He Gets Us
By
Leonard Zwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/us/elections/donald-trump-supporters.html?searchResultPosition=1
In the end it may have been as simple as that. Trump understood what the majority of Americans were feeling and Kamala Harris did not. Mr. Trump had his finger on the pulse of the many Americans who saw prices rise, the border collapse, and American influence on world events wane. Ms. Harris thought abortion (instead of calling it women’s health rights) and low unemployment numbers would carry the day.
In fact, in the moment in early 2023 that Mr. Biden decided to run again, the Democrats sealed their fate. Only a fair primary among really good Democratic candidates with a chance of winning could have produced a Democratic victory after Mr. Biden’s performance. Surely, any perception that the Harris presidency was going to be a continuation of a Biden presidency was doomed. And once Mr. Biden debated Mr. Trump, this was over. Mr. Biden was supposed to be a bridge to the future for Democrats. Somehow, he forgot that and thought he was the future at 82 years of age.
The question I am struggling with is whether or not Mr. Trump has just begun the process of creating a new kind of American government or not.
Let me explain.
The American government has its three branches, but in the end, Congress passes laws that the executive branch must implement. If those laws are challenged, the Supreme Court determines their constitutionality. Thus, it is the President who can really alter how laws affect people usually through the actions of the various agencies in the Executive branch.
Mr. Trump has said that he will root out the many people in the Deep State (the Executive Branch) who are not loyal to him and replace them with people who are. The problem is that the Deep State he likes to criticize is enormous and capable and historically apolitical. It is these people who actually make the government function. I know because I met a great many during my year in Washington. Without these people there would be no air traffic controllers, no IRS agents, no FBI, no Medicare, no Social Security, no NIH, no CDC, no FDA, no EPA, etc.
Now in all fairness, it may be that Mr. Trump’s supporters would like all of these agencies to go away, but most Americans, in one way or the other depend upon these agencies to function albeit at a greater efficiency than they do. (No worries. Elon’s got this).
If Mr. Trump really changes the government and does away with career bureaucrats and appoints only his own loyalists, you may or may not get your Social Security check. Your NIH grant may or may not be reviewed on time. Your Medicare coverage could lapse.
I hope Mr. Trump can strike a balance between the traditional way that government runs and how he wants to make changes such that needed services are not disrupted and thousands of federal employees don’t find themselves without jobs.
When a new leader takes over a complex system of established processes, he or she must be careful to make changes that advance the mission without destroying the parts of the system that have been effective for years.
As an example, take MD Anderson.
Dr. DePinho tried to overhaul the entire system of drug development and research by fiat. The system pushed back and rejected his leadership. He never got MD Anderson.
Now Dr. Pisters is trying to convert MD Anderson from a site of research-driven patient care into a patient care ATM. He has attempted this with really inferior leaders in key roles, something I fear may happen to the federal government under Trump.
Leadership is vision and will. Donald Trump has articulated a vision for America—MAGA and America First. How he translates that into policy and who he gets to implement those policies will be key.
Dr. Pisters has undermined the classic role of MD Anderson in the world by emphasizing the volume of patients and external awards from magazines in lieu of research excellence—factors that must be in balance for MD Anderson to succeed.
Trump got elected because indeed, he gets us. Pisters got selected, but I have no idea why. After these many years, I still don’t think he gets MD Anderson or its faculty.
Pisters really did not have to in any way audition for the MD Anderson faculty before getting the job of leading it. In that way he is very much like Kamala Harris and like Ms. Harris, he has yet to articulate his vision for the institution or exemplify any behavior suggesting he gets MD Anderson and its faculty.
Pisters may press on as president of MD Anderson. He will never embody it. He never got it.
2 thoughts on “He Gets Us”
Unlike Trump and his sycophants, you and I understand the size, complexity and professionalism of the Federal government where you served and the Department of Defense where I served. Trump’s mission is to dismantle as much law and regulation as possible so oligarchs control the flow of wealth in America, sending us back into modern “medieval” times. His current Cabinet appointees, except for Rubio, are not equipped intellectually or professionally to manage the huge departments coming their way. If the Senate fails to throw a few of these nominees to the curb, the last balance of power in our Nation will be lost for at least four years. Trump’s start is worse than most imagined, and most of his MAGA supporters have NO idea what Trump plans. They may soon find out when their Federal benefits are curtailed.
Or the stock market drops!