A WARNING FOR MR. TRUMP – AT 8:49 A.M. ET:   I've noticed in the last week, a softening of enthusiasm for the president among his supporters in the press.  Like many, they continue to applaud his decisions and his goals, but are becoming frustrated by his sometimes self-destructive style.

Mr. Trump should take these criticisms to heart.  Too often he hurts himself when a perfectly sound action is surrounded by chaos, contradictory statements and unnecessary attacks on others.  One of Mr. Trump's strongest supports in the press is the distinguished columnist Michael Goodwin, of the New York Post: 

The president rarely makes it easy on the faithful, often testing his tribe through errant word and deed. Even on his best days, he manages to insert a hurdle or two or 10.

The James Comey affair is the perfect example. On substance, Trump made the absolute right call. Comey had to go, with his blunders on the Hillary Clinton case reason enough. And there were many others.

Yet being right isn’t enough in Washington, and being Trump raises the bar exponentially. The Democratic left and the media (I know, that’s redundant) get out of bed ready to pounce.

They don’t need facts to unleash their volcanic hatred of him. A juicy rumor and an anonymous source will suffice. Any mistake sparks talk of impeachment.

Some days, Trump gets the level of difficulty, telling Reuters about his first 100 days, “I thought it would be easier.”

Other days, he gets everything backward, making it hard for supporters to defend him and easy for opponents to attack. This is not merely annoying.

The exasperating pattern has been and remains the existential threat to Trump’s presidency, given his precarious public standing and his party’s narrow margin in Congress. He will not be able to deliver on his promises to revitalize the economy and rebuild the military unless he establishes wider support for his agenda and more trust in his judgment.

The task applies to politicians and ordinary citizens alike. Both need frequent reassurance he is up to the job.

The Comey uproar also proves something else: that a good idea, especially a big one, requires equally good execution. The bungled rollout undercut the bold logic of the decision, and the White House’s reaction to the reaction is a textbook case in how to make a problem worse.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  Go back to Watergate.  A stupid prank was turned into a major national issue by Richard Nixon's attempts at a cover-up.  All Nixon had to say was, "This dumb act occurred on my watch.  It will not happen again.  These are the steps I'm ordering to enforce the highest ethical standards on my campaign."  He would have been a hero.  Instead, he barked, he defied, he covered, leading to a situation where he had to resign rather than be impeached.

The impeachment campaign against Nixon had nothing to do with the original, minor crime.  It had to do with the fact that he was Richard Nixon.  He was hated by the same elements of press and establishment who hate Donald Trump. 

The liberals would love to impeach Trump, even on no grounds whatsoever.  Trump must not aid in their effort.

May 15, 2017