It’s Ash Wednesday, and I’m giving up profanity for the next forty days. Don’t test me, world.
President Trump Calms Down, Chills Out, and Rises to the Occasion
Raise your hand if you expected Tuesday night to conclude with former Obama administration official and CNN commentator Van Jones declaring, “[Trump] became president of the United States in that moment, period.” That is what Jones said after the evening’s most emotional point was replayed, and he even remarked, “That was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics.”
As I wrote last night, Trump is often criticized as a narcissist, so it’s a bigger deal when he shifts the spotlight from himself and pays tribute to extraordinary Americans. Last night, he recognized fallen Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who died in a raid on a terrorist outpost in Yemen in January, and his widow, Carryn, in the gallery.
You can watch that portion of the speech here.
We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens, the widow of a U.S. Navy Special Operator, Senior Chief William “Ryan” Owens. Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero, battling against terrorism and securing our nation.
I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, “Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.” Ryan’s legacy is etched into eternity.
If you’re wondering if the moment was an “exploitation” of Carryn Owens, I urge you to read the words of Mary Katharine Ham. Carryn Owens is a grown woman going through a sorrow we hope we never have to face. None of us should be so presumptuous as to tell her what she “should” do at this moment.
Van Jones wasn’t the only former Obama official who came away impressed. David Axelrod, the former Obama adviser, declared, “If I’m on the Trump team, I’m very, very happy with this speech… There will be an afterglow from this speech. He should get a bump in the polls.”
According to the instant polling, the president really defied expectations and left viewers feeling better about America’s future.
Nearly 7-in-10 who watched said the President’s proposed policies would move the country in the right direction and almost two-thirds said the president has the right priorities for the country. Overall, about 7-in-10 said the speech made them feel more optimistic about the direction of the country.
The CBS News instant poll found some Democrats feeling a bit warmer to the president.
While half of Democrats found the speech “divisive,” about one-third of them also said Mr. Trump was “specific” and “knowledgeable”; neither label drew a majority, but nonetheless sizeable numbers compared to the more negative reactions Democrats have had to other aspects of his presidency.
And viewers of all stripes described the speech as at least somewhat positive in tone.
Overall, most watchers approved of the speech. Republicans did tune in to watch it in much greater numbers than Democrats (as a president’s party typically does) which bolstered those approval numbers. Forty percent of Democrats at least somewhat approved; 18 percent strongly approved.
Philip Rucker, White House Bureau chief of the Washington Post: “This is the best morning of Donald Trump’s presidency. He is basking in positive pundit reviews. All that tumult feels like yesteryear.”
Powerline’s John Hinderaker: “Trump is not, as we all know, a consistent conservative. I don’t know how mandatory paid maternity leave sneaked into the speech, for example. But there is no doubt whose side he is on the large majority of the time. Trump was magnificent tonight. It is rare in today’s political climate for a speech to be important, but this one might have been.”
Why You See So Many Astonishingly Stupid Articles on the Web
In the Corner yesterday, Jonah marveled at the stupidity of our age, as “the online journalism outfit Quartz gave the business to a bunch of voice-recognizing phones and other devices to see if they would put up with or stand up to crude come-ons and sexual impropriety.”
Ryan Holiday’s Trust Me, I’m Lying offered a good, gruesome look at the economics of web sites and how any click is a good one.
If a million people click on your piece to react with stunned exasperation at what a terrible idea or an argument it is, the advertisers and editors are happy, because that’s a million page views. If everyone sticks around to type in a comment about what a terrible article that is, that’s another million page views.
The editors of Quartz may very well have recognized that testing voice-recognition software’s responses to sexual harassment is an astonishingly dumb way to spend time, and a complete invention of a “problem,” suggesting that some sort of pre-programmed set of electronic responses is facilitating harassment of real-life women, and that “Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have the responsibility to do something about it.” But they undoubtedly grasped that the entire concept was so outlandish that it would generate a big reaction. Significant numbers of readers would post the article to their social media accounts with variations of, “OMG, you will not believe how stupid this article is!” This spurs more people to click. Maybe author feels bad, but the editors will raise a glass at the end of the day. Traffic was high, and the advertisers will be pleased.
In the old days of dead-tree journalism, the space to print the stories was at a premium. A publication would be wary about running too many deliberately stupid-provocative stories, on the fear that it would chase away regular readers and/or take away space from something more worthwhile. But in the world of web publishing, where there’s no real cost to adding another blog post or article, you might as well run the so-dumb-it’s-funny article. Worst-case scenario, everyone ignores it. Best-case scenario, you get a huge influx of traffic.
I’d argue that NationalReview.com has the best serious-good-stuff-to-provocative-crap ratio in the business, but your mileage may vary.
Are we — meaning Americans as a whole, the news audience, or the news producers —dumber than in generations past? Maybe. But the simpler answer is that there’s a whole new incentive to post groundbreaking stupid articles.
Mr. President, Keep Going Through Your Rolodex…
I hate to mention unfinished business on a morning when everyone is feeling good about the new president, but I noticed a bunch of high-profile positions are still awaiting a nomination from President Trump:
Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Director, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Director, Food and Drug Administration.
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner.
Director, U.S. Marshals Service.
Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Director, Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
All of those positions have acting directors, held over from the Obama administration. In fact, “as of Thursday, Trump had at least 1,987 vacancies within his new administration, most of which did not require Senate confirmation, according to data from tracking service Leadership Directories reviewed by CNN.”
ADDENDA: Over on NRO’s home page, I concur with a Democratic think tank that concludes the “Permanent Democratic Majority” won’t arrive for a very, very, very long time, if ever.
Part of my appearance on CNN International yesterday. Fewer Democratic interruptions to the speech than I expected! “Under the old plan of subsidies, the government gives you money. But under the new plan of tax credits, the government gives you money.”
A video of my CPAC remarks is now posted. An excerpt: “Sentiments like this will make anybody start to sound like Elizabeth Warren. Hey, pal, who do you think paid the taxes for your good public school education? Americans! Harvard University has always had an international component, but who really built that school into what it is today? Americans! Who are the customers of his company? Americans! Who do you think built the building this guy sitting in? Okay, probably mostly Mexicans. But with American shift managers!”