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The first telephone call was made on March 10, 1876. The first words were “Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” It was a short conversation and some may say it was “perfect.” So far as I can discern, I don’t think it was a quid pro quo.

Most all of us have made many telephone calls and some may have gotten us into trouble, but not quite as much trouble as the call President Trump made to another president. I’ve read the transcript of the call and it didn’t seem too bad to me, but what do I know? I have a hard time even saying quid pro quo. Try saying it fast 3 times and you might have trouble, too.

On the other hand, it might be one of the best examples of a mountain being made out of a molehill. There are couple of cartoonish scenes that come to mind. I didn’t think them up on my own, but heard someone else talking about them.

The scenes are about the opponents of our current president. It seems like ever since he was elected, there have been some who just cannot accept that he won. They have spent every day trying to find something that will prevent him from serving the four years that a president earns by election.

They’re like the Wiley Coyote character in the Roadrunner cartoons. They have their Acme weapons trained upon this president as he continues to “Beep, Beep” on by them. Just when they think they have him in their sights, the cloud of dust just zooms on by and Wiley Coyote is blown up, once again, by his own failed device.

Or, they’re like Lucy and Charlie Brown. All Charlie Brown wants to do is kick the football. Lucy has convinced Charlie Brown that, this time, she won’t pull the ball back. She’ll hold it steady. Here comes Charlie Brown, hopeful as ever, and just as he swings his leg into the ball, Lucy pulls it away. “Charlie Brown, won’t you ever learn?”

In the beginning it was Russia. Now, it’s the telephone call. The president’s opponents are sure that the telephone call contains all they need to finally get rid of him. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, perish the thought of trying to defeat him at the ballot box.

I don’t know if President Trump likes playing these games or not, but I’m pretty sure that there are millions of Americans who don’t. For me, I would rather have a few days of Congress and the president getting along with the business of the nation.

In my life, I have experienced 13 presidents. I was born in the Truman years, but was too young to remember his work. I do remember a few things about Eisenhower, but after him, I remember all the others better. I didn’t like them all, but the president was the president and you took him for what he was, good or bad.

I remember the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon and they seemed much more serious than these do today. I don’t know what I was doing during the Bill Clinton proceedings, but I don’t remember them so much.

It may be just my thinking, but I have heard others say the same thing. Whether Trump is liked or not, based upon the work that he has done, not his personality or history, but his work as president, he has been as good as many of the others.

And he has had to fight, tooth and nail, against oppositional interference more than any other president that I have known. That’s unfortunate. For him and the nation.