Infrastructure Week -- did anyone notice?

Well, of course Infrastructure Week went almost unnoticed.

First, it landed like the dud that it is.  Although it calls for more than a trillion dollars expenditures, it turns out that Trump's plan is to put only $200 million into incentives for private investors to take on big projects like roads, bridges, railroad beds, airport infrastructure, schools, etc.

The basic problem here is that, even if you favor private investment to public funds for the common good, there is little profit incentive for this kind of project.  And the most needed are often the least profitable for an investor. That's why governments usually do them.

So what will happen is that -- yes, roads and bridges might get built -- but they will be the ones selectively chosen in areas that benefit investors' wealthy friends, developers, and resorts, not inner cities or highways or what's really needed.

OK.   That's why Infrastructure Week was not going to be much anyway.   But then look what else happened in this chaotic world we inhabit.  Things that demanded attention from the White House and the news media.

1,  A growing scandal that just won't go away right there in the White House:   a senior staffer with top secret access, but without a security clearance for over a year.  And a serious domestic violence record to boot.

2.  New developments in Trump's own sexual past:   his lawyer's claim about paying hush money to a porn star Trump had an affair with.  And another Playmate model making her claim with a story to tell about an affair with Trump.

3.  A big failure in the Senate to pass any of several offered and debated immigration bills.   So DACA is still not fixed -- and Trump is blaming the Dems for not rolling over to his plan, when he's the one who cancelled DACA to begin with.

4.  The horrific school shooting that killed 17 students and teachers at a Parkland, Florida high school.    Trump was sharply criticized for not even addressing the tragedy for 24 hours, then only by twitter, and finally a scripted short speech that made no mention of guns.    When he went to Parkland to meet victims and first responders, it was on his way to his weekend retreat at nearby Mar-a-Lago.   In a photo op with first responders, he managed to make a joke that injected himself into the spotlight and turned a somber moment into laughter, not what was appropriate.     Then they took a group photo, showing Trump standing front row center, with a big grin on his face and giving a "thumbs up" gesture.    Does he have absolutely no sense of appropriateness?

5.  And then of course there was the Friday release of Mueller's grand jury indictment of 13 Russians for interfering with our 2016 election.   Instead of forthrightly acknowledging finally that Russians did interfere, he injected himself into it and falsely claimed that it didn't show collusion.   No this indictment didn't name anyone connected with the campaign;  but absence of indictment in this one does not equate to absence of indictment in the future.   In truth, to some of us, the indictment should be taken by the Trump team as an ominous sign that Mueller's investigative team is super-formidable and that they already know much more than we had any idea they knew.   Mueller has only begun to reveal what he has found out.

Yep, that's the week that was.

Ralph