Saturday, November 12, 2016

The Problems are 'Uge

I'm still in relief mode that Hillary Clinton lost. I may not shift to worry mode that Trump won until the new year when his swearing in nears.

Don't get me wrong, Trump was the only alternative to Clinton and Clinton was (is, and will be) unacceptably corrupt. What choice was there?

But on foreign policy, I'm not isolationist. Trump seems to lean that way. But as in many areas, I don't know how committed he is to that sentiment.

Nor do I trust Putin's Russia one bit. Although I hardly think the Russians truly welcome Trump as president. If they did welcome Trump, they'd hardly try to taint Trump by saying they had been in contact.

Trump has indicated he'd bolster our military. Which is good.

And if he can revive our economy to the benefit of those left out of our weak recovery without harming trade (which is beneficial to us, even as it creates winners and losers--the latter should be helped to go in new directions), that will bolster the base of our power.

But I'm not sure what Trump will want to do in foreign policy. So we'll see. General Keane (US Army, retired) offers some thoughts.

The Brookings Institution--with a fair amount of analysts who should have their shoe laces and belts taken away for a few weeks just in case--offers thoughts on foreign policy directions.

Tom Rogan offers national security staffing suggestions.

On Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates or Ash Carter are fine choices. I would keep Carter in place to provide continuity in defense leadership during the transition.

On the domestic side, let me add that I want Speaker Ryan to continue leading the House.

We have a lot of work to do after losing ground in a lot of places around the world over the last 8 years. It's kind of funny that people are worrying about how Trump will screw up our foreign relations, all things considered.