Anyone who has known me for the past 60 years knows that I have been a pretty apolitical guy. I have my political thoughts (actually, I’m an Independent), but I haven’t gone out of my way to broadcast them. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs about politics, religion, etc., and it’s normally useless to argue with them about such things. So, I typically don’t bother.
I was a public servant for almost 30 years, and served, for most of it, as an executive officer under the Board of Supervisors of Riverside County. Although I was not an elected official, I certainly served under many “electeds” and tried my best to execute the policy leadership of those politicians. So, I understand politics and government…better than most of my friends, acquaintances, and relatives. I’ve lived it.
Perhaps this is why the Donald Trump story has so captivated me. It is the ultimate “fish out of water” saga, and it is unfolding right in front of me in living color. It is the biggest story of my lifetime, and that says a lot, because I lived through the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and President Nixon’s resignation.
I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump, but I was hopeful that, once he took office, he would put his Big Boy pants on, realize that he was involved in something bigger than himself, and evolve into the leader that the country so desperately needs at this time.
America has now endured over 210 days of the Trump presidency, and it is apparent that this experiment has failed. The man can’t get beyond himself, he doesn’t understand the concept of teamwork, and doesn’t really understand how government works or, more importantly, how democracy functions. It is one of the saddest things that I’ve ever seen, a President flailing about, drowning in his own self-created cesspool.
Donald Trump also doesn’t understand that, although his political “base” helped elect him, he is now the leader of all Americans, including the people who didn’t vote for him (the majority, actually) and didn’t vote at all. Trump’s mandate to govern was weak, from the start. His only hope to be an effective President was to try to broaden his appeal, which would have broadened his support in Congress.
He’s, effortlessly, accomplished the opposite, and doesn’t seem to understand that or…care.
This past week was, arguably, the low point of the Trump presidency, and that’s saying a lot. A big white supremacist rally was held in Charlottesville, Virginia, complete with Nazi flags and torches, threatening goons in camouflage outfits openly carrying pistols and automatic weapons, and morons shouting racist slogans from bullhorns. Thousands of protesters were on hand to let them know that their ugly shtick was un-American and not appreciated in Charlottesville. One of the white supremacist idiots decided to teach them a lesson by running his car into the crowd of protesters, killing one woman, and injuring a couple of dozen more.
It reminded me of something back in my time…the Kent State massacre of anti-war demonstrators in 1970: a defining moment in U.S. history.
President Trump’s initial response to this tragedy was to blame it on “many sides”, and to note that there were some “very fine people” in the white supremacist crowd.
Needless to say, a politician who kowtows to Nazis in America is…out of his friggin’ mind.
Political leaders of both parties rained down criticism upon the President, there were mass resignations from some of his advisory councils, and some of his closest advisors and supporters were apoplectic.
As is his nature, President Trump then doubled-down on his gaffe, trying to blame the whole mess on “people who would destroy our history and culture”…i.e. those who demand that memorials to Confederate generals be removed from public places. He then equated Robert E. Lee to George Washington, because they both owned slaves, missing the important point that General Washington helped create our democracy, while General Lee fought to dismember it in order to preserve a regional economy that was built on the backs of slaves.
Like I said, President Trump is flailing about, not understanding what he’s dealing with, embarrassing himself, his family, and his country. Rather than publicly demonstrating empathy with the victims of the tragedy, and showing leadership in trying to mend the Nation’s wounds, he…throws gasoline on the fire of racial hatred in America.
As someone said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
We have a crisis on our hands, folks. I’m not sure what will happen first: nuclear war with North Korea, or a second Civil War. We have a lot of angry people in this country, and it appears that we have a nincompoop Fascist leading them…and the rest of us!
I’ve never been a big fan of military juntas, but…Vice President Pence sure looks attractive right now.
I’d better keep my .45 cal locked and loaded…
Update: Some good news today. Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief political strategist and right-wing bomb thrower, resigned today. It appears that recently-appointed White House Chief of Staff/ex-General Kelly has succeeded in removing one of the many cancers on the Presidential corpus.
As the saying goes, “What do you say about finding 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea? It’s a good start.”