The Signal And The Noise

Michael Scherer has a nice rundown of Trump's long standing grandstanding on the flag and his ability to use divisive wedge issues to distract and divide his opponents.  There is a lot of talk about whether this is deliberate or just an impulse that Trump falls into when things get tough.  In other words, as the American Shitburger Act 5.0 and Luther Strange go down to likely defeat this week, Trump is distracting people with this NFL stuff.  OR.... When Trump gets in a tight spot, he impulsively reaches into his distraction bag of tricks.  It's a cause and effect question.

The real issue of course is that Donald Trump is President of the United States.  He has a job to do.  Actually he has two jobs.

As President, Trump is Head of State.  That means his job is to represent the WHOLE country.  Polling finds that Americans believe by 2 to 1 that Trump is dividing the country rather than uniting.  Dividing is his schtick.  He's been doing it for years (the article mentions how he used huge flags to attack zoning board ordinances).  The problem is that dividing can no longer be his first impulse.

He's making America worse.

His second job is Head of Government.  He has to run the Executive Branch and work with the Congress to run the government.  If anything, he's worse at that.  With the American Shitburger Act 5.0 going down in flames and Puerto Rico on the verge of a crisis that might be Katrina on steroids, Trump is off tweeting about NFL player protests?  And, oh, yeah.  North Korea. 

During the first few months of unforced errors, many wondered what would happen when a crisis not of his own making would confront Trump.  He is now facing a complete failure of his legislative agenda (though much of that falls on McConnell and Ryan), an American territory facing a crushing crisis and a potential nuclear war. 

Again, keep an eye on the Puerto Rico issue.  If there is a mass exodus from the island, millions of Puerto Ricans could move to the US baring a massive grudge against the GOP.  If they settle in Florida, that could have major electoral ramifications.