Bearing Witness to Trump Month 8

September 2017

President Trump starts the month out by rolling back the Dreamer’s Act which allows the undocumented children of illegal immigrants to stay in the country. Then he says he does not mean for them all to leave. Then his supporters throw a fit and burn Make America Great hats. Then he says he does mean it. Then he works a deal with the Democrats. Then he says he did not agree with them on a deal. Proof that we can never believe a word he says.

In a Sunday morning tweet storm Trump lambasted the media and then references a fake video showing Hillary Clinton being hit by one of his golf shots. How sad the behavior of a sitting President.

Trump in a most extraordinary combative speech to the United Nations, which he once threaten to disband, claims that he is prepared to “totally destroy North Korea” if provoked. The world is shocked that a U.S. President or any world leader would use the platform of the U.N., which was established to keep the peace between nations, to threaten to annihilate the population of another country. He then goes on to share his worldview that sovereign states should primarily act in their self-interest as in his own America First doctrine. And with that what can we expect the nations of the world to do more of? Arm themselves with every weapon imaginable. He paints a dark view of the world as a dangerous place that is going to hell with violence. Could it be because of men like Trump who will create their own destinies and hell for the rest of us?

But of all the threats to the nations of the planet that Trump fixated on, he never once mentions climate change. Even as one after another hurricanes pummels the Caribbean.

He does share some good news for the African continent that he has many friends “trying to get rich in Africa”. I am sure that makes them feel much better about America’s intent.

Trump denounces the nuclear agreement with Iran, that he has the nerve to call a reckless regime, and has kept that nation from going nuclear. Yes, that’s perfect, we need to have two growing confrontations around the world to deal with at the same time as well as a mad man in our own White House to suffer through.

Mueller’s investigation of Russian influence starts to focus on the White House. Can we imagine a Trump going even more combative when they come for him? Former campaign manager Paul Manafort is reported to have offered Russian oligarchs, with ties to Putin, a briefing on the Trump campaign. It is so easy to predict a state of emergency or war being fabricated to declare that he must stay in power during a crisis, the constitution be damned.

Trump and Kim Jong Un get into a twitter feud with each calling the other derogatory names and ratcheting up the war of words. In a rare personally televised statement, Kim responding to Trump’s U.N. belligerence calls Trump a “mentally retarded dotard” and then threatens to shoot a hydrogen bomb off over the pacific. Analysts point out that Trump and Kim share many of the same family history characteristics and personality disorders.

While this plays out, many Americans watch Ken Burn’s PBS series on the Vietnam war and are reminded how a nation could so blindly and ignorantly stumble into a war, just like it seems we are doing with Korea, based largely on the politics, miscalculations, and egos of our leaders at the time. Every episode brings me to tears.

The Republicans under Trump’s pressure try once again to repeal Obama’s ACA healthcare act. Thank god for the moral courage and ethics of Senator McCain who says no once again, this is just not the right nor a fair way to proceed. For the umpteenth time the repeal effort fails. Some good news is a sea of sewage.

Trump takes out his frustration by baiting the resignation of HHS cabinet member Tom Price who had the misfortune of pretending to be rich and deserving like Trump by using private jets to fly him around. Add another one to the revolving door in the Cabinet and White House.

Trump’s administration has better luck in rescinding Obama-era guidelines on college campus assaults.  His education secretary DeVos sends out new rules that allow colleges to require much higher standards of evidence.

Trump’s nominee to oversee chemical safety at the EPA previously worked under contract to chemical companies defending the safety of their products against the EPA. Of course, what would we expect? His boss, EPA Director Scott Pruitt, is discovered to have spent $25,000 to build a secure communications chamber in his office so no one can overhear his conversations. Yes, we can only imagine the deals he is making with industry that his agency is entrusted to regulate for the public’s safety.

The GOP announces their “dreamers” plans for a $1.5 trillion dollar tax cut plan in disguise of tax reform that will surely balloon the deficit. Yes, this is the same party that rails against debt and deficits with moral indignation when they are not in the White House. Then when they are in power, they claim that deficits do not matter anymore. Their hypocrisy has no shame.

Trump spends one September weekend sending out 18 divisive tweets about the disrespect mostly black players allegedly show the flag and veterans by their silent protests of taking a knee or locking arms during the national anthem. He tells a live audience that the “sons of bitches” should be hauled off the field and fired. Hum, veterans fought so that Americans had the freedom to do just exactly what the players did. And we certainly don’t need a lecture about patriotism from a man whose primary loyalty is to himself, then money next, and whose campaign welcomed Russian interference in the American election. What a fraud.

Meanwhile, as Trump shows his fury at his fellow Americans and football, Puerto Rico suffers from the lack of attention after two hurricanes and North Korea says it can shoot down American aircraft now that Trump has declared war on the country. I’m glad the President is focused on the most important things.

It has taken two weeks to fully mobilize FEMA and the military to come to the aide of Americans in Puerto Rico as a humanitarian crisis unfolds. The mayor of San Juan speaks her mind about federal response, and Trump blames the victims for their predicament and calls her nasty. Trump was just too busy inciting the flames of a culture war to be bothered with details. If only Trump had a hotel property there it might be different.

Trumps son-in-law and official White House adviser Jared Kushner confirmed that he used his personal email for official White House business. Then a half a dozen other administration officials are discovered to have been doing the same thing. This all occurred as Trump continued to blame Hillary Clinton for using personal emails and incited his supporters top clamor for locking her up.

Trump’s pick for the new Alabama Senator position Luther Strange losses to an even more scary radical conservative, Roy Moore, who shows up at rallies waving a pistol and wearing a hat, proclaiming his gun-loving god-fearing brand of patriotism. Trump takes the loss graciously by erasing all records of his support to the loser in his twitter history. Yes, erase our history of this presidency is going to be what we all want to do in 4 years.

Is there any wonder that the flow of tourists to the U.S. keeps declining as reported by the NYT. The rhetoric and policies of Trump do have an impact on the rest of the world, even while American’s are asleep or drugged out thinking this is just a bad reality TV show that really doesn’t mean much.

I weep for our country while bearing witness to this all.

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The above news has been taken from a number of international, national, regional, and local news media sources, both print and digital. Additional editorial opinions and comments about these news items are those of this author.