One hundred day test survived

We have apparently been a party to the achievement of a milestone. Or at least the news media believes something major has happened -- the Honorable Donald Trump passed 100 days in the White House. The actual success of his first evaluation period leaves much to be desired depending on which television network you watch. We, as citizens of the United States should be rewarded for our endurance after the verbal abuse we were subjected to in the process of CNN using the "first hundred days" theme to tell us nothing is happening while Fox is busy trying to view the same "story" with a positive twist. That's quite a contradiction.

How many American voters who cast their ballot for Trump did so based on an agenda of CNN's choosing? For some reason it was my belief that no matter who gets elected they are voted in for four years and have greatly exaggerated their personal timetable for completing most of their short term goals recognizing they have a great deal to do and must work with Congress to get most of it done. Our president and his tweeting thumb are an easy target for humor because he chooses to use that vehicle as a means of communicating and as a gauge for how he is stirring the pot. Whether this style of staying in touch with the average man on the street actually works, remains to be seen. However, the news media sure picks up on it quickly and if you happen to be watching an early morning news program, they (the television network) will find a means of getting something newsworthy out of it.

It appeared for a few days that the situation at the Fox network and their firing of anchor man Bill O'Reilly would overshadow Trump's progress against the 100-day gauntlet, but that fizzled very quickly. Maybe it wasn't a particularly big story anyway. Megyn Kelly had already moved on to greener pastures -- as in money green. In spite of his supposed popularity, O'Reilly was too New York for me and bragged about his success until it failed to be humorous.

Back to Trump's 100 days, what did you and I learn from all the fanfare of signing executive orders on what seemed like a daily basis ? I don't know now, nor did I understand then, the actual impact of any of them on my day-to-day activities. And, with all the fanfare of a ticker-tape type parade, the Republican House of Representatives and the Donald himself, proclaimed success over the healthcare proposal coming out of the House. My understanding of that display of partial success freed the representatives to go home on recess, and allowed the president time to work his negotiating magic on the Senate. Good luck on seeing a short debate and quick passage of a complete package to replace the Affordable Care Act. The personal identity of one's name on the title (or at least associated with the bill) seems to be as important as the deductibles, or pre-existing conditions, portions. What president would want his predecessor from the opposing party to have title to historical legacy-type legislation?

We have survived the president's 100-day test -- if we can still smile in the morning during a news cast and can find humor in the cartoons poking fun at him. What seems to be lost in the race to find fault and failure in the Donald's presidency is the fact that a reported 96 percent of those people voting for him are still supporting him, wall or no wall with Mexico.

I find it gratifying that he can acknowledge that being president is a lot harder than he thought it would be. That is a major achievement in two ways -- he recognized some of the challenges in a new epiphany and he actually acknowledged it. Now, if he can just keep us out of war and can actually convince CEOs of some of our largest and most prosperous corporations to expand in America we might see some networks change just a bit and give us an honest, unbiased look at what goes on in Washington.

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Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. The opinions expressed are those of the author.He can be contacted at [email protected].

Community on 05/10/2017