Well, howdy there, Internet people, it's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump for getting the first rule with his moves with the Senate.

Trump is reportedly going all in on his nominations, to the point that he's personally calling senators who won't commit to backing his picks and applying a little bit of

pressure. It's something that flies in the face of the first rule of command, or the first rule

of leadership, depending on when you heard it. Legend says the first rule originated with

General Douglas MacArthur, while providing command advice to younger officers. Never give an order that can't be

obeyed. Another version is never give an order that won't be obeyed. And still another is,

never give an order that you know won't be obeyed. From a command setting, these all mean the same

thing. The reason this rule exists is because

if you give an order that won't be obeyed, it undermines your leadership, commands, and decisions

in the future. Trump is starting an unneeded direct confrontation with about 20% of his allies

in the Senate that could have consequences for

his administration for years. If he succeeds in getting all of the senators with hesitations to cave,

then he wins. But what does he really win? Appointments. For those who don't remember his first term, people don't always stay in

their position for a long time under Trump. And sure, he gets an early political win that might

set the tone for more political cooperation later. But it doesn't squash the hesitations,

especially if one of those nominees doesn't last in the

position. But what if just a handful of those senators don't cave? He's given an order that

wasn't obeyed. That means it will be easier for that handful and others to disobey him in the future. Setting that up unnecessarily,

this early on seems like a mistake. Unless he is absolutely confident he can convince everybody.

Because if he misses converting just a handful, he burns a lot of political capital before he

really even starts his administration.

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