Some Thoughts for the Future

Life After Trump

The election is over, and Our Guy won - BIGLY!

He’s making his appointments, organizing his team, to hit the ground running on January 22.

I wish him a successful presidency, and a long life. It’s my devout hope that he is able to remain in office until 2028, at which time he will no longer be eligible to run again.

That facet is a direct result of the FDR presidency, in which an ailing and aging man clung to office LONG past the time in which he should have stepped down to make room for fresher voices.

since then, we’ve had a number of less than two term presidents:

• Truman

• Kennedy

• Johnson

• Nixon

• Ford

• Carter

• Bush senior

• Trump (having been elected to office non-sequentially)

• Biden

Some of that has been by happenstance, some of that by choice, as evidence that the selected executive was not up to the job, or was not as competent as expected.

This is not a sign of governmental instability. Rather, it fits the American decision to have CITIZENS at the helm, rather than professional administrators or hereditary rulers. Although, at times, we have defaulted to relatives of prior leaders getting in via connections and name recognition.

Succession should not entail an Annointed Successor being appointed to the job without opposition. That is the standard in much of the world.

In our country, the original expectation was that people would take the positions, with the consent of a relatively small circle of experienced leaders, then return to their prior positions, like Cincinnatus returning to his plow.

Obama was the first president to openly flout that expectation by continuing to reside in DC after leaving office. It set a very bad standard.

To be fair, the precedent was set long ago, when former administrators and office holders took employment with lobbying organizations, foundations, and law offices located in DC. It’s a precedent that should stop. In the future, any company, organization or foundation having business with the US government must be prohibited from employing anyone who formerly worked in government.

In other words, Get the Hell Out of Here! Vamos!

I’m not a super fan of imposing term limits; that would be using a shotgun to take down a mosquito. Instead, target the Been To Long In Washington politician with building a case against any financial peccadillos they have committed.

NOT sexual of other tabloid-type accusations. We have to have SOME standards.

Lay a case out for some enterprising DAs in their home state. Tie them up in court for a year or more, with multiple charges, ALL of them felonies. Then, run someone who has a good local record, and put all of the effort of the local, state, and regional/industry organizations to pull that person over the finish line.

If you really want to be Machiavellian, whisper in the ears of that targeted politician’s opponents, and get their background support.

But, most importantly, identify those who supported the general Trump agenda, and allow them to make their case to The People in a fair primary.

Don’t just assume that Vance should take over by fiat. He may be the following president - he certainly seems capable of handling himself in rough arenas - but the true test will be - does he perform well in his current office? Can he connect with state and local GOP in the off-year elections? Is he willing to travel to support those regional efforts? That, BTW, is how Nixon managed to garner the support in 1968 - he WORKED for it.