Call in the Marines

It has recently seemed to be going crazy, this White House crew of ours, although one creator of the problems, President Donald Trump, grew sufficiently wise to appoint Gen. John Kelly as his chief of staff.

The question is whether Kelly, a tough ex-Marine who is able, knowledgeable, smart and an exemplary manager, can get rid of blustery tweets about such things as firing an attorney general. Can he assure focus on such mighty matters as North Korea, tax reform, spending, debt and a health-care system that is currently falling apart? Will he somehow straighten things out and keep the left from obtaining enough power to practice ruination?

For all his problems of style, understanding and leadership, Trump has a saving grace. He is not Hillary Clinton. A Bloomberg poll not so long ago showed his approval ratings above hers, and for good reason—she is contemptuous of millions of Americans, she is in the spend-us-tochaos camp, her integrity is a question mark in boldface, and she has been closing in on Bernie Sanders-style socialism.

She’s an excellent representative of leftists who more and more worship big incompetent government that does such things as redefine insurance so that it can only work when 1. people are forced by penalties to buy it; 2. it is subsidized; and 3. it demands excruciating deductibles and premiums.

On a number of fronts, the nation has made real progress under Trump.

A problem, however, is Trump messing up even a Boy Scouts address and tweeting sentiments you’d expect a confused adolescent to avoid. We then have too many news outlets, Democrats and felonious bureaucratic leakers outdoing him by treating everyday standards as nothing more than an obstruction to their goal of disposing of him.

At issue is whether our president will sufficiently empower Kelly and heed him. That does not mean Kelly should be the only voice, just that he affixes order and dignity to an administration otherwise in deep trouble.