The Tortoise & the Hair

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

— — Benjamin Franklin

Donald Trump is not only our Narcissist-in-Chief, but he very likely has Attention-Deficit Disorder, with an attention span measured in nanoseconds. His inability to focus on anything other than himself is well-documented. If the topic is about him, no amount of time is too great, but if interests other than his own are involved, “well, we’ll see” is his response before he jackrabbits to his next topic of interest.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch “Repeal and Replace” McConnell is, in many ways, the polar opposite of Trump. Fixed to the point of obsession on obstructing President Barack Obama in everything, McConnell was one of the earliest leaders in the move to turn the Republicans into the “Party of No” when it came to Obama. In December 2008 and again in early January 2009, before Obama’s inauguration, Republican Leader Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell, and other Republicans met and determined that they would oppose Obama in everything. Much of the insidious agreement among top-shelf Republicans to rebuff and deny Obama on everything he did was detailed in Michael Grunwald’s wonderful book The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era.