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| Here's your only choices. Either he's going deaf and didn't hear the requests to shake hands, or he's incredibly rude. |
Where are we on this strange and terrifying trip on the (gag) Trump administration train?
It's hard to know where to begin, as the train has left the normal tracks of democracy and veered off into hitherto unknown lands, lands filled with multiple dangers and pitfalls, side journeys that have you either shaking in fear, or reviling in disgust.
His tweets are more than absurd distractions. They are vile and atrocious lies, and they hurt and harm. Accusing a former President of wiretapping and being a bad/sad person? Even most Republicans are disgusted by that one. No President has treated an ex-President this way, especially without proof. He gave no thought to the consequences of what he said.
He'll attack the independence of the judiciary. He'll unsettle corporations and cause their stock to go up or down. He'll viciously attack private citizens, from celebrities like Schwarzenegger to Gold Star parents. He doesn't care who he hurts. And those who continue to support him show that they don't care either.
Virtually every contact he has had with foreign leaders has gone awry. The above meeting with Germany's leader. Angela Merkel, was as about an uncomfortable meeting as I've ever seen. Germany has a more tolerant, humane view of refugees, and that is more than the hateful, intolerant Trump can put up with. Under Trump, we are becoming the world's villain. There's no other way to put it.
It infuriates me to see some Republicans, like Paul Ryan, absolutely giddy over the prospect of 24 million people losing healthcare coverage. Their harsh, stupid bill, is not likely to pass, but it is eye-opening to see that their is a solid group in the House who think the bill is not cruel enough, and want to see us draw further back into the lack-of-coverage medical abyss. Meanwhile, Trump is oblivious. He has no idea how our healthcare system works. He just wants to "repeal Obamcare" at any cost, and then TRUMPet its replacement as superior, regardless of what it actually does or how many people it hurts.
The new Muslim Ban is in as much trouble as the first, because you can still smell Trump's bigotry and intolerance all over it. There's no way to get that stink off.
The proposed budget is the most callous and cruelty streaked budget ever. Any program that benefits the poor and much of the middle class has been slashed or eliminated altogether. Meals on Wheels eliminated? Really? Let's solve our massive debt problem by attacking the equivalent of rounding errors.
The EPA is being gutted. For those of you in the local area concerned about the Waycross Cancer Cluster, or the coal ash in Wayne County, or anyone who gives a rip about the contamination of water in places like Flint - SURPRISE! Your vote for Trump has told me that you really don't give a rip.
The gravest crisis the world faces, climate change, is no longer going to get any financial support - no research, no scientific data, no alternative energy. Nothing. The number of deaths this will cause is incalculable.
Education funding is demolished, EXCEPT for additional spending on creating private school alternatives. Our country is founded upon on strong public schools. By degrading them, we are destroying a basic pillar of democracy, and creating a huge blow to diversity and tolerance.
I could go on and on, every area a travesty, but I will point out one more, one that portends horrible things for our near future. The State Department budget is being slashed, primarily in humanitarian areas and in diplomatic outreach. It's going to turn less into a department promoting peaceful cooperation and human rights, and detour into one that will become a tool of corporate interests. Selecting Rex Tillerson, chairman of Exxon as State Department Secretary is no mistake. It shows the nightmarish direction we are going.
Meanwhile, the defense department is skyrocketing. We are replacing the diplomacy of the State Department with the threat of military power. Even Trump's budget director says they are deliberately emphasizing hard power over soft power.
Make no mistake about it. This so-called isolationist, this Amerika Firster, is heading us into war. As a father of a 16 year old. I am angry and worried.
For those of you who think this is about bringing the debt into line, think again. Deficits will still be massive. Eliminating yet even more taxes for the wealthy and large corporations, along with increases in defense spending and idiotic things like THE WALL, will insure us of that.
No, this is only about cruelty, about a philosophy that hates the poor and disadvantaged, that believes government has no place in helping them. This would be true even if we were running surpluses. It's the Ryanesque Ayn Randian philosophy that matters, not the state of US treasury receipts.
Our strange and terrifying trip on the Trump train is just beginning, and there are not enough barf bags in the world to get me through it.
Resist. Protest. Vote.
We may not be able to stop the train, but we can slow it. And pray every day that more and people wake up and go, "Wait! Where the hell are we going? I didn't mean for us to go HERE!"
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