Perhaps the end at the light of the tunnel is in sight …
Donald J. Trump by the end of his presidency, might not be worse than Warren G. Harding, who “…was certainly the equal of a Franklin Pierce, an Andrew Johnson, a Benjamin Harrison, or even a Calvin Coolidge.”
Now, a year after the election—and more than a year after Trump first made that pledge to the American people—many observers believe the swamp has grown into a sinkhole that threatens to swallow the entire Trump administration.
The number of White House officials currently facing questions, lawsuits or investigation is astonishing: Trump, being sued for violating the “emoluments clause” of the U.S. Constitution by running his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.; Paul J. Manafort, the second Trump campaign manager, indicted on money laundering charges in late October; Flynn, for undisclosed lobbying work done on behalf of the Turkish government; son-in-law and consigliere Jared Kushner, for failing to disclose $1 billion in loans tied to his real-estate company; and at least six Cabinet heads being investigated for or asked about exorbitant travel expenses, security details or business dealings.
www.newsweek.com/...
Soft, flaccid science takes another hit as Clovis withdraws, since it is about Clovis’s cooperation in the Mueller probe. This is connected to George Papadopoulos which also reminds us that Clovis brought Carter Page to the RNC when he was Trump campaign co-chair.
It was important to Trump that the Cabinet look like one, functioning not so much, because they’re always extras for Trump’s Apprentice boardroom scenes. Why else put “Governor Goodhair” in at Energy (“fossil fuels can prevent sexual assault”), and other donors/cronies in like DeVos, Chao, and Ross. Tillerson is there not only because of that medal Putin gave him. And so far, they are proving to be his undoing.
“We all know the role that TV played in Trump’s election,” said one former senior Trump campaign official. Clovis “did a good job of integrating Trump policy for TV interviews,” and Trump himself “thought Sam was always very prepared when he did policy interviews.”
Dismal … and flaccid
Billionaire Boys’ Club: Jerome Powell, Trump's pick to lead the Fed, would be the richest chair since the 1940s
The Mercers begin to bail...
The Murray-Blessing 1982 survey asked historians whether they were liberal or conservative on domestic, social and economic issues.[32]
The table below shows that the two groups had only small differences in ranking the best and worst presidents. Both groups agreed on the composition of nine of the top ten Presidents (and were split over the inclusion of either Lyndon B. Johnson or Dwight D. Eisenhower), and six of the worst seven (split over Jimmy Carter or Calvin Coolidge).
Rankings by Liberals and Conservatives
Rank Liberals (n = 190) Conservatives (n = 50)
30 |
Calvin Coolidge |
Jimmy Carter |
31 |
Franklin Pierce |
Richard Nixon |
32 |
James Buchanan |
Franklin Pierce |
33 |
Andrew Johnson |
Andrew Johnson |
34 |
Ulysses S. Grant |
James Buchanan |
35 |
Richard Nixon |
Ulysses S. Grant |
36 |
Warren G. Harding |
Warren G. Harding |
Harding has traditionally been ranked as one of the worst presidents.[257] In a 1948 poll conducted by Harvard University, historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. conducted the first notable survey of scholars' opinions of the presidents, Harding ranked last among the 29 presidents considered.[258] He has also been last in other polls since, which Ferrell attributes to scholars reading little but sensational accounts of Harding.[257] Murray argued that Harding deserves more credit than historians have given: "He was certainly the equal of a Franklin Pierce, an Andrew Johnson, a Benjamin Harrison, or even a Calvin Coolidge. In concrete accomplishments, his administration was superior to a sizable portion of those in the nation's history."[259] Coffey believes "the academic lack of interest in Harding has cost him his reputation, as scholars still rank Harding as nearly dead last among presidents."[253]