Donald Trump seems to make history quite frequently. He stunned most experts by winning the 2016 presidential election, even after most of the pundits and so-called experts had dismissed him and his campaign.
Perhaps he should be given some credit for managing that, when few people (Michael Moore comes to mind) thought that was really possible. Since then, however, Trump has continued to make history, but in so many wrong ways. He generated all sorts of controversy and headlines (sometimes, I suspect that he just wants to make headlines, regardless of whether they are perceived as good or bad by most) during his highly controversial four years in office. He pulled the United States out of the Paris Accord, and suspended a number of existing treaties between the United States and other countries, particularly Russia and Iran. He seemed almost to go out of his way to provoke hostile relations with nations which traditionally were viewed as allies, particularly in western Europe (most notably Germany). And there were numerous incidents (insulting Mexican immigrants, a proposed ban on immigration from Muslim countries, having difficulty condemning the actions of outright Nazis and white supremacists, dismissing dozens of African and South American countries as "shithole nations" and holding up Norway as the ideal kind of country from which to take in immigrants), and then, during the 2020 campaign, posting a video briefly of a Trump supporter yelling out "White Power!" before that was taken down). Since leaving office, he has continued with such controversies, recently claiming that he would be a dictator on "day one" of his second term, and also recently posting a video promising a "unified Reich."
That latest story happened, allegedly, due to an honest mistake. Perhaps it did. But you really have to wonder why these "honest mistakes" that sure seem to lend credence to the notion of the Trump cult having a racist bent keep happening to him and his campaign. After all, despite allegations of racism with other presidents, including Richard Nixon (who some outright referred to as a Nazi), Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, absolutely none of them seemed to continually have these kinds of bizarre mishaps that Trump, or Trump's campaign, seems to regularly have. It makes you almost think that someone (perhaps Trump himself) is gambling on doing these things in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator among his supporters. After all, it clearly does not seem to bother Trump or anyone on his campaign to get endorsements from blatantly racist organizations like the KKK or other white nationalist groups or individuals. And it's so easy to deny and claim that it was all some kind of a mistake or misunderstanding.
Or perhaps I have just grown too cynical in my old age. Admittedly, I am especially cynical of Donald J. Trump.
Then again, in my defense, why wouldn't I be? In fact, my question is why in the hell more people aren't more skeptical of Trump?
This is a man who became infamous for his scams. And really, why wouldn't he be? After all, they have taken him very far indeed. Farther than most of us would have believed possible. So of course he has continued to make a name for himself as the ultimate con artist, the true master at that particular art. Unless, that is, you believe that Trump University, Trump Airlines, Trump Magazine, Trump Steaks, and Trump Vodka. He proclaims to be a business genius, yet he ran a freaking casino into the ground. I wouldn't have believed that to have even been possible, yet Trump somehow managed it, against all odds.
Many of his supporters feel that is part of his genius. That declaring bankruptcy showed just how he could manipulate the system for his benefit. Then they believed him, when he proclaimed that he would do the same for this country. But you cannot so easily get away with declaring bankruptcy for an entire nation, let alone one as huge and economically powerful as the United States.
Still, his supporters believed. He claimed that the United States would just keep winning under him. That in fact, people would get so tired of the United States winning, that they would come to him and beg him to stop, but he would refuse, and would keep the country on track for more winning.
Personally, I think he simply misspelled "whining." Because yeah, we sure got a lot of whining from Trump and his supporters, ever since his political rise.
Trump's loyal supporters have really become a problem. They deny the obvious, and facts do not seem to matter to them, much like they never seemed to matter to Trump himself. When he promised to build the wall, and then failed to do it, they were not bothered. He promised to "drain the swamp," but never followed through. He promised to lock Hillary up, but didn't do it. He promised to divorce himself from his businesses, and conveniently changed his mind when the time came. He promised to pay off the national debt in eight years, and instead, added over 25% to the national debt in his four years, with such policies as yet more tax breaks and incentives for the wealthiest Americans. He promised to create a wonderful and tremendous national healthcare system that would cover everybody and be affordable, and even went so far as to suggest this would be easy. Then he lifted not a finger to actually make that happen.
Finally, there was a little bit of accountability for Trump, once he actually took office. Some people blasted him for his lies and broken promises. He was indeed probably scrutinized like no other president before, but frankly, this was deserved. After all, he brought it on himself. This was a man who was impeached not once, but twice, which was a new kind of history that no president actually wants to make.
Still, this man keeps getting away with it. He lost the 2020 election, yet millions upon millions of Americans believe him when he claims that it was a widespread fraud, that he actually won, despite a lack of evidence. He kept claiming it, and put pressure on election officials. He was recorded saying that they simply needed to "find 11,780" weeks after the election ended. He and his campaign claimed to have all sorts of irrefutable proof of the widespread election fraud in front of television cameras, but then bent over backwards in each of the 62 court cases to make it clear that they were not arguing "massive voter fraud."
Again, talk about scams. Trump, and those around him, are the masters.
Then, there was his role in January 6th. He addressed a massive crowd of clearly disgruntled supporters, and directed them to the Capitol building, urging them to be strong in order to "take back the country." They went to Capitol Hill, and there was violence when they stormed inside. Frankly, I still look at that as an actual coup attempt.
Yet through all of this, it seems that Trump always, always, always seems to get away with it. The most he ever seems to get is a slap on the wrist.
Earlier today, however, finally there was something. Trump made history again. The wrong kind (again). Trump was convicted on all counts in the New York trial, thus becoming the first sitting or former president to be convicted of a crime.
Some people, including those presumably on the fence for this upcoming election, apparently voiced their sentiment that if Trump was indeed convicted, that this would alter their vote.
This just makes official what most of us, especially his detractors (which includes yours truly) have pretty much always known: that this man is a scam artist who simply manages to keep getting away with it.
Frankly, I would have preferred if this was a more serious and substantive case, like the election interference case in Georgia, or holding him accountable for his attempted coup attempt on January 6th, or the theft of sensitive national security documents. Still, I hold out a little bit of hope that maybe this might wake up enough people to Trump's true nature. Certainly, I do not think that this clinches it, that now, he will surely lose. That would be falling into the trap of dismissing and underestimating him, which many, many people (including myself, especially early in the 2016 campaign, before he actually won the Republican nomination) have already done. We need to learn our lessons from that collectively. But I do hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, enough people are turned off by this that it will cost him the election.
At the very least, it makes official that Trump truly is a unique (in the very worst sense of the word) case. He is the only president in American history who is a convicted criminal.
Now there's a title that truly suits him. And it should live on in history. Frankly, that should be his forever legacy, once he is finally, thankfully gone, and the threat to American democracy that he poses along with it.
Let's hope that finally, this costs him the upcoming election.
LIVE: Donald Trump guilty on all counts in historic criminal trial NOW PLAYINGNOW PLAYING VIDEO FORMER PRESIDENT GUILTY IN HISTORIC TRIAL FROM BBC NEWSFormer President Guilty In Historic TrialBBC News 21,205 21,205 viewing this page With Kayla Epstein, Madeline Halpert, Gary O'Donoghue, and Nada Tawfik reporting from court in New York, BBC News, 30 May, 2024:
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-us-canada-69069142
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