Should He Say?
Personally I’d love a pimp-slapping to everyone obstructing him. Obviously he can do better but we are witnessing unprecedented behavior on the part of Democrats in congress, the media, and government in general. I doubt our President is going to take this coup lightly and I suspect it might get pretty ugly, including our President’s reactions to the non-stop assault on his family, regardless of what level of justification there may be. I expect him to fight and I hope he fights intelligently. But even if he throws wild haymakers, I want people hurt because of their actions. The opponents of democracy have made their beds, I hope there are nails waiting for them when they are forced to lie in them.
I do seriously want your ideas about what he should say. Health care, tax reform, budgets, foreign policy, terrorism, Russia, media, intelligence agency issues, Obama’s spy machine, leaks, trade deals, immigration, walls, and the lot of it. NT’s and skeptics I hope can come up with something better than resignation because that’s not happening.
So what would you like the President to say?
Published in General
Some years ago my husband and I were heavily involved in a gubernatorial campaign where he was the chairman and I the press secretary. It was a real eye opener for me to see the many low-level “groupies” who attempted to present themselves as more important than they were in the hopes of gaining access to political power. It is understandable that Don Jr. took the meeting and laudable that he saw the Russians for what they were and chose to ignore them going forward.
Truly? Why? Not being snarky, I’m serious: would it be better if Trump resigned now? Pence would become president…would Pence be able to do what Trump can’t (e.g. persuade Congress to repeal/replace)? Would he be able to do what Trump can, without the hazards? Or are the things Trump has been doing Trumpishly all overrated or unnecessary?
I see Trump as some of y’all do—someone who is uniquely (even bizarrely) immune from a number of characteristics that used to seem obviously necessary and are now arguably revealed as either useless or a handicap, at least pro tem (like, for example, a sense of shame, an understanding of governance, a diplomatic tongue).
Does there come a time when we no longer need or want the wrecking ball?
Would Pence make a good clean-up crew? He is so very un-Trumpy—so self-controlled, quiet, dignified and polite.
Strategy-wise, is it better to have him come along after Trump has had time to give the DC and media elites a really thorough smashing? Or better to have him in the O.O. ASAP so as to give him more time for repair-work?
At the end of their Monterey Pop Festival set the Who famously destroyed their entire set of instruments. Having been done once, subsequent instrument destruction sort of lost its verve. Incidentally, Jimmy Hendrix mounted the stage after the Who and… made love to his guitar – in contrast to Pete Townshend’s rape of his instrument.
The point is, this sort of “smashing the scenery” plays out pretty quickly and has rapidly diminishing returns. Do you really think that this show is going to play as well in 2-3 years as it did last year?
Of course, its sell-by date passed a long time ago with me and I remain surprised it’s lasted as long as it has.
Political capital is a strange thing. It seems to degrade whether used or unused, but it disintegrates with especial vigor if you misuse it. Whatever mystique Trump had about being the most qualified, smartest guy in whatever room he’s in who was going to make Washington bend to his brutal business acumen has been thoroughly debunked (“Only I can fix;” “It’s going to be so easy…”)
Of course the Democrats will remain unhinged whether Trump is there or not. I don’t care about them. I care about getting stuff done and Trump has shown that if he can’t bend people to his will in the way he asserted he could, his redoubt has been to change the subject. That’s actively bad for us.
It could be that Pence’s instincts are totally off-base as well… but I’m not sure how it could be worse. This was a midwestern Governor and former member of the House leadership. He’s played the game from both sides and knows how to get things done. He’s politically adept – although the RFRA thing in Indiana was a misstep.
Yes. Unambiguously so.
Look, what you would say would have legs if Trump had accomplished anything in office or had the prospects to do so. But in the last six months he’s proved himself to be utterly incompetent. Worse still, because he’s damaging to the nation, its institutions, and its standing among other nations. (And, by the way, this was entirely predictable.)
The man is a cancer. Whether you believe him to be a benign or malignant, the sooner he is cut out, the sooner the healing can begin.
You’ve been saying that since before he took office.
A good deal of politics is theater. If Trump were to resign now or within the next twelve months, it sends a message that the GOP is more vulnerable and weaker than they may be already. The blood would be in the water. It would play havoc with the midterm elections and potentially a great many House seats and maybe even a few Senate seats would be lost. At the moment, despite the lethargy (or disunion) that the GOP in Congress is demonstrating, the prospects for significant Democrat gains in 2018 are minimal. Ask James Carville. One of the reasons for that is that the Dems don’t have a compelling message other than to demonize Trump. Trump is not about to resign because he miraculously admits that the job is tougher than he thought or that he’s frustrated with the GOP. He’ll play this out until the 2020 election.
I think some of the snapshot analysis that Trump’s few months in office have been a disaster or as John Podhoretz put would have been identical to a Hillary presidency are silly arguments. There is every indication that the Veteran’s administration is getting cleaned up and people who need to be fired are getting fired. It’s a good thing that Trump yanked us out of the Paris Climate Accord nonsense. It’s also a good thing that Scott Pruitt at the EPA is curtailing a lot of the previous EPAs powers and overreach. None of these things would have happened in a Clinton administration. She would have put her foot to the accelerator in all of these areas to the detriment of the nation and the budget and to the greater American economy.
If only there was a gag me with a spoon button. But you know that don’t you.
So, would the “comprehensive moratorium” include all tourism? All business-related travel? H-1B employees? What about spouses of citizens who are foreign nationals? Under current law, all of those individuals can travel into the United States as “nonimmigrants.” Or are you just talking about the issuance of new immigration visas/Green Cards?
My honest advice would be to say as little as possible. In public statements (including Twitter), focus solely on projecting confidence and stability. Talk about military matters and foreign relations, but focus on just one domestic policy initiative. If he wants to fix health care, all of his time spent on domestic policy should go toward health care legislation. If he wants to focus on tax reform, all of his time spent on domestic policy should go toward pushing tax reform. Surrogates and cabinet members should address other policy initiatives within their own spheres of confidence, but the President himself should make his #1 priority clear to his supporters and detractors alike.
At present, it seems that he is getting caught up with too many balls in the air at once. Focusing with laser-like precision on one domestic issue at a time is the best way for him to be effective and to communicate to Congress that he means business.
Thanks for the honest answer that didn’t involve resignation. I’m sure your suggestions would bear fruit if listened to.
Yep and healing is not what this nation is going to do if Trump is forced out for less than obvious ( to normal people ) issues.
The people obstructing Trump are also a cancer and one that will exist whether Pence or Rubio or whichever repub is in office.
Fred, I respect your opinion and will not waste my time trying to dissuade you from it. I am only responding to say: this healing that you refer to – this absolutely will not happen.
“I thought to myself the other day ‘I’ve pretty much scorched all of my enemies on Twitter, so maybe it’s time to focus just on policy and substance in my Tweets.’ Substance. All the substance. So much substance the Democrats will get schlonged with it. And some people will say ‘but substance is boring. Who cares about substance?’ And the answer to that is: you will, when I get through substantiating! I’ll make boring the best, the top. So I say it is time for my Tweets to become boring. So boring. We’ll have the most boring Tweets brought in, you just won’t believe it. Boring big-league.”*
“…and Don Junior, he’s a sweet kid, he really is, and his heart is in the right place. But when we were watching “The Godfather” yesterday, I made my point with him during the Fredo scenes, believe me. ‘No more Tweeting emails, Junior’, I said, and we laughed and laughed. But then I made that gun pow-pow gesture at his head, and he knew what I meant. So consider that handled.”
“…was harder than I thought. I mean, there’s 535 of these schmucks, and I can’t fire any of them, it turns out! Geez. Did I say schmucks? I meant ‘distinguished persons.’ And I’m gonna do some gold-plated persuasion of these great guys and gals, and not just the ones whose dads tried to kill Kennedy, or just loved that other President who knew about 9/11, but won’t give me the time of day. I’m gonna work to persuade of those Democrats who hate me so much. It shouldn’t be that hard, I mean I was writing checks to them until just a few years ago! So Nancy, stay by that phone. [Winks into camera.]”
“…I mean, you got Gorsuch, and I’m rolling back regulations, and I made a speech not kissing the hineys of the Iranians, and told the Chinese to get a handle on Lil Kim Fatty, or whatever his name is, so how about you stop being such crybabies and help me.”
“When I said ‘wall’, I meant ‘invisible electronic fence that doesn’t have a lot of actual fencing in it.’ So, we did it! [High-fives Pence, who surprisingly, lands it.]
“…so I meant repeal probably about midway through my next term. You gotta stay excited for that!”
*In the press conference following the speech, President Trump will clarify that he is not done with his enemies. After his second term in office, he says, his proxy will face them either in the Bellator cage, or UFC’s Octagon, depending on which of those has the winning bid. The proxy hunt, he said, has been narrowed to “the SEAL who shot bin Laden”, or “John Rambo.” When informed that the latter is not a real person, he replied, “fake news. Next question. You, in the New Jersey Generals hat…”
Sure it will.
How it happens depends entirely on when and how Trump leaves office, the circumstances of his departure, how much he runs his mouth after, and how much credence is given to what he says in the aftermath.
But America will heal. Eventually.
No. The people obstructing Trump are doing their jobs. That’s why there are checks on the power of the presidency. It’s to keep people from doing too much damage.
And if you want to curse Obama for something, curse him for handing Trump the loaded gun of expanded executive powers.
So true. One could even argue that they have helped Russia to succeed in destabilizing our election beyond the Russian’s wildest dreams.
You know why that is? Because while I couldn’t foresee specifics of how things would go down, Donald Trump’s incompetence, dishonesty, corruption, and total unfitness to be President were entirely predictable before hand.
Fred, serious question here. As this is purely because I’d like to know, I will not respond to or argue with your answer:
Do you think the country would be better off starting today if we could restore the situation that held in the first two years of the Obama administration, with Obama, Pelosi, and Reid back in their jobs and with their same majorities?
I have a hundred things to curse Obama for. You list one yet the expanded executive powers are all that he has with the situation he’s in it seems.
So you see the people foiling any attempt for Trump to organize and accomplish as just doing their job.
I answered James Lileks about what I thought should happen to those obstructing him. Calmly. OK I was drunk.
You want to aid those opposing the president. That’s fine, it’s still America.
I would definitely include H-1B employees as I think the H-1B program should be abolished. Spouses I would not include in the moratorium, nor would I include business travelers or tourists.
I don’t just want to aid them, I myself oppose him. Every decent person should oppose Donald Trump. Every day and every night.
Every person who believes in limited government should oppose Donald Trump. Every day and every night.
Every person who believes in human liberty should oppose Donald Trump. Every day and every night.
Every person who believes in the American republic should oppose Donald Trump. Every day and every night.
Every person who believes in our Constitution should oppose Donald Trump. Every day and every night.
Every person who believes in the liberal values that the United States was founded and built on should oppose Donald Trump. Every day and every night.
Because Donald Trump stands in opposition to all those things: limited government, human liberty, the American republic, our Constitution, liberal values, and basic decency. We should all demand his resignation. Every day and every night.
So this is more of an economic/jobs angle on immigration, rather than a security angle?
If that’s the way to get it done, then all of the above. If distinctions can be made as a practical matter, without delaying things, then make distinctions.
Nah, I’m just being the tone police hiding behind passive-aggressive questions, as is my wont.
As for the first, no; as for the second, I think they embarrass themselves. That’s what the internet is for!
I agree.
All of them, and in the most instructive and painful way possible.
Thanks DocJay. I had one other thought: Trump needs to talk more about the challenges he has overcome in his life. I hear him talking about his wealth and the current state of his businesses. He would do well to talk about challenges he has faced and overcome and lessons he has learned. He doesn’t seem very comfortable making himself look vulnerable, by I think the strongest move he could make would be include something along the following lines in every speech:
I could be wrong, but I don’t remember hearing any succinct, persuasive, reassuring anecdotes conveyed in this format from the President.
Good thing you’re not on control. We don’t need apologists or ???
I’m so happy that I live in the real world, Fred. Thanks for helping affirm my choice.
Perhaps its because he hasn’t really ever had any challenges in his life. Has the Trump Business expanded at all since he took over? Name recognition might, but that has more to do with ever increasing technological progress (computers and the internet). Not with his feats performed; which he has attempted to do in several areas, they just all ended in failure (USFL, Atlantic City, etc.).
Good evening, my Fellow Americans,
I have directed Attorney General Sessions to eliminate most use of civil asset forfeiture and to reform what’s left of it so that it conforms to our country’s principles of due process and separation of powers. I urge our state governments to follow suit.
Covfefe and Good Night.