Referendum

Was the Trump election a referendum on the government or the voting populace?

Did an entitled population choose one who feels entitled to hold office over one with the skill-set and experience to hold office?

The question gets murkier with a CEO cabinet staff of people with little government experience outside of lobbying for corporate influence or bailouts during the 2007 economic meltdown.

Trump thinks he can turn a profit from exercising his presidential power. What he doesn't get is the likes of Putin aren't about the money; they are about power. Is this a case of ignorance - being too dumb to know better, or arrogance - too blind to the truth of being used?

It's difficult to know if Donald Trump's Twitter tantrums are braggadocio or bold façade of someone in over their head.

What's for certain is that things will be different after January 20, 2017.

Jackie O style redux

How will America, and the world at large, endure the sight of overweight women who feel entitled to ape the style of a first lady with the supermodel looks of Melania Trump?

At least there will be someone there to defend their self-esteem from being cyber-bullied.

The Trump Brand

The voters have spoken.

They invested their votes in Donald Trump.

What remains to be seen is the kind of value the Trump brand brings to America.

Engaging the Millenials

Engaging the millennials in the job place is a popular management scheme. They must be allowed to have fun and be creative on the job.

Do they come to their job to to work or be entertained?

Is the performance aspect of managers' evaluation reviews based upon how efficiently he managed the department, or how well he entertained the staff?


What about the investors? Do they measure the profit on their investment in terms of efficient management, or entertained staff? Would they say of a failed company that it lost their money in an entertainingly creative way?

The Trump voter species

What makes a Trump voter?
People who think their uniqueness entitles them to superiority over everyone else - especially anyone who dares disagree with the omniscience their uniqueness confers upon them.
Their life experience reinforces the infallibility in the entitlement of their self-esteem. Helicopter parents and video games they play reinforce their sense of unlimited immunity to the consequences of their actions. There is no conflict they cannot settle in their favor:
An opponent may be persuaded by bullying.
A favorable test score may be obtained by cheating.
A coveted job may be obtained by lying on a job application.
For them, there is no such concept as a breach of ethics.
These are the people entitled to a Trump presidency.
America deserves Donald Trump

Photoshop Foreign Policy

It's amazing what can be done with Photoshop. Actresses whose faces haven't aged since they were twenty are grateful to have their brows relieved of the weight of the years, and Botox.

Yet must one have realistic expectations. The U.S. government has used it for years on foreign policy with mixed results. No matter how many filters and color pallets are layered upon nation-building, the human element always bleeds through.

You Get What You Pay For

Corporate executives get paid the big bucks to manage the complex intricacies of large companies' operations. It doesn't matter what their product is: medical care, consumer goods, or food. The well-being of the economy rests with these stewards. Political stability precariously balances on the consequences of their actions. Regardless of their products, they all share a common root of starting small and growing large.

Corporate boards are being paid to manage healthcare costs that continue to spiral out of control and out of reach of the very people who work to support the economy. In other businesses, such as manufacturing and service, these same boards' sole product has been off-shoring goods and services.

Are investors really getting their moneys worth?

The United States of America

The United States of America.

In just what state are Americans united?

Is it the United States of Amnesia, as Gore Vidal once suggested, in the way Americans forget the morass their government gets us into when it meddles in the affairs of other countries patronizingly referred to as "third world"? Third world being code for having either resources, strategic location, or cheap labor we covet.

Is it the United States of Attention Deficit, as in multi-tasking has us too distracted doing everything at once to be able to pay attention to any one thing? The futility of it all keeps us frustrated and overwhelmed.

Is it the United States of Apathy, as in votes cast by us don't matter? It's business as usual so long as the credit and bling keeps flowing to us. Why resolve today what can be procrastinated for someone else to resolve tomorrow?

Is it the United States of Arrogance, as in we know what's best for the world because we are American? After all, America created Manifest Destiny.

Is it the United States of Agenda, as in getting whatever is entitled to us that preserves self esteem whatever the cost to the other guy? Self esteem justifies the means.

Is it the United States of Angst as in are others doing enough for us to preserve self esteem?

Is it the United States of Anger, as in the world doesn't like us anymore and our self esteem just can't handle not being number one anymore?

It is a curious state of the Union.