politics – Page 8 – Site Title

The Bully

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

“Bullying is the result of an unequal power dynamic – the strong attacking the weak.” Maria Konnikova

Trump is toxic, he is dangerous and he is a bully through and through. He has used the bully pulpit to his advantage and used his power to belittle those he deems not worthy of compassion or kindness. The man is ruthless when it comes to spewing insults. His motto is, “Talk first, think later,” and this approach has got him into hot water more than once. It seems his toxic nature is part and parcel of his makeup, character wise I mean. Furthermore, he is sorely lacking in how a President should present himself because everything comes down to one thing and that is himself. It is not about the people but about loud-mouthed, asinine Trump and that is why he goes from one gaffe to the next all the while with that Cheshire cat grin plastered on his face.

According to James Barber, who published a well-known study on presidential character, a good President should have the following leadership qualities:

A strong vision for the country’s future.

An ability to put their own times in the perspective of history.

Effective communication skills.

The courage to make unpopular decisions.

Crisis management skills.

Character and integrity.

Wise appointments.

An ability to work with Congress.

Furthermore, he added that Presidents must wear many hats and they “must somehow symbolize what American citizens believe to be the essence of their country. They must represent what is valued now and in the past. But even more importantly, they embody the direction of America’s future.”

Do you see Trump doing any or all of the above? He is first and foremost a playground bully who marches to his own drumbeat and that fact alone makes him more than dangerous. One thing he is good at is name-calling and he does it with such prowess that it is mind boggling. From “Crooked Hillary,” to “Pocohontas,” for Elizabeth Warren, to “Shifty Schiff,” for Adam Schiff and “Sleepy Biden,” for Biden but that is just touching the tip of the iceberg. Mr. Trump does not hold back when it comes to throwing punches of the unsavory kind. He takes it all in stride and moves on like the master manipulator he is.

He is single-handedly changing the characteristics of a President but not for the better. ”From referencing a television host’s menstrual cycle to using vulgar phrases to describe opponents to his encouragement of violence at rallies, Trump’s insults have known no bounds and have been a dominant storyline of the campaign,” and continue to be so even today. Other candidates have used insults and mud-slinging but not to the extend that “Orange Jesus” has. ”His speeches have crossed lines, pushed fact checkers to their limits and incited backlash – all the while further stoking the passions of his most ardent supporters.” Just look at his recent debacle where he said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO country that does not contribute 2% of its GDP to the alliance’s coffers. It was a reckless threat which has contributed to fierce backlash in Europe. Does he care? What do you think?

Add to that his constant posturing like a peacock, running his mouth like a loose faucet and his GOD complex mentality and you’ve got a bully at his very best alas to the detriment of the country. Biden’s mental acuity is concerning but Trump’s playground antics and all out temper tantrums are far more terrifying if you ask me.

The Trojan Horse

“In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war.”

In today’s symbolism, it could also mean, “an innocuous appearing container for hiding something within to get past defenses or some other obstacle. Trojan horses can be used for both good and evil.”

That said, the news media is ripe with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. Can it be, would she do it? Would she be willing to give up her more than cushy life of “just being” and take up the reins as the first female African-American president of the USA? Would she even want to try let alone put up with all that her husband, the 44th President of the United States put up with to let his light shine through the hazy, blurred and cruel world of politics where racism played a bigger than life part in his presidency.

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to knock the orange Cheshire cat off his throne of “I’ve got it in the pocket grin,” and do the world a HUGE and GREAT favor! Four more years of “all about me” politics is not my cup of tea and neither is it for all of us with half a brain I might add!

Trump’s problem might just turn out to be the no immunity ruling that Washington DC handed out not too recently. It was a major setback for “orange Jesus.” It reads like this:

“We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power – the recognition and implementation of election results.” Furthermore, it added, “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defences of any other criminal defendant.” That aside, Trump is still waiting on the Supreme Court ruling as to whether he violated an article of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution and that violation could mean him being barred from running for office. Add to that the four criminal indictments and there is HOPE!

If Biden is lacking in cognitive skills, than Trump is lacking in morality, cognitive skills and has a severe lack of knowing what holding the highest office in the nation means. It is NOT all about him. Furthermore, we do not need a “dumpster fire” in the White House! Coming back to Michelle Obama. The lady has proved herself to be a worthy opponent. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, she has more smarts in one little finger compared to Trump who can’t even keep a conversation going without resorting to monosyllabic words and even than just a few words that espouse him in a favorable light or so he thinks! At 60, she is much younger than “Orange Jesus” and could run circles around him in the Presidential debate. Her cognitive skills are in top form and she has her faculties well-placed around her. If all that is not enough, the lady has hutzpah, has a commanding presence about her, oozes class and dignity and last but not least, she has an ace in the hole. It will be the man standing in the shadows pushing her on to victory and that folks is a major plus.

Of course, the Trojan Horse symbolism doesn’t quite fit here because the cat has been let out of the bag or rather it is in the works. Who cares? My money is on her!

Trump Win

The man of the hour won and some of us cried. Nothing surprising here but still fact is stranger than fiction. A friend wrote this, “Trump is going to make the economy better and control the border is what people are saying but ignorance is overwhelming in America.”

Wearing Cheshire cat grins on their faces, Trump stepped onto the winner’s platform to deliver his victory speech flanked by former rivals, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Ramaswamy once said when pressed by George Stephanopoulos about Trump’s actions of January 6th, “I would have handled that situation very differently than Trump did. But I do draw a distinction between bad behavior and illegal behavior.” Tim Scott whispered three words, “I love you,” and the response in return was, “That’s why he’s a great politician.” Cringeworthy! Absolutely. They looked like the cats who swallowed the cream or rather, the cat who swallowed the canary!

He went on to eye his one standing opponent. In his normal fashion, he opened his mouth and this is what he had to say, “I said, wow, she’s doing a speech like she won. She didn’t win. She lost. Let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night, She had a very bad night,” and more significantly, “I don’t get angry, I get even.” His victory speech was littered with false claims but that didn’t wipe the grin off his face. ”They used Covid to cheat,” “they lost by a whisker,” and “they want to raise your taxes times four.” He knows naught of what he speaks folks.

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” MLK

However, this says it better I think. ”In politics stupidity is not a handicap.” Napoleon Bonaparte

Nikki Haley for her part made her concession speech looking poised and ready to do battle. Claiming that the GOP race is “far from over” she went on to say, “Trump is the only Republican in the country who Joe Biden can defeat.” And she might be right there. The lady is determined, has the smarts to do it but it will be an uphill battle for her.

Let’s see, Trump is facing numerous indictments both from the state and federal levels including DOJ’s and Jack Smith, Special Counsel’s investigation into his alleged attempt in trying to overturn the 2020 elections which led to the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. He calls it a “witch hunt” but facts are facts. Will the so called “witch hunt” help to wipe off the Cheshire cat grin off his face? Let’s hope so. THERE IS STILL HOPE!

Then There Were Two

Ron DeSantis throws in the towel. He officially dropped his bid for the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination on Sunday saying, ”If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it. But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time or donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory.” I’ve got to hand it to him, the man knows when to fold ’em and when to walk away as the lyrics to The Gambler song goes. As if that wasn’t enough to rock the Republican world, he went on to endorse Agent Orange and that was surprising. A friend said, “Can you believe it? What a loser!!!” Loser or not, DeSantis jumping ship means there will be two left standing.

Trump, the frontrunner, is pleased as punch to say the least. On hearing the news on Sunday, the man who is known for throwing insults, was magnanimous in his praise as he always is when things go his way. ”I’d like to take time to congratulate Ron DeSantis, (not Ron DeSanctimonious) a really terrific person (see the oozing?) ……for having run a great campaign for president.”

Nikki Haley, the other one standing, was in a high school auditorium plugging her campaign. She asked, “Can you hear that sound? That is the sound of a two person race.” She will get her wish of standing shoulder-to-shoulder or going one-on-one with the man who doesn’t care if it’s right or wrong, if an election has been won legally and one who will stoop to nothing short of instigating a coup because he didn’t get his way. He is still walking with his head held high and with a smile plastered on his “orange” face.

There you have it. It’s going to be a two-person race and it’s coming down to the wire. The question is, do they even have to duke it out? Isn’t it a foregone conclusion? The orange giant is looming larger than life and like a bad dream that will never go away! I swear the man has nine lives or more, now if he’ll only put it to good use. No chance of that so we’ll have to grit our teeth, clench our jaws and see how this will play out.

I’ll take anyone BUT you know who. Four more years of GREAT! HUGE! and MOI! MOI! MOI! is not my cup of tea and neither is a daily dose of MAGA greatness and stunted vocabulary!

A great start to a new week don’t you think? Lord have mercy!

Trump Win

The man of the hour, Donald J. Trump, stepped onto the platform to acknowledge victory. His hair was perfectly coiffed, no runaways this time and with a smile plastered on his orange face and with his over-inflated ego in tow, he oozed graciousness and something more.

He pledged to seal up the border, stop the invasion of immigrants from the southern border, harness liquid gold or rather oil and to straighten out elections. A chant of, “America First,” broke out from his supporters and with an adoring smirk on his face, he said, “Iowa we love you. Just go out and buy larger tractors and more land. D’ont worry about it.”

The Indian-American entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy in his Third presidential debate said, “What I would tell Bibi is that Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend itself. I would tell him to smoke those terrorists on his southern border” and if elected, “I will be smoking the terrorists on our southern border.” It didn’t quite work out for him. Coming in fourth place didn’t quite make his dreams come true, he has dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump in hopes of achieving his goal from the sidelines, the “smoking” part I mean.

In his toned down victory speech, Trump called on his opponents to join him to unify America. He actually went on to praise them saying, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, “actually did very well,” and praised Vivek Ramaswamy for doing a “hell of a job.” However, his insults of past calling Nikki Haley a “Globalist Rino” and saying, ”she can never win in the General Elections because she doesn’t have MAGA and never will.” He went on to add, “Ron Desanctimonious at least is MAGA-Lite.” None of that was front and center this time. He even went on to use their names instead of “bird brain” for Nikki Haley and “DeSantimonious” for DeSantis.

A gentler Trump? A unifier? Don’t bet your bottom dollar on it! The question is, what if he had lost? Fraud! Recount! Fight! Fake! These are all words we’ve heard coming out of the sore loser or sour grapes Trump. Winning at any cost is his motto so don’t let him fool you folks. It is still there. What? The five-year-old who loves throwing a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his way is still there and the man who will go to great lengths in trying to overturn a legitimate election result is still there too. It is just a matter of time before the real Trump will show up in all his true colors and I don’t just mean “orange” either!