The incredible shrinking presidency
All you need to know about the Trump Presidency could be learned on one Monday in August 2018.
The man who claims to have authored “The Art of the Deal” was snookered by a reality television dropout. He hired Omarosa Manigault Newman to work in the White House as his personal assistant. She was fired less than a year later. I’m sure she earned the latter more than the former.
But the woman he calls “wacky” and “a lowlife” was able to outflank him and recorded conversations all over the White House. What kind of leader hires a wacky lowlife? Not a good one.
Manigault Newman sold out Trump without hesitation. That says a lot about both sides of that equation.
If you trust a man who gets duped by Omarosa to have private meetings with a former KGB agent who has proven as President of Russia to have the means and desire to commit cyber attacks on America you are truly a fool.
Valdimir Putin is a lion. He shed the sheep’s clothing years ago. Trump is a silly lamb who walks around wearing an ill-fitting wolf costume.
For America’s sake, I wish Trump’s daddy would have loved him more so that his personality problems wouldn’t be such a threat to our country, but it’s too late for that now.
Every day when he wakes up and tweets, we see more degradation of the office of president and the country. Trump answers white nationalist rallies by condemning “all racism.” That sounds the dog whistle loudly enough to signal followers he isn’t too sympathetic to people of color. Some argue that Trump isn’t a racist.
I don’t know if he is or isn’t. What I do know is that racists and nationalists are among the minority that approve of the job he is doing, and he is doing all he can not to alienate them. As a man who has a black son, if you aren’t ready to stand with me against anyone who will discriminate against people because of the color of their skin, be prepared to go to war, because that’s a fight I’ll join every time.
Another sad incident in which Trump has diminished the role of commander in chief is his inability to recognize the shoulders on which he stands. Trump likes to believe he is a self-made man. His father paved his road and paid his way every day of his life.
In an effort to prove that he isn’t just the recipient of a paternal handout, Trump names every project he is part of after himself. If he made Baron a tuna sandwich he would call it the Trumpwich and expect his young son to send a tweet praising it.
That’s why his act on Monday was so appalling.
Trump knows the value of a name. He puts his on every building, golf course and resort that he can. So when he left Sen. John McCain’s name off of the military spending bill he signed Monday, the intent is clear. Trump honors himself and no one else.
The fact that fellow senators and representatives named this bill after a war hero who is battling what could be terminal brain cancer was a real honor. Unlike Trump, Sen. McCain didn’t pay for that honor. When you are a war hero who has dedicated your life to public service, others honor you.
Trump is forced to honor himself because every action he has ever taken has been in service to himself.
Don’t get it twisted and confuse me with a John McCain fanboy. McCain bringing Sarah Palin out of Alaska and subjecting the rest of America to her brand of “all hat, no cattle conservatism” is the reason I voted for a Democrat for president for the first and only time in my life.
Even though I voted for Barack Obama over McCain, I respect what he has sacrificed for this country. I didn’t agree with all of his political platform, but I’ll never look at a naval officer who has a bronze and silver star and withstood torture for years with anything but respect.
Trump won’t even say McCain’s name. He is a frequent critic of McCain’s and has repeatedly said he isn’t a war hero because he was captured. That’s a pretty high standard for a guy that dodged serving his country by faking bone spurs while he was cheating at golf.
I’m glad Congress named this bill the “John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act.” That is a real honor for a man who really deserves it.
After the bill was signed into law, McCain sent a message out through Twitter.
“I’m proud the NDAA is now law (and) humbled Congress chose to designate it in my name. As Chairman of the Armed Services (Committee), I’ve found high purpose in service of a cause greater than self — the cause of our troops who defend America & all that she stands for,” McCain said.
Class isn’t extinct. It just doesn’t reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. right now. One day, America will remember what made her great and search out leaders who will truly restore that.
Those who skip service to country and cozy up to Russians and racists for their own benefit won’t be on that list.