Beneath the cruelty and corruption, behind the vengeance against and vilification of perceived enemies, underlying the lies and illegality of the Trump Administration is the incompetence. Extraordinary incompetence. It is often overlooked, given the litany of immorality I just listed, but the incompetence is rearing its ugly and dangerous head in more ways than I can count.
Over the weekend we learned that the ongoing problems with the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was not the result of vandalism as claimed by President Trump, but by a rushed job undertaken by a no-bid contractor. US District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox host and a Trump ally, dropped the charges against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist who was arrested for destruction of government property. The wild allegations of domestic terrorism proved false.
Over the weekend we learned that President Trump has committed to building 11 polar icebreakers, again with no-bid contractors (the bulk of them to be constructed in Finland). This is twice as many ships as the US Coast Guard said it needed, and it is unclear if the Coast Guard has enough personnel and resources to staff and maintain them. All because, according to the New York Times, that Trump is incensed that Russia has more of these unique vessels.
These are two of the most recent examples of incompetence. We also have the ongoing incompetence of the prosecution of the War in Iran, where the reports from the Defense Department are shrouded in secrecy, if not misinformation; where the day to day strategy shifts so swiftly that it is unclear what the objectives are, or if there are any objectives beyond punishing an enemy; where the danger to the world escalates without any seeming awareness by the President’s inner circle (which by most accounts is getting smaller and smaller). Add to this the on again, off again imposing of tariffs, the intransigence and menace of ICE, and it makes our heads spin, our stomachs churn, and our fists clench.
Incompetence reigns, which is aided and abetted by enablers in Congress, and by the many sycophants in the Cabinet who report to Mr. Trump in their publicly aired meetings that everything is going great, and that President Trump is the greatest ever.
How to stand up against this escalating incompetence which wounds the heart and sears the soul?
With competence.
We – each of us – need to join the competence brigade. On a national level, it is led by brave journalists who risk their careers and safety by digging deep into stories and issues that shape current actions and reveal this tangled web of incompetence, which is carried out by the unflagging need to aggrandize more power. It is also led by courageous judges who set boundaries established by the Constitution and rule of law.
We need to join that brigade – with our competence. To go beyond demonstrating our competence with our eloquent critiques and our prophetic doomsday projections, but by organizing. Yes, organizing. Building relationships and coalitions. It can be on a small scale or a grand scale, or someplace in between. To shake the dust off our feet and the fear in our gut and demonstrate our competence by creating networks of hope. Not a clatch of complaint, but of hope. It can start with a small circle of friends, or with the family. Building trust. Developing calls to action, which can be small or large. Whatever your job – as a second grade teacher, a real estate agent, a bank teller, whatever – show up with conviction and competence. Over the long haul it both exposes and undermines incompetence.
One of the reasons Donald Trump was elected twice is because his supporters had spent the last thirty years organizing. Knocking on doors. Building relationships. Getting people elected to the school and planning boards. Endless organizing, countless meetings, which demonstrates a deep commitment and – an important competence.
The rest of us can learn from that. The rest of us need to learn from that. And it is happening. More and more individuals are stepping out of their silos and building connections with others. Some are building relationships with people on the opposite side of some of the most polarizing issues. More and more groups are feeling the urgency to collaborate and partner with other groups whose mission is to build and support social capital. Building webs of c ompetence.
We confront incompetence with competence. Competence builds confidence, and it generates hope. And can make a difference.
