NEVERMIND WHETHER THE MANHATTAN BILLIONAIRE IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF ELITE OR NOT...:

 Now, I didn't vote for Trump, and I'm still spooked by much of his administration on the fronts of both competence and ideology. On the competence level, I certainly appreciate the willingness of Generals McMaster and Mattis to serve, and I hope they can win the confidence of our commander-in-chief. There's a lot to worry about if those relationships don't develop. Still, we can also see that "America first" begins as a national-security message. Trump is right to emphasize the need for our country to achieve energy self-sufficiency, to restore morale to our armed forces, and to arm up by technologically upgrading weapons systems and cybersecurity to make our nation less vulnerable. As Walter Russell Mead points out, those can hardly be construed as policies favorable to Russia or China -- our leading rival nations. 

On the ideological front, I would urge Republicans to remember that Trump was an opponent of the elitists of both parties -- as well as of the bipartisan interlocking directorate of elites in undisclosed locations symbolized by Wall Street and Silicon Valley. 

It's easy to see the hostility between Trumpism and the Democrats' "politically correct" and progressive experts. But there's also the hostility between Trumpism and the Republicans' oligarchic libertarians. Thinking along those lines even allows us to remember that just as Sanders ran to the left of Clinton and her identity politics, Trump ran to the left of the Republicans who think of American citizens as nothing but productive individuals.

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