WS Chronicle

By Dr. James B. Ewers Jr.

I couldn’t sleep at all last night, I was tossing and turning. Those were lyrics of a song made popular many years ago. It could be said these lines could fit our current president quite well these days.

It is safe to say Mr. T’s presidency has been fraught with mismanagement and misbehavior from day one. The president overstated the number of people at his inauguration. Almost immediately after the election, questions about Russian interference in it popped up.

The president has made a charade of hiring and firing many of his presidential appointees. So, for those of you who dabble in trivia, here are two questions for you: Who was Mr. T’s first chief of staff? Second, who was his first secretary of state? So to not keep you in suspense, Reince Priebus was his first chief of staff. He served from January 20 until July 31, 2017. Rex Tillerson served as his first secretary of state. He served from February 1, 2017, until March 30, 2018. These are important jobs and you would think they would have served a longer time.

This is just not the case in Mr. T’s administration. Longevity does not have its place. In fact, the word “longevity” may not be in this president’s vernacular. Loyalty is not reciprocal in this White House. It’s a one-sided coin with Mr. T’s face on both sides.

For example, Rex Tillerson was fired on social media by Mr. T. Can you imagine going home one evening knowing you have a job and are a part of the president’s inner circle, but hold on, wait a minute. You wake up the next morning and find out you have been fired … on Twitter no less. You’re like Little Anthony and The Imperials – You’re on the outside looking in! That type of dismissal is both embarrassing and humiliating. Will he campaign for this president in the coming months? I can only say crazier things have happened.

Let us not forget Anthony Saramucci. He served as the White House communications director for less than a week. He came in pompous and left pathetic. Now he is going around slamming POTUS. Will it last? It is a fact of life that serving in this administration is like eating fast food. It goes quickly.

The president has also had some of his staff and personal assistants slated for prison. Michael Cohen, one of his personal lawyers, is to be sentenced December 12. Mr. Cohen was the self-proclaimed fixer. Will Rudy Giuliani become the new fixer? Paul Manafort, the president’s former campaign chairman, is already in jail. These men attached themselves to the president, only to fall by the wayside. Telling the truth and being honest are virtues that unfortunately are difficult for some people.

For many months whispers of impeachment could be heard in Washington D.C. These whispers have now turned into loud voices, especially in the House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to squelch the chatter; however, last week the curtain was pulled back, thus the impeachment inquiry has started.

Speaker Pelosi said, “Impeachment is no cause for any joy. This is a sad time for our country.” I agree. Asking the leader of another country for a favor does have some impropriety attached to it. The country of Ukraine is in the news for the wrong reasons. We know some of the details so the American people will simply have to follow the facts. The Democrats have an interpretation of what happened and so do the Republicans. Is the truth somewhere in the middle? In the coming weeks, we will find out.

The House would like to put this fact-finding inquiry on the fast track. They are targeting Thanksgiving as a deadline. The party lines have been drawn. The Senate will not vote to impeach the sitting president of the United States. That’s pretty much a foregone conclusion.

Just a few months ago, the polls said Americans were not in favor of impeachment. Now the tables have turned. Let’s just wait and see.

James B. Ewers Jr., Ed.D., is a former tennis champion at Atkins High School and played college tennis at Johnson C. Smith University where he was all-conference for four years. He is a retired college administrator and can be reached at ewers.jr5@yahoo.com.