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David Hayford, For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin 3:22 p.m. CT Feb. 16, 2017

David Hayford(Photo: file)

We are a few weeks into the Trump presidency. The president is running the country through executive orders. Sort of like he ran his businesses. Doing things he promised in his campaign. And not yet acting presidential. Can anyone be surprised?

The Senate is struggling to approve the presidents cabinet appointees. Unlike eightyears ago, the opposition party is fighting the presidents choices. The Democratic senators are generally behaving like petulant 6-year-olds (with an apology to my 6-year-old grandson who is much better behaved). They have obviously forgotten President Obamas admonition that: Elections have consequences.

The Democrats nominated an abysmal presidential candidate who ran an inept campaignand managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Deal with it.

The Supreme Court nomination process should be another battle royale. Democrats attacked Republicans last year for not giving Judge Merrick Garland a hearing. Yet now Sen.Tammy Baldwin and other Democrats have vowed to vote against Judge Neil Gorsuch before any hearing. Hypocrisy? Petulance? Just politics as usual? Or all three?

I have no idea what the House of Representatives has been doing since Jan.20. Oops, heard last night that a House committee will hold hearings to investigate Kellyanne Conways comments on television about Ivanka Trumps clothing line. Really? It was a stupid mistake on her part, and she has been counseled. What is a House investigation going to accomplish, except give bloviating congressmen air time to weigh in on the ethics violation. The House should be dealing with important issues.

The Trump travel ban is tied up in the courts. The state of Washington claims that it discriminates against Muslims. Who has been making the terrorist attacks in this county since 9/11? Radical Islamist terrorists. Makes sense to target them. If Roman Catholic immigrants from the Vatican begin making terrorist attacks in the United States, the focus can shift.

But Trump is absolutely wrong to question the integrity of the judges involved.

Women marched in D.C. and other cities last month to protest Trumps sexist views of women. The tape of Trumps comments came out before the election. How many of the marchers acted then to volunteer for Clintons campaign to help get out the vote to defeat Trump. Obviously, not enough. A march after his inauguration is too little and too late.

Also, Bill Clinton was the same immoral, sexist pig as Trump is. There were no marches in January1993. I have seen attempts by some women to rationalize that Trumps views are more egregious than Bill Clintons actions. Seems to me the big difference is that Clinton is a Democrat. Evidently, they are held to much lower moral standards.

At the recent Prayer Breakfast, Trumpominouslypromised to get rid of the Johnson Amendment. That is a provision of the tax code, dating back to 1954, that prohibits tax-exempt entities [501(c) (3)] such as churches and charitable organizations from participating in political campaigns for or against candidates. It is sound policy. Donations to such organizations are tax deductible, subsidized by the taxpayers.

Political donations to candidates campaign committees or PACs are not tax deductible. There is more than enough unaccountable money pouring into politics, especially since the Citizens United decision. We do not need more.

If the Johnson Amendment is abolished, George Soros, for example, could start his own church. Continue to spend millions to spew his liberal agenda, and get a tax deduction to boot. Then his church could funnel themoney to candidates and PACs. Pretty sweet deal.

Fortunately, Trump cannot change that through executive order.

The next four years should be exciting. Trump governing, Congress dithering, Democrats protesting and/or rioting. Elections have consequences. And so it goes.

David A. Hayford has been sharing his insights on the editorial pages of The Northwestern for more thanthree decades. He is a self-described pundit (check the definition). And,since his 70th birthday, hehas assumed the role of curmudgeon. He livesin the town of Oshkosh with wife Paula and dog Rufus.

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