House Of Cards

A year or two ago in the TV program House of Cards, one of the characters observed that "the President Is the people around him."

I thought that was pretty prescient.

Most of the time, we know who the people are who surround the president. In the case of Hillary Clinton, you could find out by looking up her web site. But none of us knew the people around Trump. Furthermore, they seemed to have no experience or interest in actually governing, but were skilled at plunder. And at showmanship.

I knew many of the skilled people around Hillary personally, and most of them at least by reputation.

Not only was Secretary Clinton herself better qualified and prepared than most of those she surrounded herself with, they themselves were among the most talented and well-prepared of her generation and of the generation before her. It was tragic that these leaders did not get to lead.

Governing is hard. It is complicated. It is not best done by amateurs.

I don't understand what happened, but the last time our national leaders were this incompetent was after World War I, otherwise known as The Great War. It was Harry Truman who observed that in a democracy, countries get the government they deserve. I think that's a bit harsh. We deserve better than what we have.

I will have some thoughts about that.