Extract from the Los Angeles Times
Top of the Ticket cartoon
(David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
David
Horsey
April
25, 2017 5:00 am
The
tradition of measuring a new presidency’s success in the first 100
days began after Franklin Delano Roosevelt set a high bar in 1933
with a string of big accomplishments at the beginning of his first
term. That was an unusual moment in American history — a desperate
electorate mired the depths of the Great Depression had elected FDR
in a landslide and given him compliant Democratic majorities in
Congress. So, judging subsequent presidents by that standard is a bit
unfair.
Plus,
the 100-day marker is no predictor of long-term success. Barack
Obama had a strong opening to his years in the White House,
but once Republicans organized
themselves into the party that always said “no,” Obama’s
initiatives hit a wall in Congress through the rest of his two terms.
Obama’s
impressive opening act was facilitated by his party’s control of
both the House and Senate. Donald
Trump enjoys that same advantage now, but other than getting
conservative judge Neil Gorsuch appointed to the Supreme Court,
Republican rule has not been much of a boon. This is due to two
things: the deep philosophical divide in the House GOP caucus and the
amateurish chaos in the White House that reflects the pandemonium in
the president’s own mind.
Trump
has a legislative agenda that has not grown much beyond the
inflammatory rhetoric of his campaign — “Build a wall!
Repeal Obamacare!”
When House Republicans came up with a doomed scheme to scuttle the
Affordable Care Act, Trump’s attempts to sell the deal only exposed
his near-complete ignorance of the legislation’s details.
With
no bragging rights to legislative accomplishments, Trump has had to
fall back on the flurry of executive orders he has issued. Though his
most noted executive action — the so-called “Muslim ban” —
has been blocked by the courts, his unilateral orders are not
inconsequential. Most have been directed at the federal bureaucracy
and at environmental regulations. Coupled with appointments of
Cabinet secretaries who seem intent on neutering their own
departments and agencies, these measures are the real hallmark of
Trump’s opening months in office.
Trump
has abandoned the leading role the United States has taken on
battling the perils of climate change and begun dismantling the
Environmental Protection Agency. He is hollowing out the ranks of
seasoned experts in the State Department. He is shifting the focus of
the government away from protecting consumers, conserving pristine
landscapes, aiding the poor and checking the worst impulses of
financiers, bankers, frackers and polluters. Instead, his
administration is moving quickly to cater to the interests of the
fossil fuel industry, big corporations and Wall Street. His words may
sound populist, but his actions show his intention is to serve the
plutocrats.
Perhaps
Trump’s biggest accomplishment in his first 100 days has been his
ability to capture the constant attention of the country and the
world. Liberals are drinking more heavily and watching endless hours
of Rachel Maddow to deal with their stress and anxiety. Conservatives
are locked in arguments with each other about whether Trump is the
answer to their dreams or a nightmare for the Republican Party.
Overseas allies are appalled and perplexed by Trump’s erratic
nature while potential enemies cannot decide whether he is an
ill-informed, easily manipulated novice or a belligerent,
unpredictable adversary. The news media is simply obsessed with
everything the man does. Cable news networks, in particular, seem to
believe there is no other story worth covering.
By
conventional standards, Trump has accomplished very little in his
first 100 days, but, in the surreal new world of American politics,
it feels as if he has changed everything overnight.
Follow
me at @davidhorsey on
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