West County Democrats

Decades ago my job required me to travel about the United States.  I understood from grade school geography that the east coast crammed a lot of people into a relatively small area.  Still, driving around New York City and still getting from Princeton, New Jersey to Hartford, Connecticut between a late breakfast and lunch taught me just how compact that region is.

So, when I heard that President Trump took Marine One to Air Force One to fly from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia I made a quip about it on Facebook.  After all, if the train was good enough for Joe Biden why can’t we have Amtrak One to get the President up to Philly? 

Some were not amused.

Oh, what about “security” one likely Trump voter asked?  Air Force One costs the same whether the President uses it or not, another remarked. 

(For the record, the best estimate is that a standard 747 cost $25,000 an hour in the air [ http://www.opshots.net/2015/04/aircraft-operating-series-aircraft-operating-expenses/  ], with my guess being that Air Force One comes in at a multiple of that number.)

Let’s remember that Philadelphia is 139 miles from Washington, D.C. by car.  The straight line distance is about 125 miles.  Any of the President’s helicopters could make that trip in less than 45 minutes, meaning flying the 747 to the Philly airport took more time – and cost – than necessary to get Trump where he wanted to go.  Time and cost were not the point, of course.  Donald Trump wanted to look presidential by winging-in on that big, fancy, tax-payer paid jumbo jet.  Perhaps more than any recent President, I think that Trump feels he conquered the presidency more than he just won an election.   He prevailed in personal combat against his opponent with 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and all its trappings being his reward.

A couple of thousand years ago the Roman republic got caught up in promoting successful military commanders to political leaders.  Position was won more than earned.  Conquering enemy armies meant more than keeping water in the aqueducts.  And, those Tribunes lived larger and larger.

Closer to home, Eric Greitens’ first elected office is Governor.  After a military and military-related career, he has moved back into government housing.  He stands atop a hydra-like enterprise shaping the lives of 6 million Missourians.  He takes the job at a time when resources have been needlessly depleted, state workers starved and Missouri struggles to prepare its young people for the 21^st Century. One of his first decisions:  give the bulk of his job to someone else.  Doesn’t that reek of imperial arrogance? 

Worse is Governor Seal’s choice of who will be the state’s Chief Operating Officer.  Instead of an executive vice president from a major corporation, a university president or someone else with experience managing massive budgets, hordes of workers and critical missions, the governor picked a Washington, D.C, based foreign affairs consultant. Andrew (Drew) Erdmann is a Principal with McKinsey and Company’s Washington, D.C. office. 

“Drew is a leader in our Public Sector Practice in the Americas, with a focus on defense and security, and in the Aerospace & Defense Practice…Recently, much of his work has involved the intelligence community and economic development.  He leads McKinsey’s work to support public sector transitions at the federal and state levels in the United States.”  McKinsey & Company website profile

Erdmann, per McKinsey, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (along with John Bolton, Grover Norquist and hundreds of others [ www.cfc.org ] ) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies [ www.iiss.org  ].  The council’s website includes numerous think pieces Erdmann wrote about foreign affairs issues, such as policy towards Iran and Iraq.  He is well educated, studying at Harvard and teaching a bit at Georgetown.  Missing from Erdmann’s profiles is any mention of any administrative post which involved people or money.

And, I find it strange that a person who has built a career watching the foreign stage now “leads McKinsey’s work to support public sector transitions at the federal and state levels in the United States.”  Really, studying Iraq qualifies him to oversee privatizing government programs? 

Now, a background in intelligence probably won’t help Erdmann deal with the elected members of the majority party in Jefferson City.  I wonder as well how prepared he is for the Capitol’s culture of after hours drinking and deal making.  (I was with a lobbyist at a High Street sports bar last year.  He bought me a Jameson’s Irish Whiskey on the rocks:  it came in an ice tea glass.)   My conclusion is that Governor Seal chose Drew Erdmann to be his COO simply because he was a flashy, expensive name.  Just as Trump fills his Cabinet with billionaires and generals, Greitens hired Erdmann’s Harvard and Washington background.

The good news?  I doubt if Mexicans and Canadians (or, Jayhawkers and Iowegans) are planning to conquer the United States (or Missouri).

The bad news?  We’ll have to live with conquerors as leaders as they learn their jobs.  Prayers needed.

One last thing…Remember that Trump’s first use of Air Force One was to go to a private Republican Party event.

Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member