from a friend:
“People who tell themselves that President Trump is just another tired old politician from the past have likely been watching his enemies define him rather than watching his accomplishments. While CNN has obsessed over a witch hunt and a trollop, Trump has gutted regulations, supercharged the economy, announced changes that will protect our veterans and allow terminally ill access to medications. Meanwhile employment AND popularity among blacks have skyrocketed. Also, ISIS who?”
my response:
I’m not saying he’s a tired old politician. He’s a carnival barker. I think he’s a kleptocrat overseeing the largest campaign of social web destruction and transfer of wealth to the rich in our history while simultaneously destroying our position as a relevant or respected nation around the globe AND running a populist con-game on a percentage of our population based in xenophobia, nationalism, and racial fear.
Scariest … I don’t know that he’s even aware that this is what he’s doing. He may simply be impulsively trying to continue shoring up a desperate lack of self-worth with grandiosity and attention seeking.
Gutted regulations … on what? I would prefer to have increased regulations for the environment, stronger protection for consumers, curbs to global climate change, increases in renewable energy incentives, curbs to banking and finance, common sense federal gun regulation, protections for minorities and impoverished areas in the USA. Gutting regulations is good if you’re a global corporation looking to avoid accountability and outsource costs and impacts of your actions. For you and me — it’s a downside. It means less protection and less ability to impact the actions of polluters and unethical businesses.
Supercharged the economy … for who? (my answer … corporations and the ultra-rich who benefit from his tax policy and from the stock market)
Low unemployment. This is good for many — no argument there. And this in line with the global recovery (not unique to US, and on trend since 2014). And wages are not growing in line with demand — meaning that average people are working more for less money, while corporations take more profits and wall street booms.
Announced changes to protect veterans … how? (my answer … by creating a culture of suspicion and blame rather than care and accountability and by undermining workers’ unions) And on the other side … protections for active duty and veterans against banks for foreclosure were cut. And medical services to veterans have been cut.
Allow access to medications for the terminally ill (promised cuts to prices have not happened and are not predicted to happen) … while crippling safety nets for millions?
ISIS — I’ll quote a journal article
“The collapse of ISIS has created a terrorist diaspora with the potential to carry out sophisticated attacks in the West and radicalize other Muslims in the Arab world(8).” (http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2018/05/100-percent-defeat-isis-ideology-180508042421376.html)
It was a ‘Mission Accomplished’ photo opp. (‘War is Peace’) As in all cases of trying to ‘destroy’ the enemy … the enemy simply reappears in another way in another place. ISIS has gone underground. The root causes, ideology, and radicalization will never be defeated with weapons, killing, or macho rhetoric.
PS. The same country that made the coffee mug you’re drinking out of this morning and the toothbrush you used is also providing 50% of the weapons used by ISIS. Welcome to the global economy.
Popularity … so what? Popularity bump because of Kanye West has nothing to do with the fact that Trump’s actions and policies are hurting the African American community … and every other middle and low income person in the USA. That means you, too.
Social Darwinism is not how a sane society takes care of itself. And bottom line … there is no ‘America’ without the rest of the world.
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