Are the number and scale of hirings and firings we see currently unprecedented among American presidents? Or is this pretty normal?

I guess that's as good a reason as any... 

Ahh ok... I wasn't sure, so thank you for telling me. 

If he had his way, he wouldn't fill any posts so he could control the entire government by himself.

Or maybe all of those unfilled posts are just a testament to how disgustingly bloated our Federal government really is. We seem to be getting along just fine without those vacancies being filled right now.

Oh absolutely. The government's running like a Swiss clock with Herr Trump in charge. Maybe he can tell the Boy Scouts all about it at their next rally.

So where are the REAL issues now that weren't there when Obama was in office? Your answer indicates that you must have at least some idea.

Or his predecessor, or his predessor before that. We're stuck in this endless cycle of "whataboutism." Someone says Trump is doing a lousy job. So someone else fires back, what about Obama? And absolutely nothing gets solved because focus is lost on what's happening now. Like a dog that keeps chasing its tail around. 

Of course the REAL issues are still here. I just happen to believe that Trump is a vile, disgusting, immoral, dishonest, poor excuse for a human being who neither knows nor cares about the issues. I also think he's a criminal. But I'm not equipped to judge him on a legal level and am more than happy to let Mueller do his job. And if Obama or Hillary or my Great Uncle Fred committed crimes, let Mueller prosecute them too. Because it's not about party. It's about being fit to run our country.  

Performance has to be measured against benchmarks, standards. Everything our several governments and private industry does is measured against performance standards. (Remember the last time you had a job performance review?) So in this case if you don't like using the performance of the President's predecessors as a standard then perhaps you can suggest an acceptable measurement benchmark?

PS. Your opinion of Mr. Trump is perfectly acceptable; you're certainly entitled to that opinion. I have no problem with that because you acknowledge that it is opinion. I find him to be unsettling at best sometimes. But in spite of all his rough edges (to be kind) I STILL think he was a far better choice than the alternative; just an opinion. This post was edited by Salt and Red Pepper at July 31, 2017 10:45 AM MDT

Trump not being fit to do the job, and being a crook, I would think.

That is your unqualified opinion; nothing more.

How can you say such a dumb thing?  Are you serious?  Do you read the DAILY news?  Its so qualified, people all over the whole world are commenting and you still try and come up with UNQUALIFIED?

Get out of Dodge already.

Yes, I am serious about the statement made by HD. It is unqualified and just an opinion. (And you need to learn how to "read" the daily news.)

Where's the proof that Mr. Trump is either unqualified or corrupt?

Before you start in be aware that the "unqualified" allegation is very subjective. That's still being debated by historians for each and every one of his predecessors. For example take Lincoln. Some think that he was the second coming of Christ but to others he was the Devil reincarnate.

As to the "corrupt" allegations . . . they're just that, allegations. There's been no legal proof presented to date. Not even evidence worthy to bring in indictment, yet (not that the President can be indicted according to standing Justice Department policy, has to be impeached first . . .)

So you may hate Trump with all your being for reasons that escape me, but that doesn't change the fact that he has yet to be judged to be corrupt. That may change in the future but right now it's not a valid claim. 

I agree it is my opinion. Also, the only qualification I have is being 57 years old, and having seen governments and individual politicians around the world rise and fall. No one has seen anything like Trump before, though. I suggest he is an embarrassment to your country. How can the USA claim moral high ground over someone like President Kim Wrong 'Un of North Korea, when you have a US President who dismisses the facts as "fake news," and claims his own propoganda is truth? It is Orwellian: the Ministry of Truth tells lies.

57-years-old, you say. And you've seen governments and politicians rise and fall around the world, you say (through the colored lens of the BBC, I'm guessing)? Well I wont hold your youthful inexperience and limited, biased view of the world against you. (I've been around the block a time or two more than that.)

When you say that no one has seen anything like Trump before you may well be right, but I doubt it. Two "unconventional", flamboyant presidential candidates do come to mind R. Perot and T. Roosevelt. One actually held the office. There were others, I sure. But that's the point. Those of us outside of New York City, Los Angeles county and Washington, DC - proper WANTED someone with some balls, not the usual idiot politician working for some special interest. Only those on the dole, so to speak wanted the status quo. The rest of us are sick and tired of the parasites. 

So no, Trump is NOT an embarrassment. The "embarrassment", if there is such, would be the idiocy and malfeasance towards the electorate shown by Congress (Okinawa is going to flip over if any more people start living there?) and the machinations of present day "big media". (I've watched the US media go from having reasonable credibility to the total mess that they've become, from the inside). But your Orwellian reference may be apropos. Only it's coming from the media, not the White House. Seems that the days of "yellow" journalism have returned, and not for the better.