Fear. Bob Woodward, author (Simon and Schuster, 2018). I’ve been a Bob Woodward fan since Nixon. Journalists keep politicians honest and the public informed. (Two at the NY Times made a mistake with their Rosenstein/25th Amendment report, but these are few and far between.) Freedom of the press is one of our most important freedoms, and it distinguishes democracies from the ubiquitous authoritarian regimes around the globe.

That said, this book only stands out because other books of the same flavor are not as trustworthy and prone to sensationalize the Trump administration’s scandals (that’s the worst kind of journalism–do we still call it “yellow journalism”?). We have to face the fact that the American people elected Trump. We’re probably stuck with him for four years, and his supporters are certainly hoping for another four. That too is democracy in action. Democracy isn’t the prettiest way to govern the multitudes and run a government, but it’s better than the alternatives.

This isn’t one of Woodward’s best books. First, I didn’t find many surprises here, at least for me. Maybe there’ll be some for people who only watch Fox News (not a fortress for good journalistic practices, by the way–even Trump watches CNN and MSNBC); these people either have their head in the sand, or they’re ardent Trump supporters who think he walks on water (he’s on a mission to ruin the environment, so that water will soon be polluted, I suspect). Oh, my bad! Those people, if they read books, don’t read books like this. (Hey, I’m open-minded; I even watch Fox News—Hannity’s always good for a few laughs—and I read McCain’s book, because he’s a true conservative and American hero, not a “populist” AKA fascist.) But think what you will. It’s still a free country, and I’ll respect your opinion even if it clashes with mine. (I couldn’t be a reader or writer if I didn’t.)

Second, the book has its flaws and ups and downs. There are some nice details, though. Trump running between two White House rooms ranting and raving about Rosenstein’s naming Mueller, Trump acting like a complete psychotic paranoid while yelling, “They’re out to get me!”  (You have to admit that’s funny at least.) Trump not worried about creating more national debt because Mnunchin could just print more money. (He doesn’t understand economics; I’m not sure he even understands real estate. He went bankrupt many times. Maybe he wants to solve our problems by making the country do the same?) Ivanka exploding to the Chief of Staff Kelly that she doesn’t have to report to him because she’s the first daughter. (And she wants to be president? Of course, she was a friend of Chelsea Clinton’s, who seems to have the same aspirations. Infectious mental disease of first daughters?) Tillerson exploding to those who remained in the Pentagon SCIF that Trump is a “f%$&ing moron” (the actual quote doesn’t soften the f-bomb) after Cohn and Mattis and others tried to control him and Trump stomps out.

Trump clearly has zero understanding of the global economy; he would flunk Econ 101. (Not a problem per se if he’d listen to experts. He doesn’t. Other presidents have had the same problem. McCain with Palin, for example.) And he doesn’t understand the nexus between economic issues and geopolitics–he thinks an economic relationship between the U.S. and another country is only valid if the U.S. makes money from it. Forget about a trade agreement that supports a mutual defense initiative. He focuses on the trees and never sees the forest (of course, he’d just cut down the whole forest if he could make a buck). Trump on tax reform: “’I like these big, round numbers. 10 percent, 20 percent, 25 percent….’ Cohn tried to explain that there was plenty of history and technical detail the president should know. ‘I don’t give a $#%& about that,’ Trump said.” (The bleep is mine. You have to read the book to discover the actual swear word used.)

I could go on and on about the details. Any sane people in Trump’s administration are likely to be fired; insane sycophants remain and have to always inflate his over-blown ego. I’ve lost count of the people that have been fired or have left because they couldn’t stand working with Trump. And, except for Cohn, Trump’s economic advisers have been idiots, Navarro in particular (again, you already knew that before Woodward’s book…unless you’re not paying attention). I might not agree with Cohn on everything, but at least he used real facts; the others ignore them, or believe in the opposite. According to Woodward, Tillerson, Cohen, Porter, Kelly, and Mattis tried to restore some sanity in the White House; only Kelly and Mattis remain. (There are now rumors that Mattis will soon go. I’m waiting for Trump’s tasseled loafer to drop on Kelly too—Ivanka and Jerod hate him and don’t respect him at all.)

The book is not without its flaws as these books go. Besides often stating the obvious, foreign policy is not Woodward’s forte, but that’s where most of the real danger lies with Trump—my God, this wild president has the nuclear codes! Woodward pays little attention to the foreign policy gaffes. The book is chaotic too. In trying to follow a timeline, Woodward becomes repetitive, but maybe he’s just trying to show that Trump can’t focus on anything. (He can’t. He rarely read Porter’s briefs and just repeats false opinions he’s developed over decades in his ivory Trump Tower.) Boring sessions with the president are boringly over-explained, like the dust-up with his lawyer Dowd, who, like others, quit before he was fired. (Dowd fought with Trump about the president’s intention to testify before Mueller.)

The book ends with Dowd too; it’s a cliffhanger, as it must be. Should Woodward have waited for a more important climax like the aftermath of the 2018 midterm elections? Probably. It makes me wonder about the book’s real agenda. But it’s still an important exposé of the man who is a great danger to world peace and prosperity if there’s any truth to the events portrayed in the book. But they have collaboration independently of Woodward’s reporting, and the book, unlike a few other exposés, has Woodward’s long career of investigative journalism to back it up.

Here are my conclusions from a careful reading of this book (mind you, this is being nice–I like being nice): (1) Trump is incompetent. (2) The GOP is using Trump to further their own agenda. (More importantly and hypocritically, evangelicals are doing the same thing—Woodward doesn’t mention this.) (3) There’s no governing ideology, no true conservative motivation for the Trump administration, and plans and policies change at a moment’s notice (i.e. the title of the book should be Chaos in the White House). (4) Foreign and economic policies (tariffs) are in a shambles and leading us to an economic cold war with both enemies and allies, and many of these are prejudicial to Trump’s own supporters (maybe why their numbers are diminishing?). (5) Trump’s mental state is deteriorating. In fact, Trump’s actions should remind sane people of a paranoid, fascist dictator, but too few people remember the dark days in 1930s Europe. No wonder Trump admires Kim, Putin, and other demagogues around the world. He earns the nickname I’ve given him, Il Duce. (Yeah, maybe that’s not being nice–Mussolini was terrible, as are most fascist dictators. But it just means “Duke,” so that should appeal to the narcissistic Mr. Trump.) Note that these conclusions aren’t really political.

Also note that this isn’t an anti-conservative book review. Far from it. I’m willing to go out on a limb against most of my fellow progressives here: we need true conservatism to slow down progressive initiatives when their consequences and possible harm to other initiatives have not been thoroughly analyzed. Exuberance for quick solutions can lead to long-term problems (e.g. the Dems’ push in the Senate under the baton of schlock-maestro Reid for a simple majority to confirm SCOTUS justices). I know, respect, and listen to true conservatives, but they’re an endangered species now in today’s GOP. And Trump isn’t one of them—far from it!

I don’t know if the GOP will survive Donald Trump. They’re no longer for free trade because Trump isn’t. They’re no longer anti-Communist because Trump isn’t. And they no longer believe in controlling the national debt because Trump doesn’t. True conservatives are abandoning or should abandon the GOP. They can’t be Dems, but they shouldn’t be members of Trump’s GOP either. Maybe that’s the only positive from Mr. Trump: he’s swelling the ranks of independent voters. (Considering the Dems’ own problems, of which there are many, maybe it’s time for a new party or two?)  The nation is spinning down into a maelstrom where the U.S. will be left on the world stage without any friends because of Trumpism.

I suppose President Trump wanted to sue Woodward for this book, although I don’t know why that would be the case, or even an option. There’s so little here that any intelligent observer of the disaster going on in Washington DC doesn’t know already (that includes GOP congress people who let it go on). Unless the Dems win at least the House in the midterms, the U.S. is in big trouble.  Hopefully they’ll also win the Senate and Congress and will be able to geld this man that’s out to destroy the country and the world and make the U.S. an isolationist haven for Trumpism. A balance between conservatives and progressives must be restored, and they should work in a bipartisan fashion to solve the nation’s problems…without Trump, who seems only to create them.

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Comments are always welcome!

Here’s a link to an important podcast review of this same book.

In libris libertas!

 

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