It's true that Donald Trump's words and tone have become more civil and calming since Nov. 8 when he won the electoral tallies but not the popular vote.
But what have not been more calming - and in fact seem to loom even harsher - are his choices for Cabinet picks and his apparent disinterest in avoiding conflicts of interests between decisions he'll have to make in office and his own family business.
It was bad enough that he refused to release his income tax returns during the campaign, and that he, his wife and daughter hawked their products during appearances both before and after the election.
Now he and his son-in-law are exploring ways to bring nepotism to the White House and Trump and his children apparently have no intention of forming a true blind trust or divesting themselves of the family business that has tentacles all over the world.
On the one hand, it's good to hear the name of our own former mayor and current U.S. senator mentioned as a possible secretary of state in the Trump administration. On the other hand, even Sen. Bob Corker - a smart and far better choice than others so far mentioned - would more than have his hands full just trying to maneuver the pitfalls of handling foreign relations in the countries where we already know there are Trump business interests. Turkey, for instance, has not one but two Trump towers.
The president-elect early on had telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, an army general who seized power three years ago, far ahead of our closest allies who said they couldn't get through to him or were left hanging about how and when to talk or meeting with him.
Trump also met Britain's anti-EU Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage at Trump Tower last weekend, ahead of any meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
What message is Trump sending, beyond confusion, naivete and lack of organization?
And what message does it send that Trump will be appointing someone to head the Department of Interior - the government agency from which he leases the old Post Office in Washington, D.C., that is now his newest Trump hotel? The person he appoints will be his landlord for one of his businesses.
What message does it send that he will be appointing a new head of the Department of Justice - the agency now negotiating a multibillion-dollar mortgage settlement with Deutsche Bank to which Trump's businesses currently owe hundreds of millions of dollars?
How will the people Trump appoints to the National Labor Relations Board be expected to behave as they investigate complaints by workers at Trump's hotels and golf courses: The NLRB just on Nov. 3 ordered the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas to bargain with a union representing its housekeeping staff, maintenance workers and other employees?
Those are just a few red flags we know of. What about those we don't know about among the more than 500 limited liability companies in the Trump organization?
So far, the only assurances the American people have are vague dismissals from Trump's children that they will handle the businesses "responsibly," and Trump's pre-election assertion that his family business is "peanuts" compared to making America "great again."
So far, the messages we are getting are frighteningly muddled.