“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a complete narcissistic moron.” – H. L. Mencken, July 26, 1920
His list of ‘accomplishments’ is long. Voters are now waking up to the person who will lead our country for the next yet-to-be-determined period of time. Ah, Donald, we thought we knew ye well. You are exceeding all our expectations.
To recap: Jan 19, 2017, Trump said he would cut funding for the Dept. of Justice’s Violence Against Women Programs, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Minority Business Development Agency, the Economic Development Administration, the International Trade Administration, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, the Legal Services Corporation, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Office of Deliverability and Energy Reliability, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the Office of Fossil Energy.
Jan 20, 2017, Trump increased without notice, interest on FHA loans to be effective immediately, ordered the federal Justice Department to postpone a hearing on a voting rights law in Texas found by lower courts to be purposely discriminatory, waived penalties for the health care mandate, ordered all regulatory powers of all federal agencies frozen, ordered the National Park Service to stop using social media after showing side by side photos of crowds at the 2017 and 2009 inaugurations.
Jan 21, 2017, Trump brought his staff to cheer his comments at the CIA during which he condemned the ‘dishonest press’ for reporting that he had, in fact, in a tweet, described CIA tactics as reminiscent of the Nazis, ordered the press secretary to hold a no-questions-allowed press briefing accusing them of inaccurately reporting the size of the crowd at the inauguration and insisted, erroneously, that this inauguration had the largest audience in history, “period.”
Jan 22, 2017, (Sunday), he rested. However, advisor Kellyann Conway defended the press secretary by calling his presentation regarding crowd size as ‘alternative facts.’
Jan 23, 2017, Trump reinstated the global gag order which defunds international organizations that mention abortion as a medical option. He announced, through Spicer, that the US will not tolerate China’s expansion onto islands in the South China Sea – essentially threatening war with China. Trump repeated the lie that 3-5 million people voted illegally thus costing him the popular vote. He instituted a federal hiring freeze and then asked that the border patrol be increased 3 fold – at a time when more Mexicans (and no doubt Americans) are leaving the States than those entering.
Jan 24, 2017, Trump again reiterated that there were 3-5 million illegal voters. He used examples of dead people still on the rolls, ‘illegals’ risking felony charges to vote, and those registered in more than one state as examples. He asked for a congressional study, costing millions, to determine the extent of the problem. Turns out several family members and staff are registered in more than one state. He tweeted a picture of a photo depicting his inauguration crowd that will hang in the White House Press Room. The photo is dated Jan 21st, the day AFTER the inauguration and the day OF the Women’s March. He ordered the EPA to stop communicating with the public through social media or the press and to stop publishing any papers or research. All scientific communication was to be vetted by the White House. Same admonition to USDA. He ordered the resumption of construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone Pipeline. Meanwhile the ND legislature considers a bill that would legalize hitting and killing protesters with cars if they are on the roadways.
Jan 25 – Jan 27, 2017 Trump again spoke in favor of torture, which is a war crime. He also stated he supports reopening ‘black sites’ for interrogation of prisoners. He said he is considering lifting sanctions on Russia, called the media the ‘opposition party,’ stated he will order new planes and ships for the military – few of which have been requested, is considering a 20% tariff on goods coming from Mexico to pay for the Wall – thus initiating the beginning of a trade war and increasing the costs of consumer goods from Mexico, announced new ‘extreme vetting’ procedures which will stop, as of Jan. 27, all travel to the US from specific countries with high Muslim populations (none of which participated in 9/11. Not included were countries the 9/11 terrorists actually came from – and incidentally where Trump also has businesses), and threatened the removal of federal funds for sanctuary cities. He has not divested from his holdings or put them in a blind trust, and continues to make money from foreign businesses. Staff stated he will never release his tax returns because voters don’t care. Polls say the vast majority of voters do indeed care.
Mr. Trump has had a busy week. He is keeping his promises – well, there is that inconvenient fact that we, the taxpayers, one way or another, will get stuck paying for his Wall – with costs estimated to be about 1 million dollars per mile.
Mr. Trump does not attend the Presidential Daily Briefings. Mr. Trump admits he’s not much of a reader. Mr. Trump has no experience in government. So how does he determine what actions to take on all these highly complicated issues? The answer lies primarily with Mr. Bannon, the former Alt Right publisher of Breitbart News who recently suggested “media should keep their mouth shut.” This is a government, at least thus far, that appears to be run by his advisors. Trump, on the other hand, appears much more concerned about appearances – crowd size, popular vote and the election results. In spite of the fact that he declared Jan. 20th, the day of inauguration, a “National Day of Patriotic Devotion” (to him, no doubt), he has yet to become ‘presidential.’ He appears to be a man absent of dignity and incapable of self awareness. He has generated the most robust resistance of any president in history as well as the lowest approval rating of any president one week into term. In this, he is definitely the winner – hands down. And it’s just the first week.
One week down; 207 weeks to go. Maybe. As he and his alter-ego Bannon continue down this tyrannical road, where opponents are described as enemies, perhaps it will be a lot less.
Marsha Shearer is a resident of The Villages.
