Among
the worst insults one can receive is being thought of as a liar. That
insult is made doubly worse when the one making the accusation is
himself a liar. Each week since January 20, 2017, so-called
President Donald Trump has insulted the American public with lie
after lie. In the current controversy over professional football
players protesting during the playing of the national anthem at NFL
games, Trump is doing more than asserting “alternative facts”
(which by the way, there’s no such thing…maybe
additional facts, but not alternative facts), he’s putting on
his magician’s hat again and telling stories that don’t
exist—nothing more than fables about the effectiveness of his
position against NFL players protesting.
Although
this commentary isn’t focused specifically on the NFL Player
Anthem Protests, I do want to demonstrate the faux-magic of this
so-called president. Trump, in an interview with "Fox &
Friends," said that NFL owners are “afraid” to act
against their players protesting the national anthem and the flag at
games across the country. Though there’s absolutely no proof
to back that up (and yes, they should be), Trump puts an
opinion out as if it is what he says it is. And of course, let’s
not forget the words of former president Bill Clinton: “It
depends on what the definition of is, is.” Trump is what it
isn’t.
An
assumption asserted without evidence is the epitome of a lie, as one
could reasonably assume. He seems to think that because he happens
to sit in the office of The Presidency, anything he says will carry
the weight of authoritative truth. “The NFL is in a box and
they have to do something about it,” Trump told Fox News' Pete
Hegseth, in the interview. They don’t have to do
anything…they haven’t, have they?
“I
think they’re afraid of their players, if you want to know the
truth,” Trump said. (By the way, I hate when people top a
statement off with “…if you want to know the truth?”
What would make someone think I wouldn’t want to know
the truth…have you been lying to me prior to this moment?)
Trump reiterated that the NFL has a wide range of rules, suggesting
the league should apply new rules to those who would protest the
anthem by kneeling. I really wish Trump would focus on being a
credible human being and not chime into the business affairs of
others.
“They
have rules for everything—you can’t dance in the end
zone, you can’t wear pink socks relative to breast cancer—they
have rules for everything,” the president told Hegseth, a “Fox
& Friends” weekend co-host and Fox News political analyst.
Does this fool realize, those “can’ts” he refers to
have nothing to do with the players’ reason for protesting in
the first place: being “legally” killed by fellow
Americans? Why would anyone be patriotic over that?
Look,
the aftermath of the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico should’ve
convinced anyone in this country with a pulse and a functioning brain
that this man will piss on your head and tell you it’s raining.
It took his administration 11 days—and an avalanche of
socio-political criticism to respond to Puerto Rico’s misery.
But how did the male in the top hat respond? “Puerto Rico
wants everything done for them,” he remarked and also oblivious
to the backlash of even more criticism—further despise to boot.
Puerto
Rico’s public debt has ballooned because of a failing economy
and an inefficient government that has spent more than it has taken
in for years, often borrowing to close the gap.
Much
of the borrowing is in the form of municipal bonds. As the size of
the debt grew, so did the complexity, with some branches of
government issuing bonds on behalf of others, or backstopping each
others’ debts, until it became nearly impossible to keep track
of it all. Even then, demand for Puerto Rico’s bonds was strong
because they pay interest that is tax-exempt in all jurisdictions.
And
to top it all off, the vulture capitalists who “loaned”
Puerto Rico money, charged the craziest interest and the most
impossible terms of re-payment, leaving the island depleted. But of
course, that fact gets lost in the sauce. In addition, Puerto Rico
owes billions more in pensions to retired public workers.
But
in comes Trump magic…The administration said, “This is a
‘good news’ story.” The mayor of San Juan, Carmen
Yulin Cruz said just the opposite: “This is not a ‘good
news story.” Rather than tell the truth, Trump, as if on cue,
talked about the debt that Puerto Rico owes to vulture capitalists?
What’s that got to do with emergency response to the crisis?
It presents just another diversion from the truth as he patted
himself on the back.
Donald
Trump is contrast to the alpha male, yet portrays himself as such.
Never played football, never served in the military and probably
scared shitless of a gun, but that’s the magician in him. Any
male dominance he might possess comes from the business end of a
dollar bill and a gift from his disgraced father. Does he think he
can wave his “I’m the president” fairy dust and
we’ll believe the magic? This weekly occurrence is so utterly
insulting!
What
should be of high concern to Trump supporters and the
nail-in-the-coffin for those who aren’t, is the “double-down,
stand your ground, piss-on-your-head-and-tell-you-it’s-raining”
behavior of a senior citizen “elected” as the leader of
the “free world. Even after being strongly criticized and
reprimanded by members of his own party (is it really though?), we
find him days later continuing his attacks on the very people who
needed—and are entitled to—his assistance and leadership
(even if it’s not his) in the first place! This so-called
President Trump continues to praise his administration’s
response to the humanitarian crisis in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico
— and dismiss his critics as ungrateful! This guy is
un-damned-believable!
“We
have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto
Rico,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets early Sunday. Why is
patting yourself on the back the important thing here? If this isn’t
the most childishly egotistical behavior I’ve ever seen…
Then,
true to form, the magician in Trump goes on the attack—as if
that’s an admirable characteristic. “Outside of the Fake
News or politically motivated ingrates, people are now starting to
recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great
Military. All buildings now inspected for safety.”
Trump
added: “Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those
who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job!”
Funny
how Trump goes on his Asian trip and his “America First”
mantra is sidelined. He conveniently erased four years of labeling
China a “currency manipulator” and says it’s not
China’s fault that it takes advantage of the US. He pivots on
his Chinese dime and blames “past administrations” (and
we know it almost killed him not to say Obama). As I watched the
speech, all I could say was, “What the f#%@?! Whatever
happened to “America First?”
Oh,
that wasn’t the only rabbit he pulled out of his magic hat.
This guy stacked a lie on top of a lie when asked about Putin and
Russian election meddling. Trump said he believes Vladmir Putin’s
denials of Russian involvement in the manipulation of the 2016
presidential election. But then, that ol’ Trump magic
appeared.
He
then contradicted himself the very next day when he said he was “with
our agencies” on the question of Russian interference. Speaking
at a news conference in Hanoi on Sunday, he was asked about his
comments that he believed Putin’s reassurances given by the
Russian president on the sidelines of Saturday’s Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam.
“As
to whether I believe it or not, I’m with our agencies,
especially as currently constituted,” Trump told a news
conference in Vietnam. “As currently led, by fine people, I
believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”
The
president’s comments were criticized by Senator John McCain who
said in a tweet that there was “nothing America First about
taking the word of KGB colonel [Putin]” over the US
intelligence community.
Trump
was also quickly countered by his own CIA chief, Mike Pompeo. A
statement issued by the agency said: “The director stands by
and has always stood by the January 2017 intelligence community
assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in
Recent US Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to
Russian election meddling has not changed.”
Let
me give you some more magic to ponder: when the Las Vegas shooting
that killed 58 people took place, the so-called President gave a
somber, consoling, compassionate and unifying speech immediately
following the tragedy. Although, he appeared to begrudgingly read
the speech, Trump acted real “presidential.” What a
rarity! Now you see him, now you don’t! When it comes to
afflicting white people, Trump can act like a human being, but Lord,
help us if Black people are suffering.
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