“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”
~ Frédéric Bastiat
“Trump personifies everything the rest of the world despises about America: casual racism, crass materialism, relentless self-aggrandizement, vulgarity on an epic scale. He is the Ugly American in excelsis.”
~ Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald, "The greatest threat to America? Republicans" published on July 17, 2015
~ Paul Thomas of the New Zealand Herald, "The greatest threat to America? Republicans" published on July 17, 2015
“It's not how a president should speak,” Mr. Biden tweeted. “It's not how a president should behave. Most of all, it's not what a president should believe.
~ Joe Biden (in a recent tweet about Donald Trump)
“Oh, are you happy you voted for me. You are so lucky that I gave you that privilege.”
~ Donald Trump, January, 2018
It feels like it has been longer than merely one year, at least politically.
And yet, today only marks the one year anniversary of Trump officially becoming the nation's President.
Now usually, an anniversary conjures up images of something to celebrate, although I would hardly think that this qualifies. For his supporters, Trump apparently seems like a Godsend. For the rest of us, he is a long and enduring nightmare, the very embodiment of the very worst that Americans have to offer, there loudly announcing himself in front of the entire world.
The thing is, the rest of the world seems to see him for what he is. So why can't enough Americans see him for what he is? Why did this man ever have a realistic chance at being President?
Unfortunately, now enough people saw through this clown to prevent him from taking office. That means he's everyone's problem now, and so are those who voted him in, and continue to feel that he is some sort of savior, of genius, despite the mountain of evidence pointing to quite the contrary.
Now usually, an anniversary conjures up images of something to celebrate, although I would hardly think that this qualifies. For his supporters, Trump apparently seems like a Godsend. For the rest of us, he is a long and enduring nightmare, the very embodiment of the very worst that Americans have to offer, there loudly announcing himself in front of the entire world.
The thing is, the rest of the world seems to see him for what he is. So why can't enough Americans see him for what he is? Why did this man ever have a realistic chance at being President?
Unfortunately, now enough people saw through this clown to prevent him from taking office. That means he's everyone's problem now, and so are those who voted him in, and continue to feel that he is some sort of savior, of genius, despite the mountain of evidence pointing to quite the contrary.
What is there to say about that time period?
It has been a time of insanity. For sober Americans with any ounce of objectivity, and a knowledge of the dangers of narcissism on a personal and national level, this has been a period of disaster after disaster. The news headlines have been merciless and relentless for the past year now. It seems that not two or three days pass without Trump making some sort of horrible headlines, with someone in the White House, or on FOX, or in the Republican-dominated Congress, or someone else, trying to rationalize his embarrassing and often disgraceful behavior.
How much damage can one man do in one year? Well, Trump made it easier for big polluters to dump in our waters, loosening regulations on that front. He made offshore drilling easier for major corporations, as well, and took away a lot of protected land from the America's National Park, so that once again, a few private citizens or corporations can benefit. He tried to bring coal back, although not surprisingly, he found out that is a lot easier to make promises than to keep them - not that he has ever seemed to mind that. And, of course, he embarrassed the United States by announcing that he would be withdrawing the nation from the Paris Climate Accord, making us stand alone as the only nation to be opposed to it on the grounds that we do not believe enough in climate change to recognize it as a problem, much less do anything about it.
And that was just the environment. The whole world watched, and condemned Trump's environmental policies, which sometimes seemed outright to make a point of making the nation dirties and less healthy. Yet, there were so many other areas where Trump and his administration proved embarrassing. Pope Francis looked positively sick after meeting Trump, judging from the pictures that were published of the two of them after the meeting. Within days of that, several European heads of state, including Angela Merkel, the head of the leading European Union nation, publicly announced that they could no longer view the United States as a reliable ally following their own meetings with the man. Mexico's leader announced that he had cancelled a scheduled meeting at the White House, and Mexico also made trade deals with other nations that are widely viewed as a message that they, too, were sick of Trump and trying to work around the United States, which has been seen increasingly as an obstacle to peace and cooperation.
Through all of that, China has been stepping up in a big way, and generally positioning itself to step into leadership roles that Trump and his administration are essentially giving up for their country. Much of the world has also expressed alarm at the blatant instability and arrogance of the administration, and particularly of Trump himself. After all, this was a man who went before the United Nations, and threatened to wipe another country off the map, and right around International Peace Day no less! This is a man who seems incapable of understanding the significance of defusing tensions around the world, and instead, has to show that he has more power at his disposal, and claims that he is willing and able to use it. I doubt that North Korea's race to get nuclear weapons that could reach American shores would have been quite as relentless had someone else - almost anyone else - been elected to the White House.
Despite Trump's own claims to being a "very stable genius," he has often very publicly displayed his astonishing levels of ignorance, such as when he addressed a meeting of African leaders, and praised the healthcare system of a non-existent African nation. Then, of course, there was the whole "shithole nations" comment, which obviously, the affected countries - African nations, Haiti, and El Salvador - took strong exception to. He then asked why there could not be more immigrants from nations like Norway. But Norwegians enjoy a higher standard of living than Americans. Their education system ranks higher, and they have universal, affordable healthcare, something that we here in the United States do not. They do not have massive numbers of people, numbering in the tens of millions,. behind bars, like we do, because they do not have the for-profit prison system that Americans have. Childcare is more affordable there. They believe in climate change, and their policies reflect that reality. The minimum wage is much higher, and they enjoy a lot more vacation time. In short, there would be very little incentive for Norwegians to migrate to the United States, when they enjoy so many more real-life advantages than Americans have.
Of course, all of that is stuff that has some serious relevance to foreign policy. On the domestic front, Trump has been at least as bad.
Last month, he and the Republican Congress passed a tax bill (many called it, rightly, a "tax scam") that very predictably benefited the wealthiest Americans and corporations, of course. And also not surprisingly, he lied about it, claiming that he was going to lose money on the deal (he won't, obviously). Even some Republican senators, like Marco Rubio, expressed some reserves and/or later regrets that this bill went way too far towards benefiting the most privileged Americans, at the expense of everyone else. After all, someone has to pay for it.
Of course, there have been the episodes with his blatant racism and sexism. He campaigned by claiming that Mexicans were drug dealers, rapists and criminals, and by equating Islam with terrorism. He clearly has not problem with seeing women as sex objects, because he himself has proved this time and time again. Then, of course, he stood by when Nazis were marching on American streets and inciting violence, and claimed that there were some good people among them. And, of course, there was that recent "shithole nations" comment when he referred to countries that were predominately black and Hispanic. He and his team denied racism time and time again, but it does not take much effort to connect the dots, and recognize that the reality of his racism is far more severe than what he claims it is.
Then, there is the lying. The relentless stream of lies and, at best, half-truths, from this administration, which seems to go on all fronts. Anytime that Trump is criticized, he dismisses the source as "fake news," and even labeled the media as an "enemy of the people." Meanwhile, nobody has even approached this man in terms of either the sheer number of lies put forth, or the magnitude of the lies themselves. He promised that he would divorce himself from his businesses, then never did it, and has used the office he now holds for personal profit. He claimed that he would release his tax returns, but he never did. He promised he would make Mexico pay for the wall, but obviously he would never be able to make them do that. He promised he would save the coal industry, but obviously he would not be able to do that. He promised to be the greatest job creating President in American history, but has shown little ability to be that. He promised to work for middle class Americans, yet his first act as President was to make home ownership more difficult and costly for them, and then passed that tax bill that will hurt the middle class in the not too distant future. He promised not to play golf, but has spent pretty much almost every weekend in sunny Florida playing golf, including this weekend as I write this, in the midst of the government shutdown that he claimed his leadership and deal-making abilities would be able to avoid. He demonstrably lied about the size of his election win, and lied about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. He constantly lies about his own popularity, at every opportunity. He lies about his own efficiency, claiming to have passed more bills than any President since Truman, while in fact, he passed the fewest of all Presidents since then.
And those are just a few of his lies! In fact, his lies are simply way too numerous, and too serious, for me to get to here. Frankly, you would need a team of people to be able to identify and dissect all of this man's seemingly countless lies, and the number of lies just keeps growing daily!
Finally, there is the instability factor. He may refer to himself as a "very stable genius," but he has looked like anything but stable or a genius. The White House has looked like a revolving door place of employment. There have been more firings and resignations than any other presidency during that first year in office. There have been more serious charges, as well as criminal indictments, as well. And, of course, there are the seemingly countless ridiculous tweets, which even his political allies consider a liability.
So, with all of that, what do Americans now think of their beloved leader?
Well, according to a Marist poll, a majority of Americans - 53 percent - feel that Trump has failed during his first year in office.
Recently, Panama has tried to get rid of Trump's name on hotels down there. Like it or not, this is what the world thinks of the United States under President Trump. He and his silly supporters can paint it any way they want to. But the United States is already paying a price, and is losing it's leadership status the world over. China keeps stepping in where American leadership used to be strong, and several European leaders have stated outright that they no longer see the United States as a reliable partner. Mexico and other Latin American nations are making a point of finalizing trade deals with other nations. And of course, African nations have watched Trump praise the healthcare system of a non-existent African country, and then refer to them as "shithole nations."
And yet, you better believe that Trump fans are unwittingly cheering America's decline every step of the way. Trump represents the worst that America offers, and that is why he is so hated, here and all around the world.
Fake President!
It has been a time of insanity. For sober Americans with any ounce of objectivity, and a knowledge of the dangers of narcissism on a personal and national level, this has been a period of disaster after disaster. The news headlines have been merciless and relentless for the past year now. It seems that not two or three days pass without Trump making some sort of horrible headlines, with someone in the White House, or on FOX, or in the Republican-dominated Congress, or someone else, trying to rationalize his embarrassing and often disgraceful behavior.
How much damage can one man do in one year? Well, Trump made it easier for big polluters to dump in our waters, loosening regulations on that front. He made offshore drilling easier for major corporations, as well, and took away a lot of protected land from the America's National Park, so that once again, a few private citizens or corporations can benefit. He tried to bring coal back, although not surprisingly, he found out that is a lot easier to make promises than to keep them - not that he has ever seemed to mind that. And, of course, he embarrassed the United States by announcing that he would be withdrawing the nation from the Paris Climate Accord, making us stand alone as the only nation to be opposed to it on the grounds that we do not believe enough in climate change to recognize it as a problem, much less do anything about it.
And that was just the environment. The whole world watched, and condemned Trump's environmental policies, which sometimes seemed outright to make a point of making the nation dirties and less healthy. Yet, there were so many other areas where Trump and his administration proved embarrassing. Pope Francis looked positively sick after meeting Trump, judging from the pictures that were published of the two of them after the meeting. Within days of that, several European heads of state, including Angela Merkel, the head of the leading European Union nation, publicly announced that they could no longer view the United States as a reliable ally following their own meetings with the man. Mexico's leader announced that he had cancelled a scheduled meeting at the White House, and Mexico also made trade deals with other nations that are widely viewed as a message that they, too, were sick of Trump and trying to work around the United States, which has been seen increasingly as an obstacle to peace and cooperation.
Through all of that, China has been stepping up in a big way, and generally positioning itself to step into leadership roles that Trump and his administration are essentially giving up for their country. Much of the world has also expressed alarm at the blatant instability and arrogance of the administration, and particularly of Trump himself. After all, this was a man who went before the United Nations, and threatened to wipe another country off the map, and right around International Peace Day no less! This is a man who seems incapable of understanding the significance of defusing tensions around the world, and instead, has to show that he has more power at his disposal, and claims that he is willing and able to use it. I doubt that North Korea's race to get nuclear weapons that could reach American shores would have been quite as relentless had someone else - almost anyone else - been elected to the White House.
Despite Trump's own claims to being a "very stable genius," he has often very publicly displayed his astonishing levels of ignorance, such as when he addressed a meeting of African leaders, and praised the healthcare system of a non-existent African nation. Then, of course, there was the whole "shithole nations" comment, which obviously, the affected countries - African nations, Haiti, and El Salvador - took strong exception to. He then asked why there could not be more immigrants from nations like Norway. But Norwegians enjoy a higher standard of living than Americans. Their education system ranks higher, and they have universal, affordable healthcare, something that we here in the United States do not. They do not have massive numbers of people, numbering in the tens of millions,. behind bars, like we do, because they do not have the for-profit prison system that Americans have. Childcare is more affordable there. They believe in climate change, and their policies reflect that reality. The minimum wage is much higher, and they enjoy a lot more vacation time. In short, there would be very little incentive for Norwegians to migrate to the United States, when they enjoy so many more real-life advantages than Americans have.
Of course, all of that is stuff that has some serious relevance to foreign policy. On the domestic front, Trump has been at least as bad.
Last month, he and the Republican Congress passed a tax bill (many called it, rightly, a "tax scam") that very predictably benefited the wealthiest Americans and corporations, of course. And also not surprisingly, he lied about it, claiming that he was going to lose money on the deal (he won't, obviously). Even some Republican senators, like Marco Rubio, expressed some reserves and/or later regrets that this bill went way too far towards benefiting the most privileged Americans, at the expense of everyone else. After all, someone has to pay for it.
Of course, there have been the episodes with his blatant racism and sexism. He campaigned by claiming that Mexicans were drug dealers, rapists and criminals, and by equating Islam with terrorism. He clearly has not problem with seeing women as sex objects, because he himself has proved this time and time again. Then, of course, he stood by when Nazis were marching on American streets and inciting violence, and claimed that there were some good people among them. And, of course, there was that recent "shithole nations" comment when he referred to countries that were predominately black and Hispanic. He and his team denied racism time and time again, but it does not take much effort to connect the dots, and recognize that the reality of his racism is far more severe than what he claims it is.
Then, there is the lying. The relentless stream of lies and, at best, half-truths, from this administration, which seems to go on all fronts. Anytime that Trump is criticized, he dismisses the source as "fake news," and even labeled the media as an "enemy of the people." Meanwhile, nobody has even approached this man in terms of either the sheer number of lies put forth, or the magnitude of the lies themselves. He promised that he would divorce himself from his businesses, then never did it, and has used the office he now holds for personal profit. He claimed that he would release his tax returns, but he never did. He promised he would make Mexico pay for the wall, but obviously he would never be able to make them do that. He promised he would save the coal industry, but obviously he would not be able to do that. He promised to be the greatest job creating President in American history, but has shown little ability to be that. He promised to work for middle class Americans, yet his first act as President was to make home ownership more difficult and costly for them, and then passed that tax bill that will hurt the middle class in the not too distant future. He promised not to play golf, but has spent pretty much almost every weekend in sunny Florida playing golf, including this weekend as I write this, in the midst of the government shutdown that he claimed his leadership and deal-making abilities would be able to avoid. He demonstrably lied about the size of his election win, and lied about the size of the crowd at his inauguration. He constantly lies about his own popularity, at every opportunity. He lies about his own efficiency, claiming to have passed more bills than any President since Truman, while in fact, he passed the fewest of all Presidents since then.
And those are just a few of his lies! In fact, his lies are simply way too numerous, and too serious, for me to get to here. Frankly, you would need a team of people to be able to identify and dissect all of this man's seemingly countless lies, and the number of lies just keeps growing daily!
Finally, there is the instability factor. He may refer to himself as a "very stable genius," but he has looked like anything but stable or a genius. The White House has looked like a revolving door place of employment. There have been more firings and resignations than any other presidency during that first year in office. There have been more serious charges, as well as criminal indictments, as well. And, of course, there are the seemingly countless ridiculous tweets, which even his political allies consider a liability.
So, with all of that, what do Americans now think of their beloved leader?
Well, according to a Marist poll, a majority of Americans - 53 percent - feel that Trump has failed during his first year in office.
Recently, Panama has tried to get rid of Trump's name on hotels down there. Like it or not, this is what the world thinks of the United States under President Trump. He and his silly supporters can paint it any way they want to. But the United States is already paying a price, and is losing it's leadership status the world over. China keeps stepping in where American leadership used to be strong, and several European leaders have stated outright that they no longer see the United States as a reliable partner. Mexico and other Latin American nations are making a point of finalizing trade deals with other nations. And of course, African nations have watched Trump praise the healthcare system of a non-existent African country, and then refer to them as "shithole nations."
And yet, you better believe that Trump fans are unwittingly cheering America's decline every step of the way. Trump represents the worst that America offers, and that is why he is so hated, here and all around the world.
Fake President!
“We’re going to win. We’re going to win so much. We’re going to win at trade, we’re going to win at the border. We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning, you’re going to come to me and go ‘Please, please, we can’t win anymore.’ You’ve heard this one. You’ll say ‘Please, Mr. President, we beg you sir, we don’t want to win anymore. It’s too much. It’s not fair to everybody else. And I’m going to say ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning, We’re going to make America great again.”
- Donald Trump
Sick of all that winning yet?
If this is "winning," then yes, I sure am sick of it!
These are the articles that I used, and which feel especially relevant, when reviewing Trump's first year in office. Please take a look at these articles:
Trump is doing more to divide the country than unite it, poll says by Laura Santhanam, Politics, Jan 18, 2018:
World's confidence in US leadership under Trump at new low, poll find by Julian Borger in Washington 18 Jan 2018:
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