Syria marks new beginning for Trump administration

The cruise missile attacks on the Syrian air field bring a sea change to the general political culture. 

It gives President Trump his first footing; it was his first day as President.

There was no calling on UN for lengthy discussion, no cajoling the Senate to agree or disagree; no threats, no deceptions but a direct action precise and of deadly consequence while the world’s heart still bled with indignation at the sight of children on the evening news choking to death from poison gas delivered by a mass murderer.

{mosads}What a difference a day makes. Congress bickers about the new Supreme Court justice as brand new agents awaken us to a new age. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stands alone in indignation at the UN holding pictures of poisoned, dying babies; face-to-face with the Russian delegate without hesitation, without compromise.

It was significant as well that Britain was not asked to join in on our attack on the Syrian airfields. It clarifies this ambiguous relationship which in recent days since Brexit has become vague and has been exploited for political expedience. 

We may be cousins but we are not Britain. And we are not Europe and we are not the world. This time we go alone, acting now, asking for forgiveness later. And if we want help from Britain, from Europe, from Russia, Asia or the UN we will ask.

This action establishes a mature new paradigm. It marks the end of what might be considered the “apprentice” phase of the Trump presidency; gone now are apprentices Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort, gone is Michael Flynn, Trump’s first National Security Advisor, gone is K.T. McFarland, who we have known as a Fox news commentator. All of whom were given their chance but were suspect from the first. And next, after a decent interval, sure to go is chief advisor Steve Bannon. 

And with National Security Advisor H.R. McMasters and with Secretary of Defence James Mattis we see a new phase of warrior scholars rising in the army and also in the professional classes. Today with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and others a cohesive new force goes forth in Trump’s White House.

McMaster, Tillerson, Mattis, Haley and a few others today enter Trump into the mainstream tradition of America. They form a professional lineup as able as any we have seen in our history. They seem to jell together in character and outlook. And so do Jared Kushner and Ivanka whose influence on this political culture cannot be overlooked.

Our ages rising seem today to tend toward dynasty and to that end we see Jared and Ivanka and the extended Trump entourage. When Trump looked to the presidency he certainly had this in the back of his mind. I have been railing against this kind of paternalism, this slide toward popular monarchy, for almost a decade. 

But I have stopped railing.

Trump did not start this.

The Kennedys did.

Then the Clintons could think of nothing but themselves and their own generational oligarchy, still calling back to the Sixties. Surely Mitt Romney has his very capable five sons and their vast collective family in mind as he considers a late age senate run for himself. And surprisingly, even the Bushes have succumbed. 

If we are going to roll that way it is no longer an America of Jefferson vying against Hamilton. That phase ended anyway with Andrew Jackson. And this is how we are today and where we start again. We should take this as it lays. It seems to be working in Canada. Surely Trump sees his tenure in this light as well. Anyone with money would today.

If Trump at the beginning suggested the Trickster; the pied piper, the Loki figure who would appear from nowhere and awaken a new age, he today might begin to suggest Otto von Bismarck who by force of personality alone unified an array of rambling Germanic states into a cohesive empire.

Trump brings the rough beginning of a holistic new and broad state vision singular and alone and still to be drawn out in detail. It may bring a new beginning for America and one which may take some getting used to. If Trump is successful and we will know within six months, my guess is that it will awaken the century to a new approach; Trump’s approach.

It is most serendipitous that Xi Jinping shared company in Florida with Trump. Bringing in daughter Ivanka to have her delightful children sing Chinese folk songs (in perfect Mandarin, said Xi) before the General Secretary of China and the second most important man in the world next to Trump was masterful choreography of extended family tradition and values. It brought forth a picture of a grandfatherly and paternalistic Trump (not unlike Bismarck) which Xi Jinpeng would fully relate to and identify with through his oldest Chinese traditions.

As was a remarkable historic accident that Xi Jinping was present in the White House during these dramatic events.

But then as Napoleon said, “There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.”

Bernie Quigley is a prize-winning writer who has worked more than 35 years as a book and magazine editor, political commentator and reviewer. 

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.