Other Politics

Many of the globe’s big shooters in government, business, the arts and media will assemble in Davos, Switzerland Tuesday for the start of the annual four-day World Economic Forum.

The political landscape they will review has changed dramatically since they gathered a year ago, due primarily to one leader who may or may not show up. That’s U.S. President Donald Trump whose attendance, as of this writing, was contingent on the absurd government shutdown drama being staged once again in Washington – the 19th shutdown “crisis” since 1976.

Even political junkies must agree: it’s time to slow down. From mainstream media to the insatiable demands of cable TV and social media, the news cycle has gone out of control in the age of Trump. Before the public has a chance to absorb one event, disaster or outrage, another wave of information (or disinformation) sweeps over us.

“Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. ...I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!”

Who would have believed it?

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters" – Donald Trump, at a 2016 campaign rally in Iowa.

He was probably right.

Trump is one of a kind. He’s a politician who exists outside the box of political convention, a leader who frustrates the best efforts of pundits to predict what he may do or what havoc he may wreak in the year ahead.

One would think that among the easiest policy changes to sell in the United States is a tax reduction. This should be particularly true for a tax cut directed to the middle class, where the majority of voters are found. Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump's presidency, one must acknowledge that he has a remarkable gift for marketing and sloganeering. Whether apocryphal or not, the phrases "Make America Great Again," "Drain the Swamp" and "America First" have resonated with a significant slice of the U.S. electorate.