August 18, 2019
Sometimes I think clearer when I’m on the back of my horse, Hubris, than when I am sitting at my desk in front of a blank computer screen. Maybe it’s the fact that looking at the world from a position on top of the mid-section of a horse and seeing the path ahead between your horse’s ears is more ‘reality based’ than sitting in an office chair looking at that blank computer screen? Whatever the reason, when I feel a bit of ‘writer’s block’, I saddle up Hubris and away we go—whatever the time of day or the climate conditions! Hubris seems to know when I’m conflicted and he picks the trails we follow and returns to the corral almost as if on a pre-filed flight plan with everything including the touch-down/dismount in the corral on auto-pilot. How’s that for a mixed metaphor? Only an ‘x’ cowboy and instrument rated ‘x’ pilot who put in hundreds of hours at or about 18K ft., ASL, on cross country flight plans, could come up with that one! My ‘problem’ this week is that our fearless and freckles President, Donald Trump, has done so much really stupid stuff that I don’t know where to start this week’s blog!
So, rather than write about his Twitter ‘tweets’, or rants against immigrants, or braggadocio about how wonderful his negotiating skills are (at least they are wonderful in his own mind!), or why in spite of the economic chaos he is causing, everybody is going to have to vote for him in 2020, I’m going to concentrate this week’s review of “The Trump Factor in the Decline and Possible Fall of the American Democracy” on Trump’s Republican Party Support Group and his select(ed) group of key government department leaders. I can’t help the fact that a marine analogy came instantly to mind as I was typing that last sentence: the able seamen are resigning their positions (or considering a mutiny) and the rats are leaving a sinking ship. Note: the only maritime experience I can claim is having built and raced my own sailboat, an 18’ 6” long X 6’ beam Y-Flyer, racing scow type, which took a crew of two to handle it.
Have you noticed how many republican congresspersons are declaring their retirement from office? Isn’t it strange to hear some of the republican members of our congress questioning the sanity and competence of their republican President? Who is counting the number of truly capable men or women who have resigned from very critical and very important department staff leadership positions because of the interference from or policy disagreements with the very person who appointed them? One of my favorites resigned his position with the exclamation, “He (Trump) is a total idiot!” I don’t think it’s necessary to have anybody count the number of totally inept and/or incompetent persons who have voluntarily taken themselves off of the proposed leadership position of some key government department rather than face the scrutiny of a congressional approval committee. And worse, how many totally incompetent or backward thinking persons has Trump appointed to key staff positions with the obvious intent of reversing his predecessor’s laws regarding the environment, public lands, or consumer protection laws? How many times in our recent (100 year) political history has the party in power started or even mentioned considering a nomination contest to replace a sitting President for a coming presidential election? I had almost given up hope that the party of Abe Lincoln would come to its’ senses! Now I see faint glimmers of light coming through the tunnel of darkness and despair caused by the crazy fool who was elected on a populist agenda but has operated on the principles of lust, avarice and greed of his fellow elitist 1%‘ers ever since his election. If ever a person elected to the office of President of the United States of America has proven his incompetence to warrant that position it is Donald Trump. Now, I’m going go out on my favorite limb and predict that ‘the Donald’ will resign from the office of President before he is impeached or has to face the possibility of losing in the 2020 election. That way he will be able to continue to proclaim his greatness and that he was the victim of a terrible democrat-socialist conspiracy to steal the presidency from him.
I was thinking about inviting about a dozen physiatrists to provide their assessment of the mental dysfunction syndrome or syndromes of our President but I was afraid they would want to be paid for their work (or diagnoses) and, quite frankly, I could neither afford to do that or truly believe that my readers would benefit from my doing so. Perhaps that would make a great article for the Sunday Review section of the New York Times or Washington Post? (David Brooks or Mark Shields, are you listening?). In my very first written assessment of Mr. Trump I called him a bully, bragger, liar, chauvinist, and a con-man. I didn’t miss (in my assessment) by much although I didn’t realize that he was a man driven by hatred of ‘others’ and totally devoid of agape love for his fellow man. I suspect that a professional in psychiatry would explain to me that the basic nature of a bully is personal insecurity and the only way the bully can feel important is by demeaning others. If so, Donald Trump has proven that the ‘bully characteristic’ is ‘his’ –in spades!
Now, the major remaining mystery is why Trump’s rock steady support group of about 35% of our electorate is standing firm behind him. I think I’ll save my answer to that question for a later blog. It deserves serious attention and consideration. Right now, I’m going to saddle up Hubris and with a hearty shout of Hi Ho Hubris, Aawaay! I’ll be off to clear my head and get ready for another week of the adventures of “Donald Trump—the American Democracy Destroyer!”
Lou
Copyright August 18, 2019, Louis J. Christen