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Lets frame an argument beginning with an agreement that God put Donald Trump in the White House. Why would He do that?

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The question of whether Donald Trump belongs in the White House is one that has been asked since his campaign began but even more so this week as the embarrassment that is his administration reached new lows. His chief of staff was summarily dismissed and replaced, apparently due to leaks. His new communications director went on a foul-mouthed rant that has left even ardent supporters shaking their heads. Mr. Trump has been in office six months, and its gotten so that the only voices with good things to say about the man come from his own administration, some right-wing pundits, and the very core of his support. Hes made enemies of the press, his own party, and two-thirds of Americans, but to those who practice The Gospel of Self, these are all to be tolerated in the name of God rising up to save the country. Evangelical Christians used to base the entirety of their belief system in preparation for a life to come, but The Gospel of Self has taught them that they should also be fighting in the political realm today for those who would restore righteousness to America and the world.

Perhaps God actually did put Donald Trump in office, but for a different reason.

I played a significant role at The 700 Club during the 1980s in teaching these people that the first English-speaking settlers here planted a cross at Cape Henry in 1607 and claimed the land for our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Moreover, according to what we taught at CBN, that claim continues today in the form of the United States, and we have a duty to protect it and see it advance. This is but one of the reasons the Presidents core support can look the other way as he practices his form of managing the affairs of the country. All that doesnt matter, because God is in it, and this form of faith can be very strong.

One common response is to view these people as ignorant, a dangerous assumption that speaks to education as the solution. Thats simply not going to happen for three reasons. One, its dead wrong at core. I know a great many believers of this ilk. They are not ignorant; they are driven by their faith, and thats a different animal than ignorance. Two, this group tends to believe that advanced education is an enemy of the church, because it drives people away from the faith. Finally, the accusation is an insult to their integrity, which drives them further away while validating persecution verses from the Bible in the process. Dealing with Donald Trump from a Christian perspective is going to take a strategy other than insulting them.

So does Donald Trump belong in the White House or not? The answer, of course, is yes. We elected him. But theres another view on this, too.

Sometimes, the most likely and obvious answer to the question of whether something should be is its existence, and this forms the essence of the right response to certain Evangelicals regarding the behavior of their man. Donald Trump IS the President, and to borrow the language of the faith, hes there because hes supposed to be there. Therefore, the question isnt so much how we survive this remarkable time in history, as it is what do we do afterwards?

We must remember that Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians take their cues from the Bible, which they believe instructs them on how to respond to the cultural shifts in front of them. Theyre mad as hell and arent going to take it anymore when it comes to morality, jobs, taxes, security, safety, freedoms, and education. Its no coincidence that these were the planks on which Trump campaigned, so its easy to understand their excitement with the candidate and now President. However, the Bible is filled with stories of people who stepped outside the will of God and were destroyed as a result. Therefore, lets frame an argument that begins with an agreement that God put Donald Trump in the White House. Why did He do that?

If we can bring ourselves to ask this, its completely fair to then ask the question what could be going on with such a scenario, if it isnt to remove sin from the U.S.? Could God be judging His own people and not the culture? Perhaps God is the One whos mad as hell and isnt going to take it anymore. Asking God to judge the world is a dangerous proposition, because Gods judgment, the Bible teaches, begins with the house of God, His people.

Everyone knows there is a great divide between us in the West, one that life cannot tolerate forever, and perhaps that is what the Trump presidency is all about. Could our current chaos be the very path for resolving the great divide in our midst? Frankly, if anything, that divide is contrary to what life could want from any of us, so again borrowing from the language of the church, perhaps this is what God is trying to show us. After all, how often does life lead us through our own difficulties by forcing us to deal with them over and over until we get it right?

The power of this argument is that it puts a contrary view on the same playing field as those who use the Bible to press a nationalistic worldview. Wed no longer be fighting in different stadiums.

Lets look at one current example. Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, is now head of the Environmental Protection Agency. This appointment was just one of the shocking moves made by Trump under the guise of draining the swamp. I suppose, from a distance, destroying a government can look a great deal like draining a swamp. What Pruitts appointment means is an EPA that wont cause problems for the rich, which is understandable given the Presidents circle, but by choosing Pruitt, hes putting global warming itself on trial. Actually, the real issue is whether human beings are causing or contributing to global warming, for thats where it becomes political (and influences those deep pocket friends of Trumps who run the energy industry).

Mr. Pruitt, according to Time, is launching a program within the department to critique mainstream climate science.

Of the possible outcomes of such an initiative, not all are unfavorable. If the discussion is fresh and transparent as promised, then truth stands a chance, and isnt that what we all want? Oh, the deck will certainly be stacked in favor of the its not our fault crowd, but it would be a mistake to assume such an effort will be a total whitewash. Isnt there just a chance that we need to have this discussion? Whats the alternative?

This process is likely to be repeated many times over as President Trump continues his form of governance. Do we need to be watchful? Of course, and thats one of the good things about our nature. We can be quite skeptical when we need to be. In doing so, however, we might want to take a deep breath and consider that whats happening isnt automatically a net disaster, because life has a funny way of putting obstacles in front of us, so that we can learn and grow as humans.

The rise of Trump is a false promise to those extreme fundamentalist believers who just know that hes right, because their church, their faith, and their families and friends all say so. Its a false promise, because truth is one of those things that has a way of surfacing no matter how many times people try to hide it. Lifes way has always been to let humans do what we wish and watch as our efforts collapse. Its the hard way, but its the way we learn as a species.

Our mistakes matter in our willingness to fulfill the potential of the human race. Could this be one of those times when were able to fix some of the big ones?

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Why Donald Trump? - HuffPost

I avoid politics as a topic here, but sometimes politicians provide great lessons for the business world, like when the Democratic National Committee had an utter Twitter fiasco that could have been easily avoided. Or there was the question that Donald Trump brought up of whether unpredictability is useful as a negotiation tactic.

After this past week's turmoil in the White House, it's time to look at the issue of managing people. Trump has provided object lessons of what you should never do. Here are some of the classic mistakes.

In running an organization, you want people to work together. If they don't, it negatively affects efficiency and may even make achieving goals impossible. A classic example is at Sears. For many years the retailer was a powerhouse. Then Eddie Lampert came on the scene as a major investor, became CEO, and turned a single company into dozens of separate businesses. Each had its own president, CMO, and board. The individual units had to compete for central services and the individual presidents would try to boost their profits at the expense of other divisions. The move was eventually seen as one of the strategic choices that drove the continuing fall of Sears.

Lampert set the ball in motion. Trump's error was more in not addressing the backstabbing for which his administration quickly became famous. Perhaps the replacement of Reince Priebus with John Kelly will put someone into place who can corral the wayward factions. But such an atmosphere doesn't come and go with a single person. If it had permission before from the man at the top, it could again.

Speaking of Priebus, or even Sean Spicer, his treatment shows how a chief executive should never act. Calling an employee weak or otherwise disparaging people working for you is an utter mistake. If someone bothers you that much, you fire them. You don't talk about them.

Trump also has repeatedly undermined people working for him by agreeing on one course of action privately and then reversing course in public, leaving the staff member looking like a fool. The head of an organization is there to set strategy, yes, but also to enable everyone below on the organizational chart to achieve their goals.

But perhaps the worst step, one I've seen CEOs take time and again, is to mistake what should be most important. The institution and its goals should be. It stands above the chief executive just as the CEO is at the top of the organizational chart. The whole point of everyone being there is to achieve a set of goals that enables the overall strategy.

But, Trump puts ultimate value on one-way personal loyalty. Everyone else must put him first, although he's shown that he will not reciprocate. That makes it impossible to hear necessary criticisms or to examine actions in relation to the institution's goals.

This last point might be different if you looked at Trump in relation to his own company, which is basically an extension of his personal brand. But when you're at an entity that has its own existence, you need to keep your demands and ego and personal feelings in check.

Continued here:
Donald Trump Is Now the Poster Boy for Terrible Management Skills - Inc.com

President Trumps former campaign manager said Sunday that retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, the incoming White House chief of staff, would do well to avoid trying to change Mr. Trump through his new role.

The thing that Gen. Kelly should do is not try to change Donald Trump, Corey Lewandowski said on NBCs Meet the Press.

You have to let Trump be Trump, Mr. Lewandowski said. That is what has made him successful over the last 30 years. That is what the American people voted for. And anybody who thinks theyre going to change Donald Trump doesnt know Donald Trump.

In an abrupt shake-up, Mr. Trump announced late last week that Mr. Kelly would be replacing outgoing chief of staff Reince Priebus, who reportedly clashed with new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

I think Gen. Kelly is going to restore order to the staff. His title is chief of staff, not chief of the president, Mr. Lewandowski said.

Mr. Lewandowski said he would expect Mr. Kelly to bring the kind of discipline to the staff to make sure that leaks stop, that the presidents agenda is made the top priority, and that there will be no more backbiting and stabbing each other in the back.

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Corey Lewandowski: John Kelly should not try to 'change Donald Trump' - Washington Times

President Donald Trump on Saturday expressed frustration with China over its inability to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions, suggesting his effort to strategically cultivate his Chinese counterpart was nearing its end amid Pyongyang's continued defiance.

On Friday, North Korea fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say has the potential to reach the U.S. mainland. The test sparked condemnation from South Korea, America and Japan, but no consensus on how to check the hermetic Communist nation's ambitions.

However, Trump lashed out at China for being unable to rein in North Korea, as both countries exchange billions per year in trade across the border that separates them. In a series of posts on Twitter, the president accused China of doing "nothing for us with North Korea, just talk."

Amplifying the president's displeasure, Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations insisted there would be no emergency session of the U.N. Security Council. In a statement posted on Twitter Sunday, Haley said the time for continued multilateral discussions about the crisis was "over."

In the wake of North Korea's IBCM launch, Haley declared "there was no point in having an emergency session if it produces nothing of consequence. North Korea is already subject to numerous Security Council resolutions that they violate with impunity," she said, which has not produced a change in the regime's behavior.

"The time for talk is over," Haley stated, adding that an emergency meeting was "worse than nothing, because it sends the message to the North Korean dictator that the international community is unwilling to seriously challenge him. The danger the North Korean regime poses to international peace is now clear to all."

The U.S's pressure on China represent a stark departure from Trump's constructive tone toward the country, as he sought cooperation on sensitive issues such as trade and foreign relations. The president has made overtures toward Chinese President Xi Jinping, in order to convince him to exert influence over Pyongyang.

In April, a summit between the two leaders resulted in Trump and Xi agreeing to cooperate on a range of issues, with Trump declaring the bilateral meeting a "tremendous" success. Most notably, the president pointedly declined to label China a currency manipulator, despite having vowed to do so on the campaign trail last year.

With no consensus among major world powers on how to halt the aggressions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has grown increasingly brazen in his threats. On Friday, he claimed his country had the capacity to strike the entire continental U.S. North Korea has tested at least a dozen rockets in 2017 alone.

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US lashes out at China over North Korea's provocations, declaring the time for talk is 'over' - CNBC

Talk radio host Michael Savage points out that President Trump has an interesting mix of political and cultural forces which help shape his personal ideology a mix that includes family influences, an urbane and metropolitan background, and other factors. How do voters judge him?

On the one hand, they think that Trumps a conservative. On the other, they think hes not a conservative. They dont know what to make of him. That is a problem for him. He needs to clearly define his policies, Mr. Savage noted in a newsletter to his national radio flock published Sunday.

I think he needs to sit down with a 10-point agenda. Make it the Ten Commandments of Trump. Just make it simple. Thats how God did it. God could have written a thousand commandments, and people wouldnt remember any of them, the host added.

CHAOS BECOMES THE OPERATIVE WORD OF THE DAY

The latest press narrative against President Trump and his administration is to suggest that there is chaos in the White House. This hostile narrative is so strong and well organized that even the Democratic National Committee cited the phenomenon, identifying 11 news organizations which pushed dramatic chaos headlines. The White House is in chaos. The GOP is in chaos. Maybe chaos is in chaos too. Its all strategic.

Word of the week: Chaos, the committee said in an outreach to Democratic voters, adding that condemnation of the president for one reason or another was also a preferred term.

But that is not how White House counselor Kellyanne Conway sees things. In a conversation with Fox News Sunday, she pointed out that the media conveniently has ignored such good news as the soaring stock market, or that levels of illegal immigration are dwindling with Mr. Trump at the helm. Its the dramatic tales of chaos, condemnation or untoward behavior in the Trump administration that take precedence instead.

This president should be respected and regarded as somebody who was always welcomed a diversity of viewpoints, ideas, individual backgrounds. And he will continue to do that, Ms. Conway said, dismissing the fact that Mr. Trump prefers a bunch of yes-men and women on his staff.

That is just not true. What he wants is to receive all of the input and ideas, she continued.

I appreciate the fact that the president surrounds himself with strong personalities. I mean, one of the dumbest criticisms I hear, particularly on TV from people who have never worked in a White House, let alone this White House its this idea that the president has nobody around him to tell him no, to disagree with him. That is simply not true. He invites disagreement and dissension. He also invites polite discussion, research and data and he weighs all the consequences and hes always willing to learn, Ms. Conway noted.

REINCE HAS A SAY

Outgoing White House chief-of-staff Reince Priebus had a gracious thing or two to say about President Trump, pointing out that the president has already appointed 27 federal judges, and signed 42 bills into law since taking office.

I could tick of for an entire 10, 20 minutes the facts of whats hes accomplished and the amazing amount of work hes done, Mr. Priebus told Breitbart News on Saturday on SiriusXM. The amount of bills hes signed is more than any president in the last 50 years.

EIGHT HOURS PLUS

Lawmakers might struggle with a persistent do-nothing image. But somebody in the nations capital is working. A lot.

The traditional eight-hour workday may soon be the exception rather than the rule, and Washington, D.C. is paving the way for change, says some new research from CareerBuilder, which operates multiple job recruitment sites in the U.S. and abroad.

Seventy-three percent of workers in the nations capital think the traditional 9 to 5 work day is a thing of the past. This compares to 68 percent in both Boston and Los Angeles, and 66 percent in New York, the organization notes.

And in other cities, 60 percent of Chicago workers say 9-5 days are a thing of the past, along with workers in Dallas (62 percent), Houston (58 percent), Miami and Philadelphia both at 55 percent.

Many companies fear that without a set schedule, employees will be distracted, not as engaged and less productive, but the opposite is often true. A trusting work environment breeds more-loyal employees and increases efficiency as long as theres structure around it, advises Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder.

CNN ADDRESSES WHY TRUMP WON

Programming of note for Monday: CNN will air a special report at 10 p.m. ET simply titled Why Trump Won, hosted by Fareed Zakaria, who promises to explore the cultural factors involved in President Trumps historic 2016 victory.

The program offer the details on how Mr. Trump has worked toward closing the ultimate deal winning the White House for decades, CNN explains in advance notes. Zakaria reports on families falling apart: depression, drugs, desperation, and finally resentment taking root in some American communities, supplanting what had been flourishing middle class optimism.

Some of the fare is bound to annoy Mr. Trumps bedrock supporters. An interview with David Betras, chairman of Mahoning County Democratic Party in Ohio, reveals that the official is frustrated that a man who uses gold-plated toilets had such appeal to middle Americas voting public.

But Betras feels Hillary Clinton and the Democrats lost as definitively as Donald Trump won in 2016, CNN continues, noting that New York Times columnist David Brooks, Trump ghost writer Tony Schwartz and statistician and author Nate Silver are also among those who will weigh in.

POLL DU JOUR

71 percent of U.S. college and university business officers agree that higher education is in the midst of a financial crisis.

71 percent say their institutions would seek to increase overall enrollment.

64 percent agree that new sources of spending in the coming year will have to come from reallocation.

56 percent are confident their own institution would be financially stable in five years.

44 percent will try to reduce administrative positions at their campus.

23 percent say they are trying to curb tuitions discounts at their school.

Source: An Inside Higher Ed survey of 409 chief business officers from U.S. public and private colleges and universities conducted May 2-June 11 and released Friday.

Polite applause, petty annoyances to jharper@washingtontimes.com

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Michael Savage recommends 'The Ten Commandments of Trump' - Washington Times