More from the OpEd...

... He quickly pivoted to what he evidently believed was the most important point to share with an anxious and, for those caught in the disruption, angry public: how well the moment reflected on President Donald Trump and his team.

"This is what the leadership of President Trump looks like by the organization and the team he put together," Mullin stated. "We're built to handle crises like this and that's exactly what we're doing." ...

The news conference with Mullin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy raised something more fundamental: Do they have elementary self-awareness? What planet are they on?

Not the same one occupied by anyone traveling by air over the past 24 hours or waiting on a loved one who was, a group which obviously includes millions of people who count themselves part of Trump's depleted pool of supporters. These people were looking for the maximum amount of transparency and precision about what was going on, even while understanding that in the midst of a crisis answers are often fragmentary and contingent. Above all they are looking for reassurance that responsible people are responding responsibly -- doing more than wildly improvising and groping for passably plausible talking points.

Instead, the performance by two top appointees was a vivid window into the late stages of Trumpism. The familiar signatures " bluster, boasting, blame-casting " were not so much triggering, as in the old days, as the height of irrelevance.

The travel mess will presumably sort itself out over the next few days. The dynamics on display Friday night, if they continue, suggest that Trump in his final two years could become even more isolated from political reality. ...