Posted on 05/04/2017 7:55:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
Donald Trump has many worrisome, regrettable and even deplorable traits. But after studying him for the past two years, I have concluded he has an overlooked quality that cancels out many of his bad ones. Say what you will, the man is lazy.
This is a discovery that should gladden people of all parties, philosophies, races, sexes and religions. His detractors can be glad that he will never muster the drive or discipline to actually bring many of his worst ideas to fruition. His admirers can rest easy knowing he will not work himself to death.
The comic strip "Dilbert" has a character named Wally, whose chief talent is finding ways to avoid doing anything productive. A few years ago, his pointy-haired boss informed Wally that he was being replaced by a robot. "All it does is drink coffee and look at inappropriate websites," he said.
If that's the definition of sloth, the president has Wally beat, because he doesn't drink coffee and he doesn't look at inappropriate websites. We can be sure of the latter because he apparently never bothered learning to use a computer -- a symptom of his antipathy to exertion.
It was always clear that Trump does not like putting himself out. At the height of the general election campaign, he averaged only one event per day. Over two months leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Reuters reported, Ted Cruz did some three dozen events; Trump did eight. He insisted on flying home to New York almost every night of the campaign to sleep in his own bed.
We've also known Trump is intellectually lazy. He admitted last year that he has never read a biography of a president, citing a lack of time -- even though he claims to sleep no more than five hours a night. Tony Schwartz, who ghostwrote "The Art of the Deal," has said, "I seriously doubt that Trump has ever read a book straight through in his adult life."
Asked last year where he gets military advice, Trump replied, "Well, I watch the shows." He does put in long hours in front of a flat-screen, gathering random tidbits that inspire outbursts on Twitter. Atlantic writer Elaine Godfrey rounded up all the evidence and estimated that he currently watches five hours of television per day.
He's also averse to breaking a literal sweat. Unlike Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Trump doesn't work out. He said last year he didn't need to because of all the exercise he got speaking at his rallies. (In truth, jumping the shark does not burn calories.)
The closest he gets is golf, and he apparently minimizes the physical demands by using a cart, which makes the game about as strenuous as shuffleboard. Golf is not work but leisure, and Trump consumes it in quantities that must inspire envy in duffers with full-time jobs. He played 19 times during his first 100 days -- far outpacing Obama, whom he roasted for playing too often.
Trump prefers to be at his Mar-a-Lago resort rather than in Washington; he spent all or part of 25 days there in his first 100. Even when he's in the White House, his public schedule indicates a lot of, um, unstructured time in his day.
Despite all this, the president sounds like a first-time marathoner hitting the 20-mile wall. "This is more work than in my previous life," Trump complained. "I thought it would be easier."
Much of Trump's cluelessness about issues stems from his refusal to make more than a minimal effort at his job. As his comments about Andrew Jackson and the Civil War confirm, Trump is not merely too lazy to learn; he's too lazy to notice there is anything others know that he might need to. His is indolence on an epic scale.
And that, on balance, is good news. The people who fear that Trump is trying to subvert democracy, persecute Muslims and dismantle the rule of law can take heart that he won't put much effort into it. Inaugurating a reign of terror requires a work ethic he just doesn't have.
Trump would be far more dangerous if he had the energy to pursue all his bad ideas in a systematic way. The more time he spends in a golf cart the less harm he will do. If the job is not so easy as he expected, I have some advice for him: Don't work so hard.
HuffPo was doing it as early as Feb 2016
I learned in college marketing to "advertise your weakest point". In other words, if you have a restaurant that serves tasteless food then your advertising dollars should be spent bragging about how tasty your food is.
The left fears that people see Trump as the Energizer Bunny, so the idea is to push the opposite notion enough to counter that impression. Google "Trump lazy" and you'll see they've been doing this all along.
If you think he writes swill why post it here at FR
Chapman doesn’t appear to like the president.
Obama golfed 36 holes a day... Now that was stamina.. Wasted as it may have been, it isn’t easy to do 36 a day unless you use a cart... Oh, that’s right... He did use a cart.
Since it was from Townhall, I expected it to be a sarcastic piece, turning the tables on the libs... but it didn’t!
I started wondering if maybe Google or MSNBC had acquired Townhall!
I LIVE by that one. It’s really true, to a certain extent.
Never heard this when ZERO was golfing on a near daily basis...
Any writer who uses "um", unless quoting someone, is a cliche artist.
1. Obama gets to work at the same time as you do Although the president rises at dawn, he doesn't sit down in the Oval Office until "just before 9:30," according to Purdum. Obama's early morning is much like that of any other hardworking, middle-aged dad: a 45-minute stint in the gym, followed by breakfast with his family and a skim of the morning's papers.
2. Welcome to "F--knutsville" The main thing you notice from spending time in the White House is that Washington is "broken," writes Purdum. Not only is Congress mired in "partisan gridlock," but there is also a "profusion of lobbyists," not to mention the most "hyperkinetic, souped-up, tricked-out, trivialized, and combative media environment any president has ever experienced." All of that has inspired the notoriously foul-mouthed Rahm Emanuel to invent a coarse nickname for the nation's capital: "F**knutsville."
3. Obama and Emanuel's Hawaii plans From 9:30 a.m. until about 4:30 p.m., Obama's day is filled with meetings and briefings on everything from intelligence to the economy, federal activity, and foreign policy. "Every day feels like a week," reports Purdum. The White House agenda became so cluttered and stressful last December that Obama and his chief of staff joked they would quit it all to "open a T-shirt stand on a beach in Hawaii."
4. Dinner with Michelle and the kids Obama's working day officially ends at 6 or 6:30 p.m. — though emails and calls from the president resume at 8:30 or so until late at night. In between, Obama makes time for a daily dinner with his wife and daughters
5. Obama's drink of choice: A martini The president is neither a high-living nor a hard-drinking man, but he allowed himself a "rare martini" on the night the health-care bill passed in the House.
That arrogant pos former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave never did a lick of work when he was on vacation
The dishonest press made this same accusation about GWB. At least President Trump fights back. At first I thought that this article was satire. Apparently, anything done before 9:30 a.m. does not count as working.
DAMN! If there is 1 thing Prez DJT is not, it’s Lazy!
Anyone paying attention should know that this POTUS is a workhorse. I noticed it first during the run up to the election, he seemed to be traveling everywhere at the same time!
...I travel a lot, I get fatigued. This guy out worked Hillary, he’s anything but lazy. What a fool this author is.
For business people, the golf course is their real office. Look at all the weekend stints Trump has done with foreign leaders at Mar-A-Lago. Especially Abe and Jinping.
Look at the apparent relationship that developed with Jinping, where it seems China is actually siding with the US and pressuring NK.
President Trump is the absolute opposite of lazy. I’ve never seen a president work this hard. This is just lazy fake journalism.
A wise man once said “ work smart not hard”. Okay, maybe I’m not that wise, but working smarter is far more efficient.
Nothing says he can’t work smart and hard; which is exactly what I think President Trump has been doing in order to get so much done despite having an obstructionist congress.
I guess the overriding message of this article is how a lazy, out-of-shape guy, who doesn’t read, watches a lot of TV, plays a lot of golf, and doesn’t know much, can become a multi-billionaire and president of the United States.
Yes, he’s already been on time to more meetings than Obama did in 8 years.
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