This is Trump in panic mode
Why Scaramucci had to go. Spicer and Priebus were easy prey because the dramatist (read President) had introduced them to us as characters who would inevitably be killed off.
As Priebus and Spicer were humiliated and driven away, you could almost hear the snickers in the audience. The dismissal of the preening Scaramucci, on the other hand, came with the power of a lightning strike.
Then, as the smoke cleared, the world could see the figure of John Kelly, the new chief of staff. The Presidents affection for military men was noted during the 2016 campaign, when he talked about Gen.
George Blood and Guts Patton as if he were a perfect hero and not the troublesome brute whom Eisenhower called a problem child. However, the Presidents fascination with strong military men goes back much further and is far more primal.
As an unruly boy, Trump was suddenly sent away by his father to attend a military school renowned for its harsh discipline.
(As he told me, it was the kind of place where the grown men in uniforms smacked you around.) At the academy, Trump adopted a barking World War II veteran named Theodore Dobias as a substitute father.
As Dobias once recalled for me, Trump was the most manipulative boy he ever encountered and through his wheedling and pleasing, got everything he wanted.
Before he was finished, Trump was marching down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, sun glistening off the brass of his uniform, at the head of the corps marching in the Columbus Day parade.
Although young Trump escaped serving through a series of academic and medical deferments, the President was so enamored of the military style that 50 years later, he would speak lovingly to me of Brasso polish and spit-shined shoes.
As Kelly takes charge, he doesnt need to show up in a uniform bedecked with medals to keep the Presidents admiration and support.
As Trump accepted Kellys demand that his buddy Scaramucci be dismissed, he demonstrated he is willing to give the general what he wants, including respect -- and, perhaps the obedience of his own children, in exchange for his leadership.
Follow CNN Opinion As he sets to work, Kelly for his part will undoubtedly seek to end the deception and bumbling that have characterized the White House under a President whose impulse is to deny and distort whatever facts displease him.
Kelly no doubt considers this work an act of public service for a country which, under President Trump, is fast losing credibility around the world.
His biggest challenge resides in the fact that most of the turmoil can be traced to a President who is, himself, undisciplined. The good news is that Trump has allowed himself to be controlled by military men in the past.
However, any hope in this history must be tempered with the fact that the panicking President does not wear integrity well and can be expected to revert to chaos as soon as he feels comfortable again.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét