Saturday 26 May 2018

Why Trump Sits at 50-Percent Approval

President Trump sits at 50-percent approval rating.

Yeah, it's a bit of a shock.  Why?  I'll essay my ten reasons for the standing;

1.  No one reads newspapers much anymore.....or news magazines (like Time or Newsweek).  Folks will scan the front page for regional news, local politics, and regional sports.  But frankly, the Democratic 'thrill' potential with newspapers which existed for decades....is mostly finished.  In a way, the papers 'burned bridges' as they crossed, and never saw the damage inflicted upon their own product.

2.  ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS?  Look around at the group of guys and gals who've been let go, terminated for sexual affairs, or simply retired.  No one really cares what the networks say much anymore.

3.  Hillary?  For about a hundred days after the election of 2016, she had the right to talk and whine about the outcome.  Public-wise, the talking probably should have wrapped up by late spring 2017.  The anti-Clinton voters are simply being reminded on the positives they believed in voting for Trump.

4. Skeptical view of Senators, period.  It doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democrat.....people don't believe your hype or commentary.  The Sunday morning political shows are mostly there for dramatics and people appear more amused than in tune with the commentary of Senator 'Snuffy'.

5.  Respect for Team-Obama. When you look at the forty-odd people who surrounded President Obama, and their continual negativity chat....it's not getting much traction.  It is rather odd that the news media just two years ago could have used the people weekly on news programs or chats.  Now?  The respect seems diminished. 

6. Promises.  Typically, when some idiot is running for President.....he makes promises.  Typically, at best....ten-percent of the promises are carried out.  Well...Trump appears closer to the thirty-percent point, and might well accomplish fifty-percent by the time he reaches 2020.  Folks seem to admire that type of action, even if negative.

7.  The DNC.  You would expect the national leadership of the Democratic Party to meet....talk over the upcoming mid-term election and the message or brand....that they wanted to sell the public.  You see mostly three messages.  One is the Bernie Sanders message of more 'free stuff', which isn't being that well received.  A second message is the impeachment brand, which isn't being that well received.  And the third message is odd topic like gun-control or racism....which typically aren't four-star topics for the non-urban voters.

8.  The Stormy Factor.  I am reminded by the recent Marvel movie....Infinity War....where Doctor Strange is forced to consider fourteen-million future scenarios, and saying there was only ONE single scenario where the Avengers won in the end.  If Doctor Strange had been reviewing all options in 2015....yes, he would have likely said that only this Trump-guy could take on the 14-million situations, and oddly face some fake porn-actress in the national media, and not bow out.  By November, I don't see much left for Stormy to chat about, and her full-time occupation will be pole-dancing at strip clubs.

9.  The power of Breitbart.  It's almost like a poker game where some Breitbart journalist walks into a room and lays down one single card....then suddenly the game is over.  CNN having that effect? No.  The Today show?  No.  Go down the list of power-players from 2005 to 2015....none have that one single card effect, except Breitbart.

10. The McCain factor.  King Midas had this unique ability to touch something, and it'd turn immediately to gold.  Well....Senator McCain, even here in his dying days, has the anti-midas touch, and virtually everything he touches....turns into 'pee'.  More than half of Republicans will tell you that they regret their 2008 vote for him.  The Democrats?  They are in this awkward position where they have to show some enormous respect for McCain, which generally makes the public question the gimmick being played out.  McCain, for better or worse....has aided the President in various ways, and turned the McCain 'pee' dossier into a joke. 

Trump's Orders

I noticed President Trump did three things yesterday, which should have been on President Bush and President Obama's list.  All had to do with government employees.

The first episode....he issued an executive order to make it easier to 'let go' (fire) poor performing government employees.  The second episode creates a federal labor relations working board to review union contracts with the federal government. The wording would make it hard for federal unions to appeal firings and to lobby Congress.  The third?  It's an executive order that says you were hired to do a job, and if you are some union chief or union boss...you can only spend 25-percent of your time in that function.  The rest must be regular work.  Part of this order also says that unions existing in federal office spaces....need to pay for it.

All will be challenged in court, but likely to stand.

As I came into the Air Force in 1977.....one of the things you noticed after a year of activity was that some civilians that were employed by the Air Force....were losers.  Unlike the military where you could discharge them or punish them in some way.....you were limited in your actions.

Toward the end of my career with the military, we had this vacancy in a civilian slot that had to be filled within the organization.  They brought this gal in from the states to fill the job.  Within 90 days, it became obvious that she had an attitude problem and refused to take on any new work. Trying to change her job description?  It was next to impossible and the union folks continually pushed back.  I sat and watched her boss try to understand this behavior because they hadn't ever had a 'loser'.   Over the course of three years, in terms of productive work?  I'd take a guess that she never did more than 400 man-hours a year of anything productive.  That means nine months of an average year were just fake work, or unproductive. 

How many poor performers exist within the federal government?  I would take a guess that more than 100,000 individuals exist.  The Trump order?  I might take a guess that within the next year.....at least 2,000 of such individuals will be brought in and the Trump-order will be used to force them out.  As you get into 2020....you might actually see ten-thousand individuals shown the front door.  In some ways, it might change the landscape. 

The problem I see is that it'll all be forced back into court action....but if the government wins 90-percent of their cases....eventually the loser crowd will give up on legal challenges.

The other problem is....if you got fired by the US government, it's a bit hard to find anyone wanting to hire you.  You might actually push yourself into a burger-flipper career.