The age of trump.

Welcome to the age of trump, where you are getting more of this and this on a daily basis. It's going to make life over the next four years very difficult.

In lieu of all of this, the following article from Hal Boedeker about team trump is quite appropriate.

"Maybe you’ve been losing a lot of sleep lately because of world events. A word of advice: Don’t watch cable news in the night.

I should have stuck with TCM early Saturday, but I turned to CNN and heard the latest about Michael Flynn, President Trump’s national security adviser. Turns out Flynn may have spoken with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, about U.S. sanctions against Russia before the inauguration, CNN reported, and that’s contrary to what Flynn had told Vice President Mike Pence before the veep appeared on Sunday morning shows.

Then a CNN anchor repeated a line that made me think I was dreaming. But no, I found the line on CNN’s website: “A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN the only reason Flynn hasn't been fired is that the White House doesn't want to look bad.”

If the White House doesn’t want to look bad, it’s running three weeks behind in tackling that problem. The Trump White House is to public relations what Chernobyl was to nuclear plants.

The White House’s messaging suffers because the administration acts like it’s still in rancorous campaign mode. Guided by Trump, the tweeter-in-chief, the White House makes everything personal. It doesn’t matter if the topic is Elizabeth Warren, court setbacks, Ivanka Trump’s brand, Sean Spicer’s press briefings or the size of the inauguration crowd.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, has been a one-woman wrecking crew in damaging the administration’s credibility. She introduced the term “alternative facts,” invented a massacre and hawked Ivanka’s products.

But those are sideshows. The main culprit is the Donald himself, whose worst moment so far —  you may point to others — was his jaw-dropping interview with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel on Super Bowl Sunday.

O’Reilly described Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a killer.”

Trump replied, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?”

Trump “indicted” America “in language unprecedented for any sitting or former president,” wrote Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal.

What does that say about a president who treats America’s image — its brand — so shabbily?
For starters, he’s reckless and unaware of the impression he’s making. Michael Scott (Steve Carell) had more finesse on “The Office.”

“Three weeks of Trump is like five years of Nixon,” Bill Maher said Friday on his HBO show “Real Time.” Maher dismissed Trump as “President Man-Baby.”

Trump may be a titan of business — we haven’t seen his tax returns, so who knows for sure? — but so far he’s a flop at public relations. Having a steady hand at P.R. is crucial in steering the country. By painting the media as the enemy, Trump distracts from his own erratic and undisciplined performance. That routine will grow old quickly.

Trump’s team often seems incapable of professionalism. But the team is taking cues from a leader who generates chaos instead of clarity, who mocks instead of inspires.

The White House looks bad, and one person deserves most of the blame. That’s the way leadership works.

I fear there are a lot of sleepless nights ahead." [Source]