![]() I obviously am paid not to have an opinion on this stuff. And I think as we move from the campaign part of this into the problem-solving part of this, the options narrow. And we have a set of problems – economic problems that actually have to be dealt with in a concrete way. We have a rogue state of North Korea, that nobody knows what the hell to so with. We have an ascendant, perhaps wobbly, China, with an uncertain view of itself, both sort of economically and militarily in that part of the world. We’re facing the same fact set that we faced before Donald Trump became president. Just because we’ve had this internal squabble in this country, this wrenching national kind of donnybrook here, doesn’t mean the external factors that created this have changed. THRUSH: No, no, I think it’s moving towards what you’re discussing, again, for the very simple reason that the problems haven’t changed. Is this going to be where it goes from here, or, well, next week it’ll be something entirely different? But to see him now talking about, well, we probably need the Export-Import Bank, talking about we need China’s help on North Korea. I think that’s – you know, what happens next I think is the most important thing. SCHIEFFER: So where do you see this going? And does this last? Because we’ve actually seen some things that – you know, I happen to think he did the right thing with the bombing in Syria. But presidencies define presidents, not the other way around. Presidents are big, they’re important, we have a personality-based political system. And, Bob, you know this better than anybody else. ![]() And it turns out you have to run the White House. I’m reminded of that great scene from “Lawrence of Arabia,” when the Bedouin get into, I think it’s Damascus, and they just kind of tear up the room, right? Well, we’re beyond that stage. So I think what’s going on, quite naturally, is you had a group of sort of boisterous revolutionaries who jumped into the West Wing. One thing I did get right, and that was early on my sense was that this was a guy who was going to be much more in the form of a late-19 th century president because of his lack of institutional knowledge of Washington, his complete novitiate status with the legislature, not understanding procedure, not understanding how the West Wing ran, and not really have the intellectual curiosity or historical grounding to see the mistakes others had made. I didn’t think – you know, I thought he had a 42, 43 percent ceiling nationally. But I – I will raise my hand and say I particularly got a lot of things wrong. (Laughs.) There’s a lot of people that did. THRUSH: Well, look, I got a lot of things wrong during the campaign. And that is, what’s going on with Donald Trump? All of a sudden, we’re seeing – is this the Bush administration that’s evolved out of the Trump administration? So for a very short period of time, I was the man. And he was – he pulled them out in the hallway and he gave them a hug and he said: This is cool. And they thought they were in trouble because they’re my kids, so there would have been good reason for them to be in trouble. And he pulled them out of their English class. But their principal showed up at their classroom the Monday after this happened on Saturday with a very stern look on his face. THRUSH: And one of them actually – the funny story is – this doesn’t – I will not name their school, because this might get their principal in trouble. SCHWARTZ: That’s all that matters, right? (Laughter.) I’ll tell you, for a brief, shining moment – and I mean, 15 solid minutes – my kids thought I was cool. GLENN THRUSH: The sweet, warm embrace of death, perhaps? No. And that is that you have already been parodied on Saturday Night Live. Already you have achieved something that it takes many reporters years to accomplish, and some never accomplish it. Then he came to Politico, where he really made a name for himself covering politics, and from there Times hired him. ![]() Glenn is a Brooklyn guy, grew up there, went to Brooklyn College, worked at Newsday. SCHIEFFER: Our guest this time is Glenn Thrush of The New York Times, where he came to work to cover the campaign and is now the White House correspondent. SCHWARTZ: These conversations are a year-long collaboration of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian University and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. But are we more informed, or just overwhelmed by so much information we can’t process it? We have access to more information than any people in history. We are in the midst of a communications revolution. SCHIEFFER: And these are conversations about the news. ANDREW SCHWARTZ: And I’m Andrew Schwartz. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |