America’s Nemesis – Trump (#215)

As one watches the daily turbulence and turmoil in America generated by one man alone, the President of the United State, Donald J. Trump, enabled by the morally challenged Republicans, one cannot but help but think the Americans deserve the government they currently have, one that widens the rich and poor gap, penalizes the poor in favor of giving advantages to the wealthy, strips consumer protection, allow greater destruction of the environment, won’t act on common sense solutions to control horrific gun violence, and will tolerate a chaotic President and his administration that is governing the U.S. tantamount to a catastrophic, purposeful and prolonged train wreck. The remaining credibility of the U.S. is rapidly on the wane with this government, so much of it earned after the Second World War, was lost after Vietnam and Iraq, and after the Financial Crisis perpetrated by runaway corruption in the financial sector, pre-2008 crisis.

Now, in this dysfunctional government, hijacked by Donald Trump, there has been a steady stream of exits from the Trump administration practically from the day of Trump’s Inauguration as the 45th President of the United States. The turnover has apparently broken all records and surpassed any previous administration’s exoduses during the same time period.

It started with the abrupt departure of National Security Advisor Retd. General Michael Flynn for lying, which was a fitting tone for this President and his White House that has distinguished itself for being untruthful. The number of high profiled and positioned people that have quit or been fired from the White House or this administration are far too many to list here, and there are others, it is said, that are rumoured to be leaving soon. How did such a destructive person come to be the President of the United States is a question for political pundits and historians to dissect forever, but what is amply clear, is, the U.S. is already viewed with distrust by its closest allies, and is viewed with amusement and scorn by Vladimir Putin and Russia as they hold Trump hostage with their investments in his buildings, and Trump holds America hostage.

President Obama was just too cerebral, methodical, diplomatic, ‘socialist’ and 'Off-White'; that to a lot of Americans and especially to the Republicans, was simply too un-American to tolerate. So to prevent even a semblance of continuity, the Republicans so completely destroyed Hillary Clinton with relentless and vicious attacks (with the help of Russia) that all possibilities of normal governance were effectively eliminated, and a time of radical upheaval was facilitated. Now the caricature of the brash, self-absorbed, bullying America that most Americans accept as the true America, has gotten them Donald Trump (an American in their own image) but considering the chaos he is unleashing, perhaps it is more than they bargained for.

As the single undisputed economic and military 'Super Power' of the World since the demise of the Soviet Union some three decades ago, America is used to being brash, confident, impatient, and frankly a bully, arbitrarily invading other countries and undertaking regime and ideology changes, installing and removing dictators at will, economically strangling countries that didn’t match or suit their interests with arms, economic and diplomatic sanctions (e.g. Cuba, Iran, and North Korea), and generally dictating terms and conditions that were in America’s interest regardless of international sentiment or even international law, because it was in America’s interest to do so (too many countries to mention).

Obama was intelligent and confident but definitely not a pushy bullying-type (he preferred diplomacy to bombing and negotiations to dictates, and a win-win to the currently preferred win-lose mentality) and started to restore America’s non-threatening standing in the World - and that simply had to be changed.

A thoughtful, gentler, kinder America does not sit well with a lot of ‘real’ Americans who consider sensitivity as a human being, tantamount to being a giant wussy. In fact to get elected in America, a candidate has to prove they are aggressive enough by talking tough, just like teenagers trying to join a juvenile gang; and they have to reassure their constituents of their commitment to the Second Amendment, and their love of guns.

Donald Trump perfectly fits that bill, because as an adult hardly anyone loves talking tough as much as Donald Trump does (running into a school shooting with bare hands etc.) and as far as being sensitive he is closer to being a brick, and that is just fine with 85% of Republicans that still think he is doing a good job, regardless of his daily jaw-dropping stumbles.

So under Trump and the ‘over-the-moon’ Republicans, the grossly bloated Defence Budget (more than the next 5-6 countries combined) has been substantially boosted so that the wars that Obama tried to wind down can be wound back up. More troops are to be sent to the Middle East hot spots, including Syria, and to Afghanistan, where the resurgent Taliban are to be better controlled, forever, as they cannot be beaten, like the Vietcong. And of course continuing involvement in Yemen was assured after the first mission of Trump’s, upon being elected, when he tried to outdo Obama’s Osama Bin Laden raid into Pakistan, with the Yemeni raid, but instead of accomplishing anything noteworthy, America suffered the death of a young American Navy Seal, for the simple death and destruction caused - ‘on both sides’.

Now daily rumours of a possible pre-emptive attack on a nuclear armed North Korea are part of the course of the Trump White House. And to up the ante, in response to the belligerent Trump rhetoric, Putin and Russia have just added their own, with claims of ‘invincible nuclear armed missiles’ that cannot be intercepted by American defence systems. Great! More threats, nuclear arms races with multiple countries, international wars and rumours of wars – and end of the World 'Armageddon Clock' ever closer to midnight – it seems, the ‘real’ America is back.

On the economic front Trump was handed a steadily improving U.S. and global economy by Obama, who had saved it from total collapse in 2009, and at the time of the handover had achieved historically low inflation rate, historically low unemployment rate, historically low interest rates, and a 7 year ‘bull’ stock market. Trump took all the benefits of Obama’s 8 years of outstanding management and leadership skills, and rebuked and insulted him from the day of his ill fated (for America) Inauguration. And to cement his image of being the crassest person, Trump has been taking frequent, loud, and sole credit for the positives of the economy, low unemployment rates and the record setting stock markets (till they drop), without even a nod to the continuation of his predecessor’s work and trends in all those areas that had been verifiably evident.

Now that his rash rhetoric, unreliable and chaotic policy positions, coupled with his most recent idiotic stances and statements, such as ‘trade wars are good and easy to win’ lunacies, are tanking the stock markets and causing his own Republican Party shills to have apoplectic fits, Trump is about to prove what has been in speculation in the past months that this President is dangerously unfit to be the President, and has the skill sets of a snake-oil salesman.

Yet there he is, and quite likely to stay with the help of the equally insane Republicans who have so far backed him in spite of all his destructive actions that has made their beloved America practically unrecognizable from a third rate Banana Republic with a corrupt elite that have sold out to special interests, and are subservient to a compulsive liar, and a comically self-absorbed sociopathic leader that pretends to care but is busy destroying the very country he has been elected to safeguard. But as things start coming to a head, as they certainly seem to be doing lately, it will cost the Republicans dearly to have been hypocritical and callous enough to sell out America to Trump and his Russian backers. By not pressing Trump to take punitive actions against Russia which clearly is damaging America internally and externally, the Republicans are complicit with Trump in selling out to Putin.

Since Trump’s election, America has alienated allies, broken, or withdrawn from, international agreements, thrown a spanner into global trade with the U.S., shaken the steady rise of the economy and the stock markets, goaded North Korea into accelerating their nuclear and missile program, alienated Palestinians and the Muslim World by promising to move their Israel Embassy to Jerusalem, constantly threatened Iran even though Iran has been fully compliant with the Nuclear Agreement, challenged China on trade and hegemony in South Seas issues, encouraged divisions in the Country, white supremacy, anti-Semitism and racial hatred, caused whole sale damage to the American Intelligence Agencies, and insulted and disparaged them over Russia, and protected Putin and Russia from Congress and Senate approved additional economic sanctions. In spite of all this damage already done, Trump is just starting to dismantle, divide and destroy America. Good luck to our fellow Americans, we will all certainly need it to survive Trump. America’s Nemesis – Trump.

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