“It takes a big man to admit a mistake”
Wait. What? Who said that?
I doubt anyone knows, but it’s my guess that
the expression probably evolved when some intelligent, caring individual was
trying to encourage a friend, who might have felt slightly ashamed to admit
some error, to be honest and forthcoming.
And over time, the expression stuck, because other caring individuals
used it to encourage other reluctant friends to be honest as well. Those offering the guidance understood that
any discomfort that comes from the admission of a mistake is fleeting, and once
it's past, all is good again. The
expression was always just intended to get their friends over the hump, and it
worked. It's frequent use, never implied that it was true, but along the way it
became a simple, yet elegant way to teach ordinary men to admit their mistakes.
Because the real truth is, real people, who
understand how the real world works
(a) make mistakes all the time,
(b) admit to those mistakes,
(c) apologize for those mistakes,
(d) make corrections, and
(e) most importantly, move on.
In most cases the whole process takes about as
long as it took me to type this sentence.
Most individuals learn this lesson early in
their lives. Sad to say, Donald J. Trump
is one of the exceptions. And for an
individual who is so spectacularly incompetent, and on so many levels, it is a
shame for him, but worse, it is a disaster for the rest of us, as we are forced
to watch it unfold on a daily basis in front our own unbelieving eyes.
Now, I could use this lead-in to talk about
any one of a couple hundred unforced errors that have defined the Trump
Administration to date. (See posts 1-65), but I can only use it once, so I need
to pick wisely. But it’s an easy
call. It’s the Wall, That’s the
one. It's the perfect lead-in for the
Wall. This was the defining centerpiece
of the Trump presidential campaign, so it's only fitting this should be our
focus. And it was back in the news,
again, yesterday as Trump has now made building the entire wall along the
Mexican border, a requirement of his negotiations with a Democrats over the
DACA legislation. So, yes, let's talk
about the Wall.
Perversely, after more than eight months into
his new presidency, Mr. Trump cannot give up on his Wall, even after
transcripts of his call to the Mexican president on January 27th were released
which found him admitting that it's all about the show, it's just
political.
On his discussions with President Enrique Peña
Nieto of Mexico around the building and the payment of the Wall, Trump stated:
“I am willing to say that we will work it out,
but that means it will come out in the wash and that is okay. But you cannot
say anymore that the United States is going to pay for the Wall. I am just
going to say that we are working it out. Believe it or not, this is the least
important thing that we are talking about, but politically this might be the
most important (thing to) talk about.”
Let that sink in
“This is the LEAST important thing that we are
talking about, but POLITICALLY this might be the MOST IMPORTANT (thing to) talk
about.”
And once more, for effect.
“This is the LEAST important thing that we are
talking about, but POLITICALLY this might be the MOST IMPORTANT (thing to) talk
about.”
This, from the Republican candidate who said
he was going to “drain the swamp”. How do Trump supporters at his rallies who
whooped and hollered every time he repeated that phrase reconcile their
candidates outright disingenuous commentary, from a politically motivated swamp
dweller of the lowest order?
And how does this President respond to the
release of the transcripts? The
administration doesn't choose to deny them, but instead they dispatch Attorney
General Jeff “I have to do something to get back in his good graces” Sessions
to determine the identity of the leaker, and so Sessions considers the use of
lie detector tests on the President’s staff.
This apparently is just one many extraordinary benefits of working for
this president.
At different times Trump has threatened to
shut down the government just to fulfill a campaign promise, that even many of
his supporters considered a metaphor for generic border security. Further, the
Republican led Senate doesn't want to touch it with a 10 foot pole, and nobody,
NOBODY in their right mind believes Mexico is going to pay for it.
What is even more baffling, is that he has
already made great progress in cutting down on illegal border crossings. In
July, Fox News contributor and former Trump Campaign operative, Steve Cortes,
claimed illegal border crossings were down 70% over the prior year. Also in July, National Border Patrol Council
President Brandon Judd told C-SPAN that the significant downturn in the number
of illegal border crossers between the U.S. and Mexico is "nothing short
of miraculous”.
And so if you voted for Trump based on this
metric, then you should be thrilled.
Even better, he did it without spending a dime! Now it’s true, as part of his immigration
crackdown, to send out his message loudly and clearly, Mr. Trump did deport
many honest working, (but still illegal) immigrants, and callously ripped them
from their families, but in Donald Trump’s view of the world, some good hombres
just needed to be sacrificed to rid our country of all the bad hombres. It's
just a little collateral damage in his mind.
And why should he be concerned, they didn't vote for him. Mr. Trump has
sent a clear and powerful message, to hombres everywhere, get out, we don't want
you here. And by itself, that has been a
more powerful deterrent than any costly, physical barrier, which will only cost
that much more because of Trump’s promise that...“it will be beautiful”.
I don't agree with his approach at all, but if
you measure him solely on the math. it's a win for him, a rare one, but still a
win. Now don’t get too excited as this is not a harbinger of future successes
to come. You need only read post #27,
“Even a broken clock is right twice a day” to understand. After all, he is still Donald Trump, and
that's not going to change.
Still he wants to spend money on the Wall,
even though, foreigners will still come into the country to visit, and may
still choose not to leave. Still others will dig tunnels or climb ladders, or
come in on parachutes, hot air balloons, catapults, bungee cords and jet
packs. Just as nature adapts, so will
people, but they will do so quicker and more efficiently.
Everyone wants tighter border security,
including Democrats, but there are smarter ways. Crack down on the employers and penalize
them, secure all borders everywhere through electronic surveillance, add more
guards, but the Wall won't help this problem unless you are going to wall every
foreigner out and wall the rest of us in.
So why can't he declare the ultimate victory,
talk about the accomplishment of reductions in illegal crossings through the
sheer force of his own personality and the fear created by his bombastic
rhetoric, that no one else could have accomplished. It's ripe for the taking.
All he has to do is tell the American public:
“Hey, we are doing such a great job, we no longer need the Wall, it was a
mistake. We found a better way”.
It would be over, his base would still be
thrilled, and we could stop wasting the country's time and money on this
stupid, stupid, stupid concept.
It would be easy. A walk in the park. A piece of cake.
No, it doesn't take a big man to admit a
mistake, just a good one.
With Malice Toward None, With Charity For All
(…mostly)
www.richardpiccolo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment