Patience, cooperation needed in Washington

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Though I am long from jumping ship on the USS Trump, I will admit it is often discomforting to defend his words and actions.

I have to keep reminding myself of some critical and telling aspects of this presidency.

For starters, Trump is barely into his fourth month in office and, like many of his predecessors, there is a steep learning curve to the most important job in the world.

Trump's progress is also stifled by a Democratic party still unable to accept the outcome of the presidential election. The Democrats in lock-step have gone from the opposition party to the party of resistance, unwilling or unable to agree with the administration on issues large and small.

But the critical impediment to true progress in Washington is a national media cartel hellbent on removing Trump from office regardless of the phony, misleading lies they use to prop up their increasingly weak argument.

Even liberal Democrats recognize the bias within the national media. But integrity and honesty have given way in the media's world to a massive obsession that knows no bounds.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently addressed a law enforcement gathering and said words concerning crime that apply equally to the logjam in our federal government.

Sessions said, "While we can hope for the best, hope is not a strategy."

The promise of the Trump presidency may well still bear the fruit he promised and perhaps I, like many others, am just too impatient for the turnaround from the Obama years.

But I never could imagine that following an unbelievable election outcome, the headwinds against Trump and his policies would continue unabated.

I should have known.

It seems important perhaps to remember specifically why Trump was elected. Let's be honest. Despite his often extraordinarily terrible presentation, he said the words millions of Americans were longing to hear. He promised to be tough, to negotiate and to stop the chaos that had become the Obama legacy.

But regardless of his promises, he was elected because his opponent was Hillary Clinton. In so many ways, Trump did not win. Hillary lost.

And that simple equation set the stage for what we are now seeing.

Trump haters are still Trump haters. Their obstruction in the media, the halls of Congress, the teachers' unions, etc. remains the prime obstacle that has slowed the progress we had hoped for.

Yet as Sessions said, hope is most certainly not a strategy.

It's actually easy to list a host of accomplishments for this young administration. But virtually all of this progress comes through executive orders and reduced regulations.

The big ticket items like health care and immigration and true economic growth will take cooperation with Congress.

With every passing day that cooperation seems more remote.