The Tweeter and the Damage Done
I grew up in the age of the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. I was in the 4th grade during the Cuban missile crisis. I participated in the “duck and cover” drills that did nothing to protect us and scared the crap out of all of us. During all those years, the guy sitting in the Oval Office was cautious; calculating; surrounded by foreign relations and defense experts. As a young boy, I feared the Russians and depended on Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and HW Bush to protect us. In the years since the Soviet Union collapsed and the arms race waned, I didn’t think too much about nuclear weapons or war, nor did most Americans.
Then came Trump. The Reality Show President loves to stir the pot to stay at the top of the news cycle. He insults television stars, politicians, foreign leaders, and everyone who gets in the way. He spends hours a day watching Fox Noise, then tweeting out advertisements for the network on an hourly basis. And he brags. He brags on himself in a continuous stream, takes credit for everything from the stock market to airline safety and loves to saber rattle. He’s now in a twitter war with Kim Jong Un arguing over nuclear button size.
Jesus. As my spouse said just this morning, “I used to worry about nuclear weapons launched by other countries. I now worry about my own.” No truer words were ever spoken. We are now being threatened with nuclear war by our own goddam president. He thinks this is a reality television episode, where he wins by vanquishing his foes. This lunatic has shaken the American psyche, and certainly the world, to the core.
Joe Biden said in October that, “Violating the norms of personal conduct generates more anxiety and fear than any policy prescription that this president has enunciated. Sending his Secretary of State to talk with North Korea and saying he’s on a fool’s errand… it is absolutely bizarre. It’s bizarre conduct.” And this is the problem; the job of the President of the United States is to give comfort to its citizens. It’s to calm fears; instill confidence in the electorate in times of trouble. The problem with THIS president, though, is that he couldn’t care less about you, me, or anyone else for that matter. Trump uses the office of president as a giant funnel to fill his needy ego and his wallet. If that means stirring up long-dormant fears of nuclear wars, so be it. If it involves childish name calling and bullying, no problem.
We are on a path of certain long term damage to our democracy, if not worse. The glib references to nuclear war keep the entire globe on edge. This behavior hurts everyone, including Trump. It’s time for Congress or the Cabinet to stand on their hind legs and get this guy out of there before he burns down the planet.
Agreed! Why bother keeping this jerk around? The Rethugs finally got what they wanted most – the tax package. Hence, the value of the Golden Gibbon is minus zero. There is really no good reason to keep him around. Congress returns to the Hill in its entirety by this weekend. Lets hope the Rethugs have grown a communal pair and deals with this useless cud of DNA.
1“And this is the problem; the job of the President of the United States is to give comfort to its citizens. It is to calm fears; instill confidence in the electorate in times of trouble.”
Without Donald Trump, there wouldn’t be all this trouble to fear. He and those who follow his instructions have gone out of their way to pick fights with several foreign countries, particularly North Korea. He seems to be determined to start a war somewhere, presumably to shore up his waning popularity, even among his base, while stripping the country of diplomats who might make foreign leaders less likely to respond with weapons instead of words. He doesn’t know, or doesn’t understand, how easily armed conflict can be come nuclear war in the situation he seems to be trying to create.
Unfortunately for the US and the rest of the world, Trump thrives on chaos and gets his way through fear. This is all he knows, and, so far throughout his life, it has worked for him. He is utterly unfit for the office he holds–or any other.
2“Path of long term damage to our Democracy”
3It’s a path we’ve been traveling for decades.
I know I’m repeating myself, but Donnie Douchebag is just the logical product of the evolution of the repugnantcan party. He’s the poster boy for what so-called conservatives have been pushing for a generation. But the more that historical evidence refuses to validate their economic ideologies, the more they have to rely on naked aggression disguised as strength. Remember Moral Bankruptcy? It knows no categories.No more pretending to show American strength for the sake of world security. That’d just demonstrate weakness and vulnerability. “F**k with the bull, and you get the horn” best describes our current foreign policyCompassionate conservatism is for cowards. Same message without softening around the edges. Make no mistake. Donald Trump is Ronald Reagan without the misdirection.
There was supposed to be a period between policy and Compassionate. Sorry.
4Hillary tried to tell us that “he doesn’t have the temperament to be President.” What an understatement. Trump should have been jailed decades ago and we can only pray he’s indicted/impeached before the entire world is choking to death under a nuclear cloud. Keep those cuffs handy.
5Hmmm
I thought there were two traditional jobs of the POTUS, to “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States” and to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” With the later IM>HO the more important.
6Just met someone in my mom’s rehab center whose cousin worked on Wall Street in the 80s and 90s and knew Trump personally. Egotistical and dumb was his description. Now add dementia and how am I not surprised?
7I don’t want to cause any trouble, but if carrying a legal firearm requires a background check, what about the guy who can send nuclear bombs? There should be something?
8@Carol Davis
“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”
9Article Two, Clause 5.
@Micr. That’s just who can be President, not who can send nuclear bombs!
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