“Money, like vodka, does strange things to a man.” Anton Chekhov
Another fine week in Trump Land which more and more resembles a banana republic where the government steals from the people and the wealthy build taller walls and deeper bunkers. An unarmed citizen like me hardly knows where to begin. On February 5, less than a week after Trump boasted about all the dough his fellow oligarchs were making from the rising stock market, the NYSE took a 1,175 point tumble; three days later, the market took another big hit. Take note: Trump’s casino businesses always went belly up, and the stock market is the largest casino of all.
On February 6 on Good Morning America, the talking heads got to jabbering about the stock market, and determined, after pallaver that might have been written by the US Chamber of Commerce, that Monday’s sharp fall was just one of those periodic corrections, nothing at all to panic about. Besides, they said, the economy is robust, jobs are being added by the thousands, and wages are rising. No relevant statistical data was offered; just take their word for it, and if your personal circumstances don’t mirror their sunny pronouncements, well, it’s your fault because this is America, where every citizen has the same opportunity to make big money.
Trump was reportedly upset with congressional Democrats for not clapping at all the fantastic news he spewed during his droning State of the Union address, going so far as calling the Democrats un-American. Pretty clear that Trump never watched any of Barack Obama’s State of the Union speeches, during which Republicans sat stone-faced, or smirking like Paul Ryan, no matter what Obama said. If Obama had professed his love for the GOP and his admiration for Mitch McConnell, he still would have been met with dead silence. Forget the obvious absurdity for a moment and realize that Trump, like all insecure wannabe dictators, equates loyalty to him with patriotism. This is dangerous.
And then the media reported that Trump had demanded the Pentagon stage a massive military parade in the streets of Washington D.C., for no reason other than to stroke Trump’s frail ego. When I read this news I immediately imagined Trump -- who, let’s remember, dodged the draft -- decked out in military finery, complete with sword and scabbard, his chest festooned with medals and gold braid, saluting as tanks, artillery pieces and troops pass his reviewing stand, just like Leonid Brezhnev, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi once did, and Little Rocket man (Kim Jong-un) in North Korea does in our time. Perfect way to solidify our standing as a bonafide banana republic. The cost can be added to the obscene increase that Senate Republicans and Democrats want to gift the Pentagon. Tax cuts and a huge increase in military spending, like the Reagan years all over again. It’s not difficult to predict what the outcome of this irresponsible spending orgy will be. Groundhog Day in Washington D.C.
One of the most laughable boasts Trump made during his State of the Union speech was that the US is now deadly serious about winning the 16-year-long-undeclared war in Afghanistan. According to Trump, no more fooling around, it’s time to remove the gloves and knock the living hell out of the Taliban because the Taliban is killing people left, right, up, down and sideways; we will win because our warriors are strong, our cause just, our God more righteous, and, most of all, because Donald J. Trump is so-friggin’-awesome that he will triumph where George W. Bush and Barack Obama before him choked on failure.
Sure, and climate change is a hoax, coal burns clean, the surest way to give the middle class a boost is to cut taxes for the wealthy, the only cure for welfare dependency is work (jobs and transportation and child care being affordable and plentiful), Paul Ryan worships Social Security, Jeff Sessions respects the Constitution, and five days from now the sky will glow and all the pigs in America will take glorious flight. Trump is making America great again. We’re back, baby, hear us roar. USA! USA! USA!
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