As much as I respect the capabilities of Rex Tillerson, our Secretary of State, Melania and Ivanka Trump are aces in the deck of Trump diplomacy.

Melania, with her regal poise and glamor, is the ace of diamonds, and Ivanka, with her compassion and warmth, is the ace of hearts. They are power cards in the Trump deck, serving to simultaneously soften and strengthen the President, who, with his brash audacity, is the ace of clubs.

These two women are brand ambassadors for the American dream. A first lady who can hold her own, in any of several languages, over dinner with the president of Russia. A first daughter who can champion the power of women’s rights in a meeting of female leaders from all over the world. One a Catholic, one Jewish, both of strong will, individual accomplishment, and possessed of the maternal instincts of a mother bear. One of modest background, daughter of a car dealer in communist Yugoslavia, the other born into wealth and privilege. An incredibly capable pair, with very different skill sets, and from very different backgrounds, who are perhaps the only spoonfuls of sugar that can help the Trump medicine go down.

Regardless of one’s politics, they are to be admired and respected for their grace under pressure, as they seem to perform effortlessly on a stage where every observer is either an admirer or a harsh critic.

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It has been said that behind every successful man is a powerful woman. That old saying may need to be changed, as now the powerful women no longer stand behind, but beside.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation……..”

Our Revolutionary War ended in 1785, and of the total 2.5 million people who lived in the thirteen colonies when the war started, approximately 33,000 had been killed, wounded or imprisoned by the British. (At that same ratio, it would represent over 4 million Americans out of our current population!)

In 1787, upon exiting the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

It has been 241 years since we threw off the mantle of political oppression.

May God bless these United States of America.

When we were kids growing up the northeast, winter was a special time, because it brought the snow.

For the adults, snow was a burden to be cleared from sidewalks and driveways, but for youngsters, snow was magic. Snow was the universal building material for childhood fantasies, and the universal weapon for warfighting. Snowdrifts became warrens of tunnels, and snow forts built with care by runny-nosed kids in scarves and mittens popped up like mushrooms in every yard. The petty summer rivalries of neighbor children morphed into all-out winter warfare. Preparations were hastily made, and piles of snowballs were staged behind hand-made frozen ramparts. Miniature combatants shivered silently in their own trenches waiting for the inevitable onslaught from the enemy that lived next door.

It was very real to us, outdoors in the cold, little warriors steeling ourselves for the pain of being struck by a hard-packed snowball to the body or the occasional fatal hit to the face. During those winter campaigns, we learned logistics, strategy, and tactics, long before the age of commercial electronic entertainment. It was figuratively life and death, with our pre-pubescent honor to be won or lost each grey afternoon before we were called in for dinner.

Success in a snowball fight required overwhelming firepower, accuracy, and sustained aggression. And diversion. A favored tactic was the “lob,” which was our artillery. Snowballs thrown fast and level, like baseballs, were our direct fire and were how most hits were obtained. The “lob” was the snowball thrown high, in a lofty arch, to rain down on the enemy from above.

The “lob” was the distraction, used to draw the enemy’s attention away for a few moments, as they tried to guess where it would impact. And while the enemy was looking up, he was not throwing at us, and that is when we always scored our best kills.

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Donald Trump grew up in the northeast, and he likely had his own winter snow fighting experiences. He probably was familiar with the tactic of the “lob,” because we all used it.

As President, Trump apparently uses a “lob” strategy, in the form of a “tweet,” to some advantage. His media adversaries, cowering behind their fixed fortifications of news bureaus and TV studios, haphazardly throw barbs and insults, but while the media may share a common enemy, they lack a common strategy. Sometimes they score hits on the President, most times they miss.  The media is routinely smug in its assault, right up until the “lob.”

Out of the blue, without warning, comes a Presidential tweet or two, ranging high and arching over the normal line of fire. The media is distracted, they look up for a few moments, and a news cycle is wasted.

If the “lob” tweets thrown by the President are a calculated tactic, it is a brilliant and effective strategy. Under the cover of his occasional “lob” to distract the media, an opportunistic Trump can maneuver into a more advantageous position, gather more ammunition, and consolidate his forces.  While they look away, he gets things done.

But if those Trump “lobs” are simply errant snowballs that are being thrown wildly in the heat of battle, without a supporting strategy, the President is wasting his ammunition and depleting his forces.

Is President Trump a political General Patton, or is he marching on to Waterloo?

We will see which side wears the laurels when they get called back home for dinner.