Playing Through

Of course anybody can see Trump hates almost everything about being POTUS. This nonsense about him breaking free of handlers to be himself is simply him refusing to do the minimum to do his job properly. Ideology and overt corruption aside, it is discouraging how few seem to be truly vexed and focused on his laziness and refusal to put any effort into his Presidency.

We know he will not brief himself on any issue.  But it’s worse than that.  According to all reliable sources, he also refuses to allow himself to be briefed on any issue.  Now, refusing to sit down and study up on a country or regions’s specifics is one thing, lazy and awful yes, but there is at least some precedent. Reagan was certainly no voracious policy wonk.  More recently, W had an allergy to white papers, even as he led us toward folly in Iraq and an economic meltdown. But to refuse to even listen to advisors lay out policy options, preferring instead Fox and Friends, or a phone call from Sean Hannity? That is La La Land. And by all accounts that is where we are.

Trump has played golf 20 percent of his time in office.  He now calls Mar A Lago “the Southern White House.” It has become clear he’d spend not an hour in the real White House if he had his way. According to aides, he wants to do several rallies a week up to Election Day. Three rallies and off to Palm Beach is how he wants his weekly schedule to look until November. What does that actually entail?  Early morning tweets attacking all enemies, i.e. non-sycophants, followed by “executive time” with the Fox gang, especially Ainsley – does anybody really think he got hooked on that crappy show because of Steve Doocy?! – and then off to the rally du jour for a 90 minute fever dream session with his wretched core. Repeat.

Somewhere in there will be disarming North Korea. Of course the notion that such talks require exhaustive preparations, not to mention thorough discussions with allies, most importantly South Korea, doesn’t seem to apply with this President. This is, after all, Trump, who reminds us hourly of the failures of previous administrations, even as he slips out for yet another round at Doral.  Remember, like Lou Dobbs says, he makes his own rules.

History will catalog all of Trump’s disgraces. From his ugly vindictive war on American progress, to his radical redistribution of wealth and needless ballooning of already critical debt levels, to his wreckless counterproductive protectionism and assaults on the environment, to one of the most corrupt administrations in history, filled with cabinet secretaries bent on destroying the missions of the departments they are supposed to promote.  The record will document a foreign policy more punitive to allies than adversaries, and built on a zero-sum proposition fully oblivious toward America’s leadership role. History may even recognize a POTUS fully compromised by a foreign power and actually beholden to its agenda.

But what some of us will remember first and foremost about the imposter we elected in November of 2016 is abject laziness, punctuated by a complete aversion to anything designed to improve his job performance.

From the 16-minute regurgitation of nihilist campaign tropes pawned off as an inauguration speech,  to countless embarrassments on the international stage due to nothing more than a lack of basic preparation, this POTUS insults the office he holds by willfully ignoring its basic obligations. Some say we are fortunate for his sloth; if he really tried our pluralism would be imperiled.  Perhaps that is true.  But it seems cold comfort when your POTUS is hustling to putt out so he can catch the funeral of one of his own party’s First Ladies at the 19th hole.  The American Presidency was not meant for couch potatoes. BC