Someone will have to explain to me why the deal maker in chief, the guy who keeps bragging about his ability to cut deals with anyone is missing in action on any effort to broker an end to the government shutdown.

You’ve heard Donald Trump bellow and boast about his deal making skill. He yammers about how he can bring two sides together to strike deals that benefit everyone affected. How’s he doing on the shutdown?

He has shown virtually no interest in cutting a deal that would return hundreds of thousands of federal employees to their jobs. No interest in paying those who’ve still been working. Not a semblance of interest in seeking a long-term solution to this ongoing string of continuing resolutions that are good for only a few months before we return once again to the grandstanding we’re seeing in our nation’s capital.

Allow me this point of personal privilege. I am planning to board a jetliner for a flight back east in about 12 days. Air traffic controllers are on the job … but aren’t getting paid for keeping planes from crashing into each other. I believe I will hold my breath for the entire length of the length of the flight; that goes in both directions, too!

Trump has sent a healthy portion of his career in politics bragging about how crafty he is at the negotiating table. I’m ready to see if this know-nothing can deliver the goods. If he doesn’t, an entire country is going to continue to suffer.