Donald J. Trump’s election as president has put me in a bit of a bind.
I live in a part of the country — the Texas Panhandle — that is steeped in Republican Party political tradition. Thus, this region voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
I’ve been fielding questions for most of the past two days from people with whom I have a good personal relationship about the election. “What do you think about the result?” they ask, knowing full well what my answer would be.
“Well,” I reply, “it didn’t turn out the way I wanted,” Then we talk about the challenges the president-elect faces.
The conversation turns inevitably to the h-u–u-u-u-g-e learning curve that Trump must confront. I don’t want to damage my relationships with my many friendly acquaintances, so I am careful to avoid getting too crass in my assessments of their candidate.
Thus, the bind.
You see, the man has no government experience … at any level! He didn’t serve in the military — which is no disqualifier; after all, neither did Barack Obama, Bill Clinton or FDR, correct?
What’s more, he’s never served in any public service capacity. No school board, city council, county commission. Nothing, man! The first office he ever sought was the presidency of the United States of America.
So, here he is. He’s getting a lesson on governance at the highest level imaginable.
Trump met today with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. The men supposedly were to meet for about 15 or 20 minutes, but I understand they huddled for more than an hour. I don’t know what the president told his successor, but it’s a good bet he began schooling him on the nuance that will be required to do a fraction of the things he said he would do while he was campaigning for the office.
One man I spoke with today, someone I respect greatly, noted that Trump “is going to surround himself with individuals who know the system.” Uh, yeah! Do you think?
“He’d better find the best and the brightest,” I said, “and he’d better listen to every word of advice they have to offer.” If he doesn’t, then Trump is going to be in a serious world of hurt.
Among the many ridiculous statements Trump made on the campaign trail, one of them stands out at this moment.
“I have a good brain,” he said.
He’s going to have to absorb a lot of information that until this very week was foreign to him. We are about to find out just how good Donald Trump’s brain really is.