Now that the smoke from the election is finally clearing, the challenge facing the Trump opposition is becoming obvious. It is immense. If anyone thought that the Trump campaign was some kind of a show or simply a means to an end and that Trump would " pivot " to a more presidential bearing and attitude, enough time has now passed to put any such hopes to rest. He is as unstable as ever.Unlike other president-elects, Donald Trump has held no press conferences and is mainly communicating through Twitter . But his choices for his staff and his Cabinet tell some of the story. He remains dependent on his children and close campaign advisers, which were culled from the dregs of the GOP consultant class and right-wing fringe. And his cabinet choices mainly hail from the constituencies of Wall, Big Business and the extremist edge of the conservative movement.

But lest anyone think there's ideological rhyme or reason for his choices, The Washington Post reported that his main concern is simply that they look the part. He admitted that he chose retired Marine Gen. James Mattis because he's "the closest thing to General George Patton that we have," but that is assumed to be mainly because he looks a little bit like George C. Scott, who played Patton in the movie. Transition officials said that Trump passed over Senator Bob Corker for Secretary of State because he is too short and he never seriously considered John Bolton for the leading role because of his mustache, which Trump apparently hates. Mitt Romney and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson were apparently the top choices because of their silver hair and broad shoulders, which fit the image Trump has for a secretary of state.

Trump's Twitter feed shows a disturbing portrait of a shallow egotist who spends way too much time watching TV and virtually no time learning how to do the most important job in the world. He's taking credit for things he isn't doing and ignoring all the norms and rules that usually apply to presidents. In other words, he isn't changing. And just as the bizarre reality show of a campaign stymied 17 GOP rivals and the campaign of Hillary Clinton, his nascent presidency shows every sign of stymieing the Democrats and the political press.

Political scientist George C. Edwards III at Texas A&M argues in this piece in the Washington Post that all is not lost and that reality will eventually bite when Trump is unable to persuade the people to support him. He says there are four questions that might predict if he can accomplish that: