I'm making this up as I write so the overall Grade will have to be at the bottom as I have no method to weighting the grades either.
1st, Being an effective leader D
For leading the legislative effort, King Donald gets an F. He has passed nothing. For executive orders, he gets a D as only some have passed Judicial review and as we know from President Obama this is not an effective way to lead as the next President can simply issue another executive order undoing this one. Of course, that can be undone by the next President, and what we then have is a very inefficient way of governing as nothing is permanent. On the international front, I will give him a C and that is why this is a D overall.
2nd, on being an inspirational leader C
Well King Donald doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone other than himself, his voting base and his billionaire buddies. That is why his tax reform outline looks like it does. He doesn't have an iota of curiosity about the points of view of his opponents. So on this front, he gets an F. On the other hand, this has motivated the Democratic base in myriad ways, and that deserves an A+. So overall this is a C.
3rd, on being a leader for all people F
see the 2nd comment and add to it his war on women who want to have control over their bodies. I guess you could throw in his cabinet and his war on immigrants, the environment, and those who want affordable health insurance for everyone. This is a clear F.
4th, is he growing into the job? No Grade, Incomplete.
Well, a NY Times reporter tried to make that case today, but I think it is clearly too early for that as most of the examples for that are in the area of Global Trade and International Relations. So I think the best score here is an incomplete.
5h, Transparency and Setting an Example for Good Clean Government F
King Donald is as corrupt as they come. His failure to release his tax returns prohibits us from a complete understanding of all the conflicts of interest in this administration. We know from the one tax return released that the only reason Trump pays tax is the AMT tax which he wants to end in his tax reform. And we don't know the complete interaction between his people and the Russians. And we don't know the ways in which his ownership of properties allows him to profit from his being President. Does the government pay a nightly rate when he stays at Mar del Lago? Does it pay his Greens Fees at the local golf course? We know it pays for the airplane that takes him to Florida. The only question is what will it take for the GOP to adhere to the principals they said they believed in when they tried to impeach President Clinton. If they don't impeach King Donald on violations of the Emoluments Clause they are showing themselves to be purely partisan with no desires to be part of good clean government. Through his ownership of Hotels, where foreign governments can channel money in any number of ways from staying rooms to renting them for meetings, conferences, dinners, golf outings, lobbying and any number of other ways, they can bribe King Donald. As the Heritage Foundation writes, this was the express reason The Founding Father's put the Clause into the constitution.
Link to the Heritage Foundation Discussion of the Emolument's Clause
Furthermore, King Donald is staffing his administration with lobbyist's, people from the industry they will now regulate, and other types with obvious conflicts of interest. Since Trump has not forbidden these people from returning to their prior lives, they will be able to profit from all this. This is not draining the swamp of dark money, this is inviting Dark Money right into the game. And this is the only good reason the Democrats had for opposing Judge Gorsuch. He is a regular speaker at some rich man's club that I am sure can bend his ear and channel financial opportunities his way. Whether that is illegal or not is beyond my comprehension on where such lines are properly drawn, but it is an example of how the rich control policies in an non-transparent manner. If there were a Grade lower than F, Trump would deserve it.
Overall, I want to give King Donald an F because I truly believe he is an incompetent leader and a danger in many ways to this country and the world. He will not leave either in a better place when he is finished. But I guess I have to give him a D overall because the world continues to move on and most of us have yet to be effected by his worst desires for political direction.
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