I’ve been alive long enough to have seen 10 presidents (nine, I can vividly remember). During the tenures of the nine Chief Executives prior to the current one, with the exception of Richard Nixon, I cannot say anyone has been as presumptive, argumentative, racist or audacious a person we know as Donald J. Trump. I try to find some way to translate the actions, inferences or intentions of the current president of the United States of America. The closest I can come to an analogy is that of a rug.

What is a rug? The second definition that Webster’s gives us is “a piece of thick heavy fabric that usually has a nap or pile and is used as a floor covering.” Intellectually, that definition has nothing to do with Trump, but the third-grader in my head easily makes the association.

Suffice it to say, I am not a fan of Donald Trump; as a matter of fact, I am an outright opponent. As such, I found myself wondering (not for long, I might add) why I oppose Trump. For whatever reason, I realized that a rug embodied all of the elements that compose my thoughts whenever his name is mentioned.

Necessity of a Rug

You see, sometimes, you need a rug. It makes the room a bit more cozy or it lessens the squeaky hardwood or it may cover an imperfection in the flooring you may have. I think of Trump in that context. He often uses the rug of illusion to cover an absolute failed attempt at something, say, healthcare reform. He’ll tell you in a heartbeat that “it’s gonna be great, believe me!” Why would I do believe that when he has a proven record of failures in his business pursuits? I don’t need what he’s selling.

Think about how he described his plan to quell ISIS. Remember candidate Trump’s secret plan to defeat the Islamic State? “It’s gonna be great,” he said. And his boast that he knew more than the generals did about the Islamic State (thus implying he’d replace them once in office)? Well, he has turned over to the generals his decision-making authority! To be completely honest (which this so-called president is not going to do), Trump was in over his head on every aspect of this Executive Branch role; he shouldn’t be a hands-on commander-in-chief.

Thinking back to the days of the 2016 campaign, it’s obvious that people needed a lie to believe in. More campaign rhetoric crashing on the rocks of reality: The Trump administration just endorsed the core elements of former President Barack Obama’s counter-Islamic State plan, yet he said “Obama messed everything up.” Now, he’s walking back those imbecilic comments— nearly every day. That is, he’s using a rug to cover up the statements. The only one who needs a rug is Trump.

Walked All Over

I think of how rugs are durable beasts of burden; they get walked all over. Well, America’s poor people are those rugs—getting walked all over. The House Republican health care bill would leave 23 million fewer Americans with health insurance by 2026 than under Obamacare, as reported by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The CBO score triggered another round of negative headlines and more hurdles for Republicans as they look to advance a controversial piece of legislation that was passed in the House. It’s an idiotic proposition that harms a huge portion of their constituency. The CBO also found the bill would reduce deficits by $119 billion compared with Obamacare. But it does so by cutting programs that help poor people, again the ones who get walked all over.

Pulled Out from Under

I think about the 2016 election where then-candidate Hillary Clinton, most presidential among the two final contenders, had the race all but won. But at the last minute—October surprise—had the rug pulled out from under her—plus, nearly 4 million more Americans voted for her than for Trump.

The rug was pulled out from under the Trump voters who believed his claim that his plan to repeal the ACA would be great and “everybody’s going to get healthcare.” Trump has repeatedly demonstrated he doesn’t even understand how healthcare coverage, including Medicaid, and the legislative path toward delivering it (to the American people) works.

The claim of jobs, jobs, jobs. In this country, we’re following his tweets (ridiculous, huh?) He’s spending time deflecting the pressure he’s feeling about Russia, rather than tweeting about a viable strategy for job growth. Over the past year, Trump has claimed he could maintain at least 1,100 of those jobs in the United States. Well, true to Trump’s imitation of a rug, Carrier (his chosen poster-child for saving US jobs) started laying off workers at its Ohio factory on July 20th and will keep slashing staff until approximately 800 factory employees remain.

You wanna talk about pulling the rug from under you? Trump’s bogus “Made in America Week,” the White House effort to celebrate domestic products, only exposed what was under that rug. It appears that the event was simply a clumsy ruse to obscure the fact that virtually none of the clothing lines, fashion accessories or home décor items marketed by either Donald Trump or his daughter Ivanka are actually—well, you know— made in America. Perhaps, Trump’s oblivious to the irony.

He spent the Week gamely promoting U.S.-made products ranging from horseshoes to firetrucks to guitars. “Made in America Week” follows the same general approach of President Ford's WIN buttons (snappy little red-and-white fashion items that stood for "Whip Inflation Now"). In both instances, the Presidents’ employ quick-fix schemes that involved executing campaigns, pretending to do something about problems that they had/have little control over.

Covering Up

Rugs are used to cover up flaws and imperfections. Among the greatest of Trump’s imperfections is his “win” in the 2016 presidential election. Truth is someone else received more votes than Donald Trump. History shows that Donald Trump’s pride is too sensitive to accept any adverse fact on its face. The nation has seen (and heard) that any fact that opposes Trump’s narrative, has to be dissected and re-assembled into a Trump model. Voilà! Trump convened the Election Integrity Commission after claiming on Twitter and in meetings with lawmakers that voter fraud cost him the 2016 popular vote, despite past studies showing voter fraud is exceedingly rare.

If that’s the case, then how did he win? Trump and his proponents will say “election fraud” is the reason. Yet, in the years leading up to 2016, Republican governors and state legislatures implemented new laws restricting when, where, and how people could vote — laws that disproportionately harmed students, the poor, and people of color. In several instances, lawmakers pushing such policies said explicitly that their goal was suppression of voters who favor the Democratic Party.

Well, after the documented evidence of suppressing voters in North Carolina, Wisconsin and Florida, Trump’s taken the lead in conspiring in the cover-up by instituting this commission, filled with a band of voter suppressionists (yeah, I made that up). All three states elected staunchly conservative governors during President Obama’s terms. All three implemented voting restrictions that affect millions of people. President Obama won all three states in 2008, and won all but North Carolina in 2012, while Hillary Clinton lost all three of those states this year. In order to cover the misdeeds of the suppressionists, the aim is to turn the focus to the other extreme.

Just remember that the drafting of the ACA’s repeal bill involved thirteen white men in secret. Who was promised what to come out with such a harmful proposal may never be known.

Lies Like A…

I heard a political analyst say, “The forehead slapping has become a chorus,” when it comes to the drip, drip, drip regarding the Trump team’s possible (that’s NOT my take on it) collusion with Russia in our elections. Lie after lie is being discounted and truths are daily confirmed. Any person with a brain knows what the hell happened.

When I get asked, “How would you sum up your take on Donald Trump?” I think of a rug. I say unequivocally, “He lies like a rug.” That guy is insufferable. He lies for no reason at all. It’s absolutely amazing to me. It’s not like when you were a kid and you thought you’d get a whuppin’ if you got caught! He’s a grown man…what is somebody going to do to him? You can’t help but ask yourself “what is he thinking?”

I read a definitive list of Trump lies that David Leonhardt and Stuart A. Thompson summed up well:

There is simply no precedent for an American president to spend so much time telling untruths. Every president has shaded the truth or told occasional whoppers. No other president — of either party — has behaved as Trump is behaving. He is trying to create an atmosphere in which reality is irrelevant.

And that’s the problem with him. There is no way, anyone with half as brain could follow this leader. He’ll lie to anyone, about anything, at any given time—consequences be damned! Of course, I too live in a fantasy land. I’m hoping that consequences will catch up with him—in sworn testimony. This guy needs to be under oath as he tells his story.

His Tweet storms prove that he’ll lie like a rug; that is, he will fabricate a statement for no good reason. For example, he spoke favorably about Qatar before visiting Saudi Arabia; the day after her returned from his trip, he accused them of harboring terrorists & sided with Saudi Arabia on imposing sanctions against the small land-locked Middle East nation. (Then again, upon arriving back at the White House, he learned that Qatar rejected the half-billion dollar real estate proposal proffered by his favored son-in-law. However, mainstream media opted not to hype this fact; but nonetheless, it could’ve been the impetus for Trump’s change of heart.)

Or, what about what occurred during his recent one-on-one with Russian president Vladimir Putin in which Trump tweeted that the US and Russia agreed to partner on cybersecurity initiatives? WHAT? Within 24 hours, Trump didn’t—as he never does—rescind a statement. Instead, he publishes a contradictory one, never acknowledging the preceding one. …It’s as though you hallucinated. He’s a master at gaslighting: You aren’t seeing what you see or hearing what you hear. (In reality, it’s the backstory that’s missing. In this instance, he listened to his Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, who must’ve asked him, Are you crazy or you can’t be serious?)

What it comes down to is simply this: Think of a rug with each line of rhetoric, whine, bellyache or gaff that Donald Trump spouts before the country or on the world stage. Think of a rug—a laid-to bare mat that in its simplicity compares to the Trump’s astonishingly elementary and simplistic nature. There you have it: our so-called President and his direction for the country reduced to simple one-liners and primary school adjectives—oh, and lies.