GOAT vs. TOAD by Al Sikes

The moment was vivid. I have written about it before, so apologies if this is your second time through.

The year, 1986. The President: Ronald Reagan. On the other side of the table, Secretary of Commerce, Malcom  Baldrige. Me, well I was talking to the Secretary about coming to work for him heading the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (they didn’t get advice from a naming consultant).

The first question from Secretary Baldrige: “Al, Washington is a god-damn tough town. Everybody is after a piece of your ass. How do you rate yourself for aggressiveness?” Over time I learned what he meant, but this is about a condition in our capitol city, not me.

There is a finality to government. Sure you can appeal a decision but if your appeal is through the courts check your bank and patience accounts and if it is a legislative solution you are seeking, good luck with that. Laws with national reach are a big deal.

One of the laughable characteristics of the white hot feud between President Donald J Trump and Elon Musk is that for months they have been playing each others cheerleader. And the praise can be summarized with this word: GREATEST! So here we are, in a brief period of time they went from greatest to worst. From “Greatest of All Time” (GOAT) to “Terrible on Any Day” (TOAD).

President Trump has proved to have an uncanny sense of timing and themes. Make America Great Again (MAGA) wins the theme contest moving ahead of The New Frontier and New Deal. And generally Republicans have not done well with political themes. In the case of Ronald Reagan he was the theme riding in from his ranch to catch the bad guys.

In the case of Donald Trump his political life began on an escalator not a horse or maybe as the all-knowing judge of talent on The Apprentice. Regardless, he is in his second term—as politics go that is a winner. And now the Democrats are trying to figure out their future.

Had I engaged in this kind of urine contest both my grandparents and parents would have sent me to my room. I use this generational reference point as both Trump and Musk are acting like how Trump is said to have characterized Musk (50% genius and 50% boy). Both are acting like teenage boys.

My difficulty with the Trump/Musk partnership is simple: conflict of interest. It is said that Musk has given Trump something over $250 million to chase his political ambitions, and some of Musk’s businesses’ biggest clients are government agencies.

As I type, people who make money writing columns and the like are choosing winners and losers in this contest of invectives. Let me join in. The loser is the United States of America and its position in the world. We are making democracy look like a fractious car auction.

But of course, the game is which of the two will come out better. The overwhelming answer is Trump. Certainly, Musk has a lot to lose. For example his Tesla stock lost 14% of its value on Thursday. Although it appears by the end of Friday’s trading day that most, if not all, of the loss will be recovered. Reuters attributes the bounce back to the cooling of the dispute.

Indeed, maybe that is a useful measure—the market value of a stock. Or the polling numbers of a politician. Maybe that is where our democracy is at the current moment.

So here is my short-term take. Musk is the loser as his favored status as a businessman close to the President has taken a hit. The President in that limited sense comes out better but as time goes on maybe he loses support as a percentage of supporters wonder about his judgment in letting Musk roam through the White House as if he was the First Lady.

Back ever so briefly to Secretary Malcolm Baldrige. He would be aghast; he was a real patriot.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.