“I am proud to shut down the government. ... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.”
- Donald Trump, December 11, 2018
The Democrats now own the shutdown!
- Donald Trump tweet at 10:07 AM on Dec 21, 2018
“We are in a shutdown because Democrats refuse to fund border security.”
- Donald Trump, January 2, 2019
"At this point it has become their, and the Democrats, fault!"
- Donald Trump tweet at 4:26 AM on 14 Jan 2019
The government shutdown is now into the 27th day, with no end in sight. Democrats declined an invitation by Trump to discuss ending the shutdown, as this never-ending government shutdown, which already stands as the longest government shutdown in history, will soon enter into a fifth week.
All this winning. Indeed, if this is the kind of winning that Trump had in mind, many of us are indeed asking him to please stop with all of this "winning." But, as he promised, he is insisting on continuing this "winning."
Yes, it's the Donald Trump show, which started somewhere in 2015 when he first announced his candidacy for the White House, and then got official status in November of 2016, when he won the presidential elections.
Since then, it is a television show that we cannot turn off from. The clown act can be obnoxious, irritating, and disgusting. But we cannot seem to tune out from it, since giving the clown the official status as face and voice of the nation lends him an official credibility that he has never shown himself worthy of.
In previous episodes, Trump embarrassed himself and the nation that he supposedly leads by seemingly siding with Nazis, by denying climate change and pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord, by pulling out of the Iran Nuclear deal, by referring to dozens of countries, and hundreds of millions of people living in those countries, as "shithole nations," by playing golf most weekends after promising that he would have no time to play golf once he became president. This is the same man who suggested that Muslims should have a national registry, and that he would make Mexico pay for the wall ("Mark my words!" he insisted). Here is exactly what he said in his June 16, 2015 speech at Trump Tower announcing his candidacy for the presidency:
“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
Now, of course, Americans are paying for the wall. That much is clear. There would be no government shutdown if Trump had actually forced Mexico to pay for the wall, like he promised to make them do. But Trump is offering excuses, and claiming that he never actually meant what he said, that Mexico would indeed pay for the wall:
“When during the campaign, I would say ‘Mexico is going to pay for it,’ obviously, I never said this, and I never meant they’re gonna write out a check, I said they’re going to pay for it. They are."
“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
Now, of course, Americans are paying for the wall. That much is clear. There would be no government shutdown if Trump had actually forced Mexico to pay for the wall, like he promised to make them do. But Trump is offering excuses, and claiming that he never actually meant what he said, that Mexico would indeed pay for the wall:
“When during the campaign, I would say ‘Mexico is going to pay for it,’ obviously, I never said this, and I never meant they’re gonna write out a check, I said they’re going to pay for it. They are."
Trump is insisting that Mexico is indeed paying for the wall. But if that is the case, why is the wall not built already? Why is it at least not in the process of being built? Why is there a government shutdown in place that is hurting real people in order to pay for the wall that he insisted he would make Mexico pay for, but is now backing down and trying to explain how he did not really mean it.
Last month during a meeting with Democrats that he insisted be televised, he claimed that he would be proud to take full responsibility for a government shutdown one day, and insisted that he will not pin blame on the Democrats. Then, less than two weeks later he exclusively pins the blame exclusively on the Democrats. he says that he will create a national registry of Muslims, then this quietly goes away when he apparently finds out that it is unconstitutional to do so. He promises to make Mexico pay for the wall, and now, we are all paying for it. Trash is piling up literally now, and I am not talking about the crap coming from the White House. People are forced to go without a paycheck, and having to seek out unemployment just to pay their bills. Meanwhile, billionaire Trump claims that his wall is a "higher purpose" than the paychecks that many working Americans need to live. Once again, Trump offers his words for why people are suffering so that he can have his vanity wall:
“So this really does have a higher purpose than next week’s pay. And the people that won’t get next week’s pay, or the following week’s pay — I think if you ever really looked at those people, I think they’d say, Mr. President, keep going. This is far more important.”
Do you think Trump fans, by and large, are going to hold him to task, to put his feet to the fire? I would be willing to bet anything that they are not, that they will insist that they, too, understood what he meant all along. Whatever he says, however many times he contradicts himself or is caught red-handed in a lie, they simply accept his rationale for it, and move on with their unwavering support of him.
A majority of Americans, however, do not simply take his word at face value. In recent polls taken by CNN, about 32 percent of Americans - his base support, in other words - agreed with Trump, and blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown. Most Americans, however, blamed Trump himself. The same poll revealed that 55 percent of Americans blamed Trump for the current government shutdown.
Those are not the kinds of numbers that are very comforting, because almost everyone should see by now that Trump is fully responsible for the shutdown. He himself admitted it, even if, just like with his earlier insistence that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, he is now changing his argument. This man is a con artist, and we are seeing the proof that he is conducting this most important position with typical scams to try and pull the wool over on people, and benefit himself in the process. And his blind supporters are lock and step with him no matter what he says or does, and no matter how much his version of "winning" resembles embarrassing losses for Americans as a people, and the United States as a nation.
Last month during a meeting with Democrats that he insisted be televised, he claimed that he would be proud to take full responsibility for a government shutdown one day, and insisted that he will not pin blame on the Democrats. Then, less than two weeks later he exclusively pins the blame exclusively on the Democrats. he says that he will create a national registry of Muslims, then this quietly goes away when he apparently finds out that it is unconstitutional to do so. He promises to make Mexico pay for the wall, and now, we are all paying for it. Trash is piling up literally now, and I am not talking about the crap coming from the White House. People are forced to go without a paycheck, and having to seek out unemployment just to pay their bills. Meanwhile, billionaire Trump claims that his wall is a "higher purpose" than the paychecks that many working Americans need to live. Once again, Trump offers his words for why people are suffering so that he can have his vanity wall:
“So this really does have a higher purpose than next week’s pay. And the people that won’t get next week’s pay, or the following week’s pay — I think if you ever really looked at those people, I think they’d say, Mr. President, keep going. This is far more important.”
Do you think Trump fans, by and large, are going to hold him to task, to put his feet to the fire? I would be willing to bet anything that they are not, that they will insist that they, too, understood what he meant all along. Whatever he says, however many times he contradicts himself or is caught red-handed in a lie, they simply accept his rationale for it, and move on with their unwavering support of him.
A majority of Americans, however, do not simply take his word at face value. In recent polls taken by CNN, about 32 percent of Americans - his base support, in other words - agreed with Trump, and blamed the Democrats for the government shutdown. Most Americans, however, blamed Trump himself. The same poll revealed that 55 percent of Americans blamed Trump for the current government shutdown.
Those are not the kinds of numbers that are very comforting, because almost everyone should see by now that Trump is fully responsible for the shutdown. He himself admitted it, even if, just like with his earlier insistence that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall, he is now changing his argument. This man is a con artist, and we are seeing the proof that he is conducting this most important position with typical scams to try and pull the wool over on people, and benefit himself in the process. And his blind supporters are lock and step with him no matter what he says or does, and no matter how much his version of "winning" resembles embarrassing losses for Americans as a people, and the United States as a nation.
Here are the articles that I used in writing this blog entry, including all of the quotes used above:
Trump Campaigned on Mexico Paying for the Wall. Now He Says He 'Obviously' Didn't Mean It by Tara Law, January 10, 2019:
Donald Trump is the world’s worst
negotiator by Paul Waldman Opinion writer covering politics, January 10, 2019:
Trump blames Democrats for shutdown, Americans blame Trump by Katelyn Caralle | January 14, 2019:
Trump uses his thumb to point.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) National Trump: My wall is a ‘higher purpose than next week’s pay’ for workers By Oliver Willis - January 4, 2019:
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