Yesterday I said that I wished I would not have to say "Told ya' so", and yet here it is and here we are. For days, weeks, months, ethicists and plain old people with common sense have been decrying the ties of Trump to his businesses, his empire of projects, the ties of his family princelings and princess, even as they settle in to rule the country and perhaps even edge it into the realm of total demagoguery and less of a democracy. Tweets and threats and business visits from foreigners, denials of ethics violations, declared exemptions from rules and laws and yet, on the man goes and all the blindfolds of his supporters are remaining in place. So here we go, down a path that no one should want or be subjected to. Ethics advocates of both parties wrote a letter to him warning of the danger of his actions, or rather inactions, but I guess Trump does not read so well for no attention paid. Perhaps they should have tweeted!!!
Congress as a hope and a help?People who say that Congress will prevent his outrageous plans. Really? What did Congress do? They have warned that today they will begin the rendering into shreds of Obamacare and as for the tens of millions of people enrolled, including the blue collar workers who think Trump represents change? Oh yeah, he does, but change that is not good for us or for them, only for the Fat Cats who will have no trouble paying for private care and so the world goes on.
What else did Congress do in preparation for the new term? Oh yeah, they cancelled the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Why? Too close, too much hot breath on their necks and on the neck of Trump. It will now become a tamed worn out old thing that has no power and so the crooks can really step up now! So much for change. Again!
And while the world in general, here and abroad seem to get it, seem to understand the need to rein in excesses and to obey the rules of society even as society is attacked both within and without, Trump and followers seem to have missed the boat but actually they have caught their own boat and left us trying to catch it even as we wear no life vests and cannot swim so well. Believe it or not, the only people seemingly brave enough to keep on with the warnings, who willingly allow themselves to be counted as the media that Trump hates, people like Paul Krugman, Charles Blow, and basically solid and good thinking people, and one other group, actually a group that one would think would support Trump, one of their own characters on TV and yet not - the inhabitants of Hollywood. One after the other they supported Hillary and one after the other they have turned down requests from the Trump camp to star at the inauguration. Time after time, celebrity after celebrity. Now while I am not a great supporter of much of their lifestyle, I do admire them for these actions and their strength in resisting, so Trump is left with B and C minor celebrities, a child on the way up and a star on the way down.
And who else realizes the truth of what is about to befall us? The people who make the shows, the producers and writers and the authors of novels. Is it life imitating art or the other way around or a mixture of both? Read a book called Law and Disorder and try to catch your breath as the author hits every nail, every hot topic right on the nose even as he writes a hard to put down thriller. Watch cable shows like Incorporated or one just recommended to us that now has us embroiled in the action and the characters. It is on Amazon and called Goliath. Three episodes so far and we hope to find the time to binge five more as soon as possible.
But we have to live in the real world do we not? So how do we reconcile the needs of reality with the weird world of Trump, a world of ridiculous boasts, a child in an adult body who boasts how he knows secrets, oh yes he does and he is smart, oh yes he is, and he will get ya if you oppose him, oh yes he will. This is a leader? And as for the courtiers of this new kingdom, well, they are no better than they have to be and even worse, charged with rending the government into pieces and then what? Will we have a government rebuilt in the image of the Trumps, G-d help us?
I do not know. I am actually petrified at the possibilities, at the future or rather lack of future that could be upon us soon, very soon. We have already seen signs and actions of it so what to do. Fight and fight and fight. Speak up, resist, shout and yell and push out the politicians who think it is the same old same old time. We are fighting for our country, the very fabric of it. Your rights, my rights, the rights of workers, of children, of all, be they part and parcel of the general crowd or if they differ somehow. All our rights are in danger. Think about it. Read the papers carefully. Beware "fake news" the lies they are so good at and demand honesty from the media and truth in reporting. If not - well, we are all doomed to not such a good time, are we not?
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