Corporate innocence meets democracy

     Let me get this straight, Donald Trump who has access to perhaps the largest intelligence-gathering organization in the world, blames Fox news for his gaffe about a terrorist attack in Sweden? 

     Meanwhile down the street the new Secretary of State wants  his briefing statements limited to two pages. And over at Education the secretary there is whining about all the criticism.

     What's so sad is they think they can get away with that, like something unusual is going on.

There are calls for psychiatric evaluations of the president and questions raised about his sanity.           It's unlikely that they are necessary or highlight a serious problem. The problem is more obvious than that and easier to battle.

     Keep in mind these people have been heads of huge money-making corporations, organizations where what they say goes as long as they keep the bottom line growing and the stockholders happy. They have ultimate control and are used to having people carry out their orders without question and without outside interference.
     They are not used to being questioned, they are not used to being challenged, they are not used to being held up to public scrutiny, and most of all they are not used to being told "no." And most likely they think they don't have to deal with those things and resent the fact that they do. They thought they were going to walk into the office and tell everyone what to do and that would get it done. That bureaucracy we love to hate may thwart them and their agendas better than anything else we've come up with so far.

   If Tillerson says Exxon is going to drill in Central Park there's no question, his minions go about figuring out how they can drill in Central Park. There's an old joke about Exxon that says if they go to work and haven't been sued by quitting time, it's been a good business day. Tillerson is the guy who pushed fracking in areas threatening drinking water all over the country but when someone wanted to do it near his house he sued.

     Trump says build a hotel and his minions go about getting that done, not flooding him with disagreement or challenging him to make a reasonable case for such a project and the outside world knows nothing about it until ground has been broken and by then it's too late.

    Who knows what DeVos does but apparently it doesn't take an education to run her company either, just hand down edicts from on high;

   It's obvious these people have never had their statements or decisions challenged, at least not in public and now they are placed in a position where every move is exposed, analyzed and depending on what it is, lauded, criticized or outright ridiculed and they can't handle it. Remember one of Trump's appointments quit even before he had to face a world like that.

     For all the promises made about how a good businessman could set the government in order, it turns out the business model just doesn't work. Think how it would work if they didn't have a majority in Congress like President Obama faced at least in his last few years.

    The head of a large corporation is about half a high-rise office floor short of a dictator. But that model doesn't work in what is supposed to be a democracy. These people are not used to being questioned, let alone being criticized or even worse ridiculed, or gasp held accountable for their actions in public.

    Now they are in public leadership  positions and reality is smacking them right between the eyes and they can't handle it. Trump refuses to attend intelligence briefings, Tillerson wants the Twitter version of State Department analyses, DeVos says all teachers need is someone to tell them what to do.

    Well, Madame Secretary, maybe you and your colleagues need a good lesson on what you are supposed to do and what qualifications are needed to do it. If you don't have the qualifications find a group of advisors who do have the expertise. And, be prepared for opposition. Government is built on compromise not edicts and everything is subject to public exposure.
     It's obvious already the dictatorial corporate business model doesn't work in government and the people who come from it don't have a clear view of what they are supposed do, let alone to carry out what they intended to do and that is their failure, not the psychiatry of the situation even if correcting that sounds easier and flashier.

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