Ryan Heath and Florian Eder write @politico.com, about attendees at the World Economic Forum now being held in Davos, Switzerland.
During a closed-door session a panelist asked a “self-styled global elite” audience: “How many of you think Donald Trump won’t even finish one term in the White House?
When about half the hands shot up, Moisés Naím, the former editor of Foreign Policy magazine deadpanned: “There’s a lot of wishful thinking about Trump here.”
Despite the humor, however, there are significant causes for concern because except for a brief appearance by adviser Anthony Scaramucci, no one from the incoming administration, nor Trump himself, is attending the conference of 3000 or so attendees.
Nonetheless, a personal a appearance doesn’t matter because: “Before and, more worryingly for them, after his election win, Trump has gone out of his way to openly question seemingly everything the Davos crowd holds dear: Free trade and globalization, a Western alliance of democracies, American-funded security for Europe.”
A day before the meeting started, Trump spoke to German and British dailies repeatedly criticizing Angela Merkel and saying he “trusted the Germany leader no more than Russia’s strongman Vladimir Putin, declared the NATO military alliance “obsolete” and rooted for the further unravelling of the European Union in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the bloc.”
So, here we have a truly significant shift taking place because: “Trump’s style as much as his substance grates. Some of the 3,000-odd Davos men and, though still a minority, women are unused to a billionaire being uninterested in them. The people who come here are used to assuming the world revolves around them.”
But, that's no longer the case for the present PEOTUS.
At the same time, Cal Thomas wrote @FoxNews.com, today about signs of changes to come contained in Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos’ testimony at her confirmation hearings Tuesday.
While Ms DeVos faced questions across a wide range of issues in the educational system, the major underlying subject was the potential vulnerability of teachers themselves whereas Ms DeVos is an advocate of school choice.
Mr. Thomas notes that the same opposition to change exists in government and the media where “entrenched bureaucracies are reluctant to give up power and influence for something untried, or for something that differs from what they have been doing for years, even when their approach has failed.”
And then, Mr. Thomas finally arrives at the key, and most likely real interest of most in the public school system nationwide: “Many on the left believe school choice should not be available to poor children, not because school choice is a bad idea, but because the Democratic Party doesn’t want to alienate teachers’ unions that oppose it. Teachers’ unions make generous contributions to Democratic politicians and Democratic politicians rely on teachers’ unions for votes. Yet these same politicians have no skin in the game; many send their children to elite private schools.”
Making the point that personal responsibility and self-reliance are not taught in today’s public schools, which is why too many young people are deficient in these areas, Mr. Thomas goes on to state that “Democrats have put DeVos at the top of their hit list. She represents a threat to them and their union supporters. Instead of going in a new direction, Democrats cling to a model that doesn’t work and then have the audacity to resist change.”
In summation, Mr. Thomas concludes with a thought very much like the Trump break with tradition by not attending the Economic Forum in Davos. Whereas if Trump's refocusing the nation’s international financial posture works toward betterment in the future, Mr.Thomas’s projection is also likely accurate: “If Trump and DeVos play this right, they will earn the gratitude (and possibly votes) of thousands of parents who yearn for their children to be set free from their unsafe and underperforming public schools. As the song says, “This could be the start of something big.”
And all of it starts for real tomorrow afternoon.
In closing, a Facebook friend posted this one which speaks for itself.
The Quotes of Steven Wright:
1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back
3 - Half the people you know are below average.
4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
8 - If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain.
9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.
10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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