Keller @ Large: Focus On Real Issues That Affect Real People

BOSTON (CBS) - I watched every minute of the Trump White House press secretary's first formal press briefing Monday.

Don't be sorry for me, it's my job.

For the most part, it was a waste of time. There were far more questions than answers, unsurprising considering the administration is only a few days old. And to everyone's relative credit, only a few minutes were wasted on the foolish, petty argument that broke out on Saturday over just how big the audience was or wasn't for the Trump inauguration.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer says his claim that this was the most-watched inaugural ever is true if you add up all the TV and online ratings. A handful of media people with too much time on their hands still claim Spicer told a whopper when he tried to claim the turnout was better than it actually was.

And from me and, I suspect, most of the public, comes a question: who cares?

If presidential critics want something real to chew on, they should examine Spicer's claims that they really want to expand foreign markets for U.S. goods even as they're pulling back from multinational trade deals. Better to cut deals one-on-one with other countries, he said, but that's a highly-debatable claim. Can bilateral deals level the unbalanced playing field that now draws so many companies to manufacture more cheaply overseas? Can outsourcing be reduced by threatening corporate executives, or are deals that force other countries to obey basic labor and environmental laws a better way?

Now there's a story that matters big-time here in Massachusetts, where the economy relies heavily on foreign trade.