The Swarm

Maybe Donald Trump’s anger is justified, or at least understandable in a primitive, insect kind of way. He is accused of covering up his misconduct…but he doesn’t recognize his bumbling actions, his threats and distractions as a cover-up anymore than a bug considers the consequences of eating a field of a human’s crops. To Trump, he is being himself because we all knew he was a coward, a con-man, a bully, a liar, and a tax cheat when he was running for the presidency. He figures since we knew what we were getting, why are we surprised? He doesn’t understand our anger and disgust because he’s still the cowardly, bullying, lying, cheating, con-man who got elected for at least a four-year term thanks to Russian interference (he even tweeted his admission that they did, it's just that he wasn't involved), so what right does anyone have to complain?

Trump’s supporters got exactly what they wanted; an unbridled wrecking ball who would shake things up in Washington. The first few weeks of his presidency when he started to display gross incompetence, those supporters and his cheerleaders in the GOP insisted that Trump would eventually “grow into the job.” No, of course, they didn’t expect him to make enemies with the world, threaten war against North Korea, Venezuela, Mexico, Iran, expand fighting in Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Niger, Yemen, ram through a massive tax cut bill that primarily rewarded him and his billionaire friends, renege on his promise that manufacturers like Carrier, Ford, and Harley Davidson would stay open and expand when all three companies have laid off their workforce and closed down or moved operations overseas, initiate a trade war with China, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, and other trading partners. But they crossed their fingers and hoped he could somehow look presidential while still "being Trump."

Trump takes his job so seriously that the “I-won’t-have-time-for-golf president has spent fully one-fourth of his time in office at one of his resorts or golf courses…usually playing golf. We the taxpayers have had to pick up the bill for over $100 million to provide security for him at his own golf courses…you know, those places he mentions at his rallies that make him a billionaire. But his supporters did expect him to be different. Vive la difference, huh?

They look around and gasp “but what about our economy, look at all the new jobs, the low unemployment numbers, a booming stock market...that has to be Trump's doing. Yes. Look at all those - but peek behind the curtain to see what is really happening. Bloomberg, MarketWatch, and even the Wall Street Journal admit that Trump’s massive tax cut bill in December 2017 hasn’t done anything the Trump administration predicted it would. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service confirms it has had no effect on the economy, other than driving the federal deficit $2 trillion further in the hole. Are prices coming down? No. Are jobs paying more? Only a few of the high tech, limited access jobs. Low-income job numbers have risen but not the pay. If you’re in the stock market, you’ve had a hell of a roller coaster ride, which is not what the market is supposed to do, but it has gone up in the past two years. However, a simple check of the Dow Jones chart for the past 10 years will show that due to policies enacted by Obama, there has been a steady bull market since 2010. When Obama left office, the jobless rate had dropped to 5%. Under Trump, it has gone down to 3.8. How has that 1.2% drop improved things for you personally? The most honest answer I’ve heard on that from a Trump supporter was “it makes Trump look good.” If that’s your bar, then the bar is sitting flat on the ground.   

The laughable part (if there is anything to laugh about) is that all along the Republicans have kidded themselves into thinking they could contain and control Trump and his horde. They found out it is like trying to herd locust. That is a pretty good metaphor for the Trump administration…a criminal enterprise that operates like a swarm of locust. Locusts usually gorge themselves on whatever is in front of them and to hell with anyone or anything else.

You can see Trump and his hand-picked “best people” fit the locust comparison perfectly, like Elaine Chao, Alex Acosta, Michael Flynn, Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, Jeff Sessions, David Shulkin, Rex Tillerson, Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson, Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin, Rick Scott, Reince Priebus, Kellyanne Conway, Kirstjen Neilsen, Rob Porter, John Bolton, William Barr, just for starters. Plus, consider the people who have been forced out or deserted this bizarre White House like rats abandoning a sinking ship: John Kelly, H. R. McMaster, Jim Mattis, Gary Cohn, Nikki Haley, Don McGahn, Rod Rosenstein…etc. How have they made anything great again when they leave their job after only a year, or are forced out by the guy who said they were his best people? Remember, the GOP supported and approved of every one of them.

What these human locusts amount to are the flotsam and jetsam that stuck to the bottom of the hiring barrel and had to be scraped out of the corner with a sharp stick in order to be considered. Trump has filled up the Washington swamp with a massive swarm of locust, because every one of these “acting directors,” Cabinet yes-men and yes-women serve Trump and Trump only, not the American people. They are enriching themselves at our expense while they encourage, enable, and run constant interference for Trump to cover up what he does. They know what he is doing is wrong just as they know what they are doing is wrong. But Trump provides camouflage. And like a good cult leader, Trump has convinced not just his administration but his supporters that they are not seeing the whole picture or the real world. Only Trump knows all and sees all. So they believe his lies and this helps them continue to support Trump because who can now tell who is telling the truth anymore. They believe it is better to simply support Trump and his lies than to search for the truth of a story. That’s too much work.

Trump supporters, when did intelligence, decency, and character in a president stop mattering to you? Why do you approve of the Trump swarm picking America clean?

We've been Trumped

Huge talent on tap at the Trump Inauguration

It is strange why the Trump inaugural team is still searching for top-flight talent to book for his inauguration, especially at this late date.

They already claim they’ve gotten the best in the world: Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down, Jackie Evancho, (as of 01-17 Sam Moore of the '60s soul duo Sam & Dave)  the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Rockettes. The only way that could be topped would be to have the USA Freedom Girls perform. They were such a big hit last year in Pensacola and Trump had so many nice things to say about them, why not ask them for a command performance at his swearing in ceremony?

            Oh sure the Freedom Girls manager/creator Jeff Popick reported that neither he nor the girls were compensated by the Trump team for the kid's stage show in Pensacola on January 13, 2016, reimbursed for travel or even allowed to set up a table at a couple of rallies to sell their CDs and merchandise. But anyone who’s followed Donald Trump very long knows this is not the first time Trump has purportedly stiffed people for services rendered. It’s a price one has to pay if they deal with Donald Trump.

            Mr. Popick did file a lawsuit against the Trump campaign in July 2016 and it looked like he’d get his day in a South Florida court…until Trump won the election. Then, discretion being the better part of valor, he dropped the lawsuit on December 20, 2016. But don’t worry; he didn’t do it out of fear or concern for himself or the well-being of the girls.  Just like former MI6 agent Christopher Steele didn’t go into hiding out of any fear or concern after his unsubstantiated report on Trump’s activities in Moscow in 2013 was released.

            So here is a golden opportunity for Trump to show how magnanimous he can be by putting those cute little pre-teen girls doing their weirdly North Korean propaganda-like singing and dancing routine on the national stage. They could even have all the Rockettes dress up in those American flag outfits to dance along behind the USA Freedom Girls. How much more A-list talent can you get than that?

            Don’t forget they aren’t having some obscure band performing at the pre-inaugural event Thursday night, either. It will be the B Street Band…YES…the B STREET BAND, a tribute act that copies the music of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band like you were listening to a record. See, Bruce Springsteen and his band refused to have anything to do with Donald Trump, so hey, if you can't get the Boss, get someone who can sound like him. No one will know the difference. (Update Jan 17, 2017 - Singer Will Forte now says the B Street Band WILL NOT play at the pre-inaugural event out of respect to Bruce Springsteen's decision. So those who hired them will instead have to just play Springsteen records and the B Street Band won't need to worry about a potential lawsuit if the Trump team had stiffed them.) The pre-inaugural event people could replace the B Street Band with Tiffany Trump by having her sing her pop song “Like a Bird” for the crowd. No stone has been left unturned and no expense has been spared to make sure only the cream-of-the-crop, the biggest, most hhhuuuggge talent would be front and center at this event.

 If all else fails put the artist everyone loves and respects, old Mr. Wang-Dang-Sweet-Poontang rocker Ted Nugent, on stage. Like Trump, the guy who recorded Cat Scratch Fever knows plenty about manhandling pussies. I just hope those little USA Freedom Girls aren't anywhere around.

Trump’s swamp-draining is leaving behind all the vermin-infested sludge and alligators.

         Trump is at it again, reneging on another campaign promise to shake up Washington DC and “Drain the Swamp” as his supporters and staffers urged him to start saying he would do as his presidential campaign wrapped up. He's draining the swamp by adding another alligator.  

            Donald Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary is Steven Mnuchin (pronounced Mi-New-Chin), a financier with deep roots in Wall Street and Hollywood. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he became a partner and worked for them for 17 years…yes, GOLDMAN SACHS. You remember the name from when this was reported less than 10 years ago:

After leaving Goldman Sachs he created his own hedge fund, moved out west where he became a movie financier, and founded RatPac-Dune Entertainment which produced a number of well-known movies, including part of the X-Men franchise and Avatar. Using his Wall Street expertise, he was able to syphon off another $40 million into his own bank account.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Mr. Mnuchin was the national finance chairman for Donald Trump’s campaign and his selection elevates another wealthy loyalist to a pivotal economic post. Mr. Mnuchin’s selection fits…the word they used is, uneasily…with Mr. Trump’s numerous attacks on the financial industry. In a campaign ad that was an indictment of the chief executives of Goldman Sachs as the personification of a callous global elite, Donald Trump accused them of having “robbed our working class.” Those working class people were the ones who came out by the thousands to vote for Trump. And now he's appointed one of the executives that helped rob them by using the company's underhanded and piratical capabilities against us...AGAIN! (Apparently, they didn't get it all the first time!) Goldman Sachs executives have repeatedly shown that they are to our economy what a wrecking-ball is to a wall. I hope Trump's supporters are paying close attention, because this is how Trump is making America great again. He's making it great for his wealthy buddies at our expense.