Start thinking of him as the 46th president of the US. President Mike Pence. Right wing? Sure. Bigoted? Of course. Misogynist? Without question. But at the same time as all those, just another well-regarded member of the Republican establishment, former governor of Indiana, chair of the House Republican Conference and currently vice-president of the US.
Not a day goes by that I am not more convinced President Donald Trump cannot see out his first term. The Republicans themselves will impeach him and get rid of him. Pence will take over. He’ll be another George Bush. In Trump’s latest (of a growing list) cock-up, it turns out that US intelligence, as part of its day-to-day routine sweeps of America’s enemies, picked up regular contact between Trump’s election team and Russian officials. Russian intelligence officials that is. How does this get any worse? A day earlier Trump had to fire his national security adviser, Mike Flynn, for his contacts with the Russian ambassador in Washington. As it is there’s a deep suspicion that the Russians managed to turn the election Trump’s way. Now why would they do that?
It is the senior Republicans in Congress who will stop this in its tracks and call Trump to account. He won’t know what the hell to do: Here’s The New York Times breaking the intelligence.
And The Washington Post on the mess that is going on in the White House. If you’re on Twitter, find a group of WH staffers — people still working inside the White House — who are so appalled at what is going on they have started a secret Twitter account, @RoguePOTUSStaff, to help Americans understand why their government sometimes seems to be standing on its head. Imagine having to deal not only with Trump but with the consequences of almost everything he says and does.
Part of Trump’s problem is that he is a businessman and not a politician. He doesn’t understand how political decisions are taken. He is no longer in command of a business. I’ve made the point before and I remember getting some stick when I suggested last year that Herman Mashaba, a very successful entrepreneur, would make a lousy mayor of Johannesburg for the DA. That’s because entrepreneurs work by command and political leaders can’t, as Trump has discovered. The jury is still out on Mashaba, but the Johannesburg I live and work in (and love, by the way) is still a mess of litter and overgrown parks and pavements. But one person who had a fat go at me when I first wrote that about Mashaba was one Anthony Still.
In a letter to the editor of Business Day the following Monday he raised himself to bursting: “Peter Bruce is again dead wrong ... This time he tells DA leader Mmusi Maimane to can Herman Mashaba and find another political hack for the post of Johannesburg mayor. During electioneering, when handing out DA pamphlets, the recipients often responded to me, “I like this man”, while pointing at Mashaba’s photo. Does (Bruce) understand that the job of the new mayor is one of action, not hand-wringing? He may be inexperienced in government, but a good leader knows how to choose a good team, how to listen, and then how to get results,” he said. I could go on but I feel sorry for Still, a man whom I know to be a solid citizen and a cracking manager. Mashaba fired him yesterday as head of Johannesburg’s environmental and infrastructure services department. Roughly, if you’re a resident, that’s the department of everything. It is just that entrepreneurs make lousy politicians, Anthony. They always have and they still do. Good luck to you.
Now here’s a young man who has never run a business but is becoming a serious figure in our politics. Mmusi Maimane increasingly sounds like a national leader in waiting (it might be a long wait) but he has matured remarkably quickly. He is thoughtful, polite, cutting and brave. He will take the DA a long way, though I doubt it’ll still be called that by the time he finally puts his seal on the official opposition. Alec Hogg thoughtfully placed a video of Maimane speaking during the debate on Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address last Thursday. He is wonderful.
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