Courtesy of google.com
The circle of coffee gals at the retirement center (Blog 5/3/2017) had already arrived for their morning break when I entered their magic circle, sputtering a few words about the appalling leadership in the country. A 94 year-old women wheeled up with her walker to join us. Barbara is noted for her sunny disposition so I teased, “Why don’t you run for president in 2020?” She paused and then sighed audibly. “In the past, I’d have said I wasn’t qualified. Now, I’m not so sure.”
A bombast of laughter exploded in midair, a sound so jolting to the quiet of the morning, an employee ran from the kitchen to see if one of us old folks needed a straitjacket. What she discovered was a circle of joyful faces. Laughter, being good for the soul, she kept her silence and retreated to the innards of her steamy domain. Afterwards, when I thought about it, though, Barbara’s comment struck me as less funny. She is as qualified to be president as the man currently holding the office, and she possess a good deal more common sense.
Donald Trump has made so many gaffes in his first 100 days that, as he looks to establish some sort of record, his mistakes, alone, should qualify him. He took the oath of office insisting upon the demonstrably false claim that his inauguration drew a larger audience than the one for Barrack Obama. He continues to utter similar foolishness, closing off last week with an abysmal display of his ignorance of American history and the life of Andrew Jackson. (Click) If any of his supporters imagine this president could pass the US immigration test we require of people seeking US citizenship, he or she is delusional and should seek immediate medical treatment under Obamacare, while it lasts.
Thus far, Trump’s chief accomplishments have been to lay siege to immigration and the good will of our two border countries, Mexico and Canada. He has insulted German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, by refusing to shake her hand, while extending warm invitations to the White House to Russia’s tyrant, Vladimir Putin and the Philippine’s mass murderer, Rodrigo Duterte. Worse, he has falsely accused China, one of our largest trading partners and creditors, with currency manipulation. (Click) I could go on, citing his determination to destroy U. S. health care, the environment, and the regulated banking system. Or, I could rail against his imbecilic attempt to revive the coal industry. Buy why should I stress myself? In another 15 minutes, he will reverse himself and claim reports about his flip-flops are the work of main stream media’s fake news.
Some experts suspect our president is mentally unstable.(Click) If true, how am I to account for 42% of voters who supported him in the election and continue to do so with fervor? Says one acquaintance, who remains an unrepentant Trump enthusiast, his “idiosyncrasies” are funny. Fair enough. Return him to television’s small screen and leave the world stage to those with a repertoire large enough to perform upon it.
Of course, Donald Trump isn’t crazy. Nor is he rudderless, as others insist. Donald Trump has a plan: to hurl the country backward in time to a period before Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s social reforms. He wants to make “American Great Again” by exposing the nation to the ills of unbridled commerce; to reward the haves and dispense with the have-nots. He wants a roaring wild frontier where men are men and women know their place, which is mainly to pleasure men. He wants an all-white, all-male world, devoid of LGBTs and the troublesome underdogs struggling on the rest of the planet. Most importantly, he wants to saddle up and ride roughshod over his detractors at the expense of the First Amendment.
In sum, the American people have saddled themselves with is a 19th century cowboy in a 21st century world. (Click) To 42% of voters, he represents true grit, the personification of unbridled independence. He’s the lone ranger riding out of the west to save us from robber barons. Fortunately, the majority of Americans can see behind the mask. He is the robber baron, and we have a tin pot dictator in the making.
