“Mitt Romney, Secretary of State?”

A short but nicely written endorsement of the idea of Mitt Romney as head of the State Department:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/mitt-romney-secretary-state-14864.html

It’s not certain that Mr. Trump is intending to offer the position to him.  It’s not certain that he would accept if it were offered.

And, of course, there are obstacles.  For instance, Mr. Romney has had some exceptionally tough things to say about Mr. Trump, all of them true.  (For example, Mr. Trump’s lawyers agreed yesterday to a settlement in which the president-elect will pay out $25 million in order to put an end to the fraud cases against Trump University that would have gone to jury trial later this month.)  And Mr. Trump has been, as he often is to others, personally demeaning and insulting toward Mr. Romney.  And they disagree (e.g., with regard to Vladimir Putin).  And some of the extreme-Trumpist base are absolutely consumed with hatred and contempt for anybody who doesn’t share their views; a Romney appointment wouldn’t go over at all well with them.  Some are already frothing with the venom so typical of hard-core Trumpist discourse at the very possibility.

Still, if it’s offered, Romney might accept appointment as Secretary of State.  He’s a patriot, for one thing, and he genuinely believes in public service and that he, having been greatly blessed by his citizenship in the United States, has an obligation to give such service.  Moreover, he’s a grown-up.  He knows that the country is far bigger than Donald Trump, and that it faces some very difficult challenges.

If good people join the Trump administration, that will co-opt them, and genuine conservative criticism and opposition to Trumpism  — such criticism and opposition are virtually inevitable — will be compromised.  But if good people refuse to join the Trump administration, it will be populated by bad people.

On the whole, I would find such an appointment mildly reassuring.  Mr. Romney is an extremely intelligent, analytical, stable, and decent man

We shall see.  I doubt that we’ll know anything before Sunday, and maybe not for a while after that.