"It has been a busy day for Presidential statements divorced from reality." CBS’s Scott Pelley
- In the early weeks of the new administration, the humbling of a president (WaPo) "Trump’s campaign was never entirely smooth, but instincts that served him so well then appear to be less helpful now that he is in office. As president, Trump’s early moves — with some exceptions — have been marked by poor judgment, botched execution, hubris among some advisers, and a climate of fear and disorder all around. The complexities of governing have quickly caught up with a politician determined to shake up Washington as quickly as possible. The president gets credit from many Americans for keeping his campaign promises, but government by chaos is not a known recipe for success. What Trump takes away from all this will determine the future of his tumultuous presidency. The Russia issue will continue to dog Trump’s presidency until more answers are forthcoming. The powers of the president are vast, but they are not unlimited. Trump has come face to face with the checks and balances built into the Constitution and with the difficulty of commanding a huge bureaucracy of federal workers who value their role as public servants. He has seen anew the power of a free press to dig and report and hold those in power accountable. He has felt the power and sting of leaks from inside the government. There’s nothing new about any of this. It has been true for past presidents. Trump is learning the lesson painfully. The country is divided over Trump’s presidency, but a majority of Americans say they consider him a strong and decisive leader. Trump nation is standing behind him. The same is true, at least on the surface, for Republican elected officials, although their tolerance for mistakes and turmoil will be limited."
- In the early weeks of the new administration, the humbling of a president (WaPo) "Trump’s campaign was never entirely smooth, but instincts that served him so well then appear to be less helpful now that he is in office. As president, Trump’s early moves — with some exceptions — have been marked by poor judgment, botched execution, hubris among some advisers, and a climate of fear and disorder all around. The complexities of governing have quickly caught up with a politician determined to shake up Washington as quickly as possible. The president gets credit from many Americans for keeping his campaign promises, but government by chaos is not a known recipe for success. What Trump takes away from all this will determine the future of his tumultuous presidency. The Russia issue will continue to dog Trump’s presidency until more answers are forthcoming. The powers of the president are vast, but they are not unlimited. Trump has come face to face with the checks and balances built into the Constitution and with the difficulty of commanding a huge bureaucracy of federal workers who value their role as public servants. He has seen anew the power of a free press to dig and report and hold those in power accountable. He has felt the power and sting of leaks from inside the government. There’s nothing new about any of this. It has been true for past presidents. Trump is learning the lesson painfully. The country is divided over Trump’s presidency, but a majority of Americans say they consider him a strong and decisive leader. Trump nation is standing behind him. The same is true, at least on the surface, for Republican elected officials, although their tolerance for mistakes and turmoil will be limited."
- As Flynn Resigns, Priebus Future In Doubt As Trump Allies Circulate List of Alternate Chief of Staff Candidates (Breitbart) "These sources with inner workings of the White House and others independently confirm that President Trump has been privately critical of Priebus in many settings, asking questions about his performance in the position. That’s not all: Others say that Priebus is having a seriously difficult time communicating with all sides of the Republican Party, and cannot effectively build relationships across the divide to unite the Trump coalition. All of this could derail Trump’s presidency if he doesn’t fix it soon, and quickly bring in someone new as Chief of Staff who can smooth out the rocky start and get things back on track sooner rather than later."
- ‘Unbelievable Turmoil’: Trump’s First Month Leaves Washington Reeling (NYT) "'If you had no-drama Obama, you’ve got all-drama, all-the-time Trump,' said John Feehery, a veteran Republican strategist, who compared the last several weeks to the chaotic start to Newt Gingrich’s tenure as speaker of the House in 1995. As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised to move quickly to stop illegal immigration, bring jobs back, end trade deals and reduce crime. Central to his campaign agenda was his pledge to be a disruptive force in Washington — and he has certainly done that. Yet the disruptions have come at a cost: the president has so far made little progress on legislation that would repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The White House has not proposed a promised infrastructure bill to repair deteriorating roads, bridges and tunnels. And the president’s aides have not yet drawn up plans for an overhaul of the nation’s tax code."
- Upheaval is now standard operating procedure inside the White House (WaPo) "The chaos and competing factions that were a Trump trademark in business and campaigning now are starting to define his presidency, according to interviews with a dozen White House officials as well as other Republicans. 'None of this is normal,' said Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist and top official in President George W. Bush’s White House, who has been highly critical of Trump and ticked through controversies that included false White House statements and the administration’s halted travel ban targeting seven majority-Muslim countries. 'The incompetence, the sloppiness and the leaking is unprecedented.' 'The real problem here is you have a bunch of people who were pretty much unknown four months ago, and now they’re all characters on ‘Saturday Night Live,’' Rollins said."
- Trump, like Nixon, is incapable of change (WaPo) "Trump’s genius as a manager is apparent only to himself. He is inattentive and dishonest. He insults rather than consults and has spent an inordinate amount of time at his golf courses. Already he has reversed himself on the one-China policy and has sent mixed signals about Russia. He trashes trade agreements as if ending them will reverse globalization, and he responds to complexity with tweets."
- The Embarrassment of President Trump (New Yorker) "This can’t go on much longer, can it? Trump himself looks out of place (that squinty-eyed frown, meant to bespeak firmness, or serious purpose, doesn’t succeed), and it’s easy to understand why he looks that way. He’s living a bachelor’s life in an unfamiliar house, in a so-so neighborhood far from his home town, surrounded by strangers who have been hired to protect him but cut him off from any sort of real privacy. After little more than three weeks, Trump’s behavior is no more erratic than it used to be, but in the context of the Presidency it seems so. CBS’s Scott Pelley recently began his evening broadcast in a way that no evening news in this nation has ever begun: 'It has been a busy day for Presidential statements divorced from reality.'"
- A White House where no one is in charge (WaPo) "In early January, House Speaker Paul Ryan met on the issue of tax reform with a delegation from the president-elect. Attending were future chief strategist and senior counselor Stephen K. Bannon, future chief of staff Reince Priebus, future senior adviser Jared Kushner, future counselor Kellyanne Conway and future senior policy adviser Stephen Miller. As the meeting began, Ryan pointedly asked, 'Who’s in charge?' Silence. It is still the right question. The president may thrive in chaos, but the presidency does not. A president needs aides who will give him honest information and analysis, not compete for his favor. This may even involve checking a president’s mistaken instincts. For whatever reason, Trump sees benefits in surrounding himself with a swarm of disorder and disruption. So far, that has helped produce relatively small, self-made crises. But what about the big ones caused by the relentless flow of events? The president will face challenges of amazing complexity that must be addressed in real time, without do-overs. Will the president be able to act swiftly, on the best information and the best advice?"
- Trump’s poll numbers keep dropping. How low can he go? (WaPo) "Fifty-four percent of the people didn't vote for Trump, and now 55 percent disapprove of him. ...it's hard to say that Trump's really in trouble right now, relatively speaking. And a big reason is that the only party he really needs to appeal to — his own — is still onboard, as it has been for a while."
THE FLYNN AFFAIR:
- Trump knew Flynn misled officials on Russia calls for ‘weeks,’ White House says (WaPo) "Trump was briefed by White House Counsel Don McGahn that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador 'immediately' after McGahn was informed that Flynn had misled Pence, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. 'We've been reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to Gen. Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks, trying to ascertain the truth,' Spicer said. The comments contradict the impression given by Trump on Friday aboard Air Force One that he was not familiar with a Washington Post report that revealed that Flynn had not told the truth about the calls. 'I don't know about that. I haven't seen it. What report is that? I haven't seen that. I'll look into that,' Trump told the plane."
- Michael Flynn quits over secret contacts with Russia (Economist) "As Washington, DC absorbs the news, just before midnight on February 13th, that Michael Flynn has quit as National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump after less than a month in office, an ominous note lingers in the air. There is something unhealthy about the way this new government operates. When trusted by a president, the national security adviser holds an immensely powerful job, as gatekeeper, referee, enforcer and co-ordinator whenever questions of defence, foreign policy and national security reach the White House for a presidential decision. Pessimists will worry that Mr Flynn’s departure is not enough to cure what ails this administration." and The Questionable Account of What Michael Flynn Told the White House (New Yorker)
- 10 unanswered questions after Michael Flynn’s resignation (WaPo) "1. What, if anything, did Trump authorize Flynn to tell the Russians before his inauguration? 2. Why was Trump planning to stand by Flynn? 3. What did White House counsel Donald McGahn do after the then-acting attorney general notified him last month that Flynn was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail? 4. What is the status of the FBI investigation into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russia? 5. Will Spicer and Pence apologize for making false statements to the American people? 6. Will Flynn face prosecution under the Logan Act? 7. What will the Senate Intelligence Committee uncover about contacts Flynn and others affiliated with Trump had with Russia before the election? 8. Who replaces Flynn? 9. Who else leaves the White House because Flynn is gone? 10. Who exactly is in charge at the White House?"
- F.B.I. Interviewed Flynn in Trump’s First Days in Office, Officials Say (NYT) "The interview raises the stakes of what so far has been a political scandal that cost Mr. Flynn his job. If he was not entirely honest with the F.B.I., it could expose Mr. Flynn to a felony charge."
HEALTH:
- Lessons on Aging Well, From a 105-Year-Old Cyclist (NYT)
NEWS:
- How Should One Resist the Trump Administration? (NYT) "It could be that the primary Trump threat is authoritarianism. If that’s the threat, then Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the model for the resistance. If we are in a Bonhoeffer moment, then aggressive nonviolent action makes sense: marching in the streets, blocking traffic, disrupting town halls, vehement rhetoric to mobilize mass opposition. On the other hand, it could be that the primary threat is stagnation and corruption. If that’s the threat, St. Benedict is the model for resistance. If we are in a Benedict moment, the smart thing to do is to ignore the degradation in Washington and make your contribution at the state and local levels. The third possibility is that the primary threat in the Trump era is a combination of incompetence and anarchy. The model for the resistance is Gerald Ford, a decent, modest, experienced public servant who believed in the institutions of government, who restored faith in government, who had a plan to bind the nation’s wounds and restored normalcy and competence. Personally, I don’t think we’re at a Bonhoeffer moment or a Benedict moment. I think we’re approaching a Ford moment. If the first three weeks are any guide, this administration will not sustain itself for a full term. We’ll need a Ford, or rather a generation of Fords to restore effective governance."
- Trump’s Big Mouth Has Already Weakened America (Foreign Policy) "In fairness to Trump, it’s true that Rome wasn’t destroyed in a day, and it will take him more than three weeks to undo 70 years of American foreign policy and trade relations. It is quite possible, even likely, that he will move to implement more of his campaign pledges as more political appointees join the executive departments. But for the time being the 54 percent of Americans who didn’t vote for Trump — and the roughly 95 percent of the world that was horrified by his campaign — should be breathing a sigh of relief that his actions are not turning out to be quite as radical as his rhetoric. Yet that is not the sentiment of the day. Americans and the rest of the world continue to be as alarmed about Trump as if he had actually implemented his whole deranged agenda on day one. Why is it that no one is giving Trump any credit for his (relative) moderation in action? Because his words are so immoderate. He continues to engage in fraudulent rhetoric and unhinged personal attacks...that create an unsettled environment of crisis, uncertainty, and concern. His own babble and bluster does more than any critic to discredit him."
- Shulkin unanimously confirmed to head Veterans Affairs (WaPo) "No senators dissented on Shulkin’s nomination in a rare show of bipartisanship following contentious battles over other Trump Cabinet selections. Shulkin’s approval makes him the 11th high-ranking Trump official to be confirmed by the Senate."
- Kim Jong-un’s Half Brother Is Reported Assassinated in Malaysia (NYT) "There also was speculation that Kim Jong-un might have ordered Kim Jong-nam killed because China might have been planning to support him as a replacement for Kim Jong-un, who has angered Chinese leaders with his provocative weapons and missile tests."
- Republicans railed against Clinton’s ‘extremely careless’ behavior. Now they’ve got a Trump problem (WaPo)
- Everything You Need to Know About Tom Price (Ozy)
- The United States needs a new strategy for North Korea (WaPo)
POLITICS:
- ‘Data-Driven’ Campaigns Are Killing the Democratic Party (Politico) "For four straight election cycles, Democrats have ignored research from the fields of cognitive linguistics and psychology that the most effective way to communicate with other humans is by telling emotional stories. Instead, the Democratic Party’s affiliates and allied organizations in Washington have increasingly mandated “data-driven” campaigns instead of ones that are message-driven and data-informed. And over four straight cycles, Democrats have suffered historic losses."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Why AWS has such a big lead in the cloud (TechCrunch) "The competition simply didn’t believe there was enough of a market to worry about it."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- 'Playboy' Snaps Out Of Its Never-Nude Phase "Naked is normal."
Sign up for email distribution of the Day's Most Compelling News below or by visiting Top of the News
- ‘Unbelievable Turmoil’: Trump’s First Month Leaves Washington Reeling (NYT) "'If you had no-drama Obama, you’ve got all-drama, all-the-time Trump,' said John Feehery, a veteran Republican strategist, who compared the last several weeks to the chaotic start to Newt Gingrich’s tenure as speaker of the House in 1995. As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised to move quickly to stop illegal immigration, bring jobs back, end trade deals and reduce crime. Central to his campaign agenda was his pledge to be a disruptive force in Washington — and he has certainly done that. Yet the disruptions have come at a cost: the president has so far made little progress on legislation that would repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. The White House has not proposed a promised infrastructure bill to repair deteriorating roads, bridges and tunnels. And the president’s aides have not yet drawn up plans for an overhaul of the nation’s tax code."
- Upheaval is now standard operating procedure inside the White House (WaPo) "The chaos and competing factions that were a Trump trademark in business and campaigning now are starting to define his presidency, according to interviews with a dozen White House officials as well as other Republicans. 'None of this is normal,' said Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist and top official in President George W. Bush’s White House, who has been highly critical of Trump and ticked through controversies that included false White House statements and the administration’s halted travel ban targeting seven majority-Muslim countries. 'The incompetence, the sloppiness and the leaking is unprecedented.' 'The real problem here is you have a bunch of people who were pretty much unknown four months ago, and now they’re all characters on ‘Saturday Night Live,’' Rollins said."
- Trump, like Nixon, is incapable of change (WaPo) "Trump’s genius as a manager is apparent only to himself. He is inattentive and dishonest. He insults rather than consults and has spent an inordinate amount of time at his golf courses. Already he has reversed himself on the one-China policy and has sent mixed signals about Russia. He trashes trade agreements as if ending them will reverse globalization, and he responds to complexity with tweets."
- The Embarrassment of President Trump (New Yorker) "This can’t go on much longer, can it? Trump himself looks out of place (that squinty-eyed frown, meant to bespeak firmness, or serious purpose, doesn’t succeed), and it’s easy to understand why he looks that way. He’s living a bachelor’s life in an unfamiliar house, in a so-so neighborhood far from his home town, surrounded by strangers who have been hired to protect him but cut him off from any sort of real privacy. After little more than three weeks, Trump’s behavior is no more erratic than it used to be, but in the context of the Presidency it seems so. CBS’s Scott Pelley recently began his evening broadcast in a way that no evening news in this nation has ever begun: 'It has been a busy day for Presidential statements divorced from reality.'"
- A White House where no one is in charge (WaPo) "In early January, House Speaker Paul Ryan met on the issue of tax reform with a delegation from the president-elect. Attending were future chief strategist and senior counselor Stephen K. Bannon, future chief of staff Reince Priebus, future senior adviser Jared Kushner, future counselor Kellyanne Conway and future senior policy adviser Stephen Miller. As the meeting began, Ryan pointedly asked, 'Who’s in charge?' Silence. It is still the right question. The president may thrive in chaos, but the presidency does not. A president needs aides who will give him honest information and analysis, not compete for his favor. This may even involve checking a president’s mistaken instincts. For whatever reason, Trump sees benefits in surrounding himself with a swarm of disorder and disruption. So far, that has helped produce relatively small, self-made crises. But what about the big ones caused by the relentless flow of events? The president will face challenges of amazing complexity that must be addressed in real time, without do-overs. Will the president be able to act swiftly, on the best information and the best advice?"
- Trump’s poll numbers keep dropping. How low can he go? (WaPo) "Fifty-four percent of the people didn't vote for Trump, and now 55 percent disapprove of him. ...it's hard to say that Trump's really in trouble right now, relatively speaking. And a big reason is that the only party he really needs to appeal to — his own — is still onboard, as it has been for a while."
THE FLYNN AFFAIR:
- Trump knew Flynn misled officials on Russia calls for ‘weeks,’ White House says (WaPo) "Trump was briefed by White House Counsel Don McGahn that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador 'immediately' after McGahn was informed that Flynn had misled Pence, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. 'We've been reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to Gen. Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks, trying to ascertain the truth,' Spicer said. The comments contradict the impression given by Trump on Friday aboard Air Force One that he was not familiar with a Washington Post report that revealed that Flynn had not told the truth about the calls. 'I don't know about that. I haven't seen it. What report is that? I haven't seen that. I'll look into that,' Trump told the plane."
- Michael Flynn quits over secret contacts with Russia (Economist) "As Washington, DC absorbs the news, just before midnight on February 13th, that Michael Flynn has quit as National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump after less than a month in office, an ominous note lingers in the air. There is something unhealthy about the way this new government operates. When trusted by a president, the national security adviser holds an immensely powerful job, as gatekeeper, referee, enforcer and co-ordinator whenever questions of defence, foreign policy and national security reach the White House for a presidential decision. Pessimists will worry that Mr Flynn’s departure is not enough to cure what ails this administration." and The Questionable Account of What Michael Flynn Told the White House (New Yorker)
- 10 unanswered questions after Michael Flynn’s resignation (WaPo) "1. What, if anything, did Trump authorize Flynn to tell the Russians before his inauguration? 2. Why was Trump planning to stand by Flynn? 3. What did White House counsel Donald McGahn do after the then-acting attorney general notified him last month that Flynn was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail? 4. What is the status of the FBI investigation into possible contacts between Trump associates and Russia? 5. Will Spicer and Pence apologize for making false statements to the American people? 6. Will Flynn face prosecution under the Logan Act? 7. What will the Senate Intelligence Committee uncover about contacts Flynn and others affiliated with Trump had with Russia before the election? 8. Who replaces Flynn? 9. Who else leaves the White House because Flynn is gone? 10. Who exactly is in charge at the White House?"
- F.B.I. Interviewed Flynn in Trump’s First Days in Office, Officials Say (NYT) "The interview raises the stakes of what so far has been a political scandal that cost Mr. Flynn his job. If he was not entirely honest with the F.B.I., it could expose Mr. Flynn to a felony charge."
HEALTH:
- Lessons on Aging Well, From a 105-Year-Old Cyclist (NYT)
NEWS:
- How Should One Resist the Trump Administration? (NYT) "It could be that the primary Trump threat is authoritarianism. If that’s the threat, then Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the model for the resistance. If we are in a Bonhoeffer moment, then aggressive nonviolent action makes sense: marching in the streets, blocking traffic, disrupting town halls, vehement rhetoric to mobilize mass opposition. On the other hand, it could be that the primary threat is stagnation and corruption. If that’s the threat, St. Benedict is the model for resistance. If we are in a Benedict moment, the smart thing to do is to ignore the degradation in Washington and make your contribution at the state and local levels. The third possibility is that the primary threat in the Trump era is a combination of incompetence and anarchy. The model for the resistance is Gerald Ford, a decent, modest, experienced public servant who believed in the institutions of government, who restored faith in government, who had a plan to bind the nation’s wounds and restored normalcy and competence. Personally, I don’t think we’re at a Bonhoeffer moment or a Benedict moment. I think we’re approaching a Ford moment. If the first three weeks are any guide, this administration will not sustain itself for a full term. We’ll need a Ford, or rather a generation of Fords to restore effective governance."
- Trump’s Big Mouth Has Already Weakened America (Foreign Policy) "In fairness to Trump, it’s true that Rome wasn’t destroyed in a day, and it will take him more than three weeks to undo 70 years of American foreign policy and trade relations. It is quite possible, even likely, that he will move to implement more of his campaign pledges as more political appointees join the executive departments. But for the time being the 54 percent of Americans who didn’t vote for Trump — and the roughly 95 percent of the world that was horrified by his campaign — should be breathing a sigh of relief that his actions are not turning out to be quite as radical as his rhetoric. Yet that is not the sentiment of the day. Americans and the rest of the world continue to be as alarmed about Trump as if he had actually implemented his whole deranged agenda on day one. Why is it that no one is giving Trump any credit for his (relative) moderation in action? Because his words are so immoderate. He continues to engage in fraudulent rhetoric and unhinged personal attacks...that create an unsettled environment of crisis, uncertainty, and concern. His own babble and bluster does more than any critic to discredit him."
- Shulkin unanimously confirmed to head Veterans Affairs (WaPo) "No senators dissented on Shulkin’s nomination in a rare show of bipartisanship following contentious battles over other Trump Cabinet selections. Shulkin’s approval makes him the 11th high-ranking Trump official to be confirmed by the Senate."
- Kim Jong-un’s Half Brother Is Reported Assassinated in Malaysia (NYT) "There also was speculation that Kim Jong-un might have ordered Kim Jong-nam killed because China might have been planning to support him as a replacement for Kim Jong-un, who has angered Chinese leaders with his provocative weapons and missile tests."
- Republicans railed against Clinton’s ‘extremely careless’ behavior. Now they’ve got a Trump problem (WaPo)
- Everything You Need to Know About Tom Price (Ozy)
- The United States needs a new strategy for North Korea (WaPo)
POLITICS:
- ‘Data-Driven’ Campaigns Are Killing the Democratic Party (Politico) "For four straight election cycles, Democrats have ignored research from the fields of cognitive linguistics and psychology that the most effective way to communicate with other humans is by telling emotional stories. Instead, the Democratic Party’s affiliates and allied organizations in Washington have increasingly mandated “data-driven” campaigns instead of ones that are message-driven and data-informed. And over four straight cycles, Democrats have suffered historic losses."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Why AWS has such a big lead in the cloud (TechCrunch) "The competition simply didn’t believe there was enough of a market to worry about it."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- 'Playboy' Snaps Out Of Its Never-Nude Phase "Naked is normal."
Sign up for email distribution of the Day's Most Compelling News below or by visiting Top of the News
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