Who is in Charge?

In Your Face

Our new President has the opportunity to break the cycle of “in your face” politics that has dominated our government for much of the last 25years. “Confrontation rather than cooperation”, was first apparent when Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in in 1994. It abated somewhat during the Bush years but came roaring back under Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Obamacare was enacted with no input from the minority party and contrary to the will of the American People. You can rightly blame Trump for some lack of cooperation during his presidency, but a hostile Congress aided by the national media never gave him a chance. When a freshman congressman was asked how she would get along with the President she replied, “We are going to impeach the (explicative deleted).” Speaker Pelosi and her band of attack dogs are still consumed by their apparent hatred of Trump.

I had a doctor’s appointment Thursday following the inauguration and was listening to news clips between country and western songs. There was a sound bite of Pelosi explaining the path to unity is to continue with the impeachment process. I thought about that for a minute and recalled my experience several years ago as a student teacher at Shadle Park High School. I was turned loose with a group of fifteen very smart young people studying Contemporary World Problems. When I arrived, the next chapter in our text was “Factors that Unite and Divide.” After a brief discussion one young man said, “It seems to me Mr. Watson that the factors that unite and divide are the same. They unite groups within themselves and divide them against each other.” I decided this student was smarter than the ivory tower educators who wrote the text, so we threw the book away and spent the rest of our time building a model of world affairs. Continuing to impeach Trump may very well unite the Democratic Party, but it will certainly divide the country.

Seventy-four million Americans voted for Trump. Seventy-four million voters liked the way Trump managed our relationship with China. Seventy-four million Americans approved of our national policy on immigration. Seventy-four million Americans liked the way Trump tried to achieve fairness in trade with our allies. I realize “Not Trump” won the election, but his actions to dismantle programs that seventy-four million Americans favor tends to indicate he favors unification of his party over unification of his country. He would be better served to take his time and listen before he acts. He has asked all Americans get on board with him, but he didn’t offer to discuss the direction the train would be headed before asking everyone to get in line.

I had a good discussion yesterday with a bright young man and I asked him what he thought of our new President. His first words were, “He is a puppet.” I considered this and asked, “If Biden is a puppet, who is pulling the strings?” Good question. I don’t know the answer, but there are some interesting possibilities. CNN, CBS, and NBC are absolutely involved in promoting national policy and decisions, but who makes the decisions? Could it be the Democratic Party? The Party Chairman and head of the Democratic National Committee are both lightweights so the influence must come from other sources. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are currently very influential Democrats. Could they be the real power behind the throne? That is a scarry thought. More scarry that the thought that the Obamas may be pulling the strings with a view toward Michelle running in 2024. Could be.

On the other hand, Biden could be more in charge than he appears to be. I hope so, and I hope he can be what he said he wanted to be, President of all Americans. If he is to put an end to confrontational politics, he needs to give a minority voice to the seventy-four million Americans who didn’t vote for him.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-time resident of Eastern Washington. He has been a free-lance columnist for over 20 years.