Trump's Sugar High Economy

Even as you enjoy the serotonin high from your third dessert, you know you will face the scales of justice in the morning.  Today the stock market is near record highs, as unemployment is near record lows, but tomorrow always comes.

Keynesian economics takes discipline.  The easy part, notwithstanding GOP crocodile tears over federal debt, was the Obama cure for the Great Recession--deficit spending to juice the economy.  The hard part, is to reduce, or at least, stabilize the deficit. During this economic expansion, that is precisely what our European allies are doing.

Trump is doing the opposite.  Tax cuts are greasing an already well oiled economy, with a slight short term gain, but a greater long term cost.  Similarly, deregulation is upping corporate profits, but at a social cost that will eventually come due.

President Trump seeks immediate gratification, knowing nothing of the past, and caring little for the nation's future.

A Tale of Two Men

He was the best of men, he was the worst of men.  One man has been married for over 50 years to his high school sweetheart.  The other is tabloid fodder.  One man was a decorated marine officer during the Vietnam War, while the other had bone spurs. One man lives in a house,  the other lives in a high rise Versailles.

 One man brought down the Gambino crime family.   The other has been sued for fraud and discrimination.    One man was unanimously approved by the Senate twice, as FBI Director.  The other can barely cobble together a legislative majority.

One man runs silent and deep. The other captains a leaky ship.   One man has a reputation for integrity.  The other has a reputation.  One man is a life long Republican.  The other changed parties four times.

Yet Republicans have clinched their bible belts tight, and lined up behind President Trump.  By a margin of 3 to one they believe the Mueller investigation is a partisan witch hunt.

Marie Antionette is leading the peasant revolt, but her promise to pass out cake is just another lie.

The Withdrawal Method

With a tip of the hat to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger,

You can't always get what you want 
But if you try sometimes, well you might find 
You'll get what you need 

In 2015 the United States, and our allies, wanted many things from Iran.  But what we needed was reduction, and destruction, of nuclear weapon capabilities.  Through a vastly underrated feat of diplomacy, the Obama administration jointly imposed sanctions with the cooperation and participation of not only our allies, but also of Russia and China.  The sanctions brought Iran to the bargaining table.

An agreement was reached delaying Iranian development of nuclear weapons by at least a decade.  The US not only had to reach agreement with Iran, but keep China, Russia, France, Germany, England and the European Union on board.

Iran has complied.  In Trump's May 8th litany of grievances, notably absent was any claim that Iran violated the agreement.  The United States is now in violation of UN resolutions, to the dismay and consternation of our allies.

What happens next is uncertain.  Iran may continue in the agreement, driving a wedge between American and our allies.  We may impose sanctions on our allies if they fail to honor the latest Trump sanctions.  Or, Iran may justifiably leave the confines of dishonored diplomacy and resume nuclear weapons development.  A region destabilizing war, could be our future.

One thing is certain, withdrawal is not the most effective way to prevent pregnancy, and is the least effective method to prevent nuclear proliferation.

Coal in a Hole

Candidate Trump's most frequent, and least probable, promise, was the rekindling of the coal industry.  President Trump is undermining the miners.  Relaxing and removing regulations, jeopardizes their well being, without increasing employment.

Trump's drill baby, drill policy is the baby driver speeding up the inevitable reduction of coal jobs in the United States.  The LA Times recently outlined the rise of natural gas at the expense of coal.  https://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20180122/281616715788761  In 2016 natural gas supplanted coal as the primary source of electric power generation.  Although coal has other uses, electric generation has 10 times the usage of steel production, the next largest coal dependent industry.

Natural gas is abundant, cheap, and has a smaller carbon footprint than coal.  Because of extraction methods, and a still existent climate impact, natural gas is not the friend of environmentalists.  But, coal wears the black hat.

Coal mining is a tough, dirty job.  The president should not make it worse with dirty lies.

Failure of Leadership

Turmoil and tragedy are tough for the nation, but a tonic for Presidential approval.  At times of crisis, Americans look to the President for reassurance and comfort.  A few palliatives and we feel better about ourselves and our leader.  We can emerge with unity of purpose, as after 9/11.

Trump used Charlottesville to chat up his base rather than sweet talk the nation.  With Hurricane Harvey, he seemed as concerned about crowd size as the scope of devastation.

My musings are subjective, polls are objective.  Trump trended down after Charlottesville and has registered no gains during Harvey.  We look to our president for leadership, but Trump is not there.

Pardon Me

Loose lips not only sink ships, but also torpedo Presidential pardons.  Trump's carefully leaked praise for Flynn after firing him, was Morse Code for pardon me and I will pardon you.

Fearing friendly fire, Trump has fueled leaks about his broad pardon authority.  But presidential pardon authority stops at the state line.  A president cannot pardon state crimes  Most of Trump and Kushner's business interests run through New Jersey and New York.  New York has a Democratic Governor, and New Jersey, soon will.

New York has a comprehensive, broadly written, money laundering statute.  So, if we can prosecute them there, we can prosecute them fair and square, so it is up to you New York, New York

Unbecoming

A sense of wonder was a good thing.  Now we stand with mouths open at each new atrocity, and breech of protocol, from the Trump White House.

In between putts, our President is turning the shining city on a hill into a dung heap.  Profanity has its place, but that place is not the office of the Director of Communications for the White House.  As part of the acronym, Trump promised to fight for transgenders.  Now he will not let them fight for us.

Worse than his broken promise and shameful discrimination, is dishonoring and disrespecting members of our armed services.  He did not develop a policy, and a plan of implementation, with the leaders of the military. He did not use reasoned rhetoric to explain a major change in policy.  He pulled away the welcome mat with a tweet.  Even losers on "The  Apprentice" were fired face to face.

This is not normal.  We must retain our ability to be shocked and dismayed.  Trump is not just a bad president.  He is a bad man.

A President Without Rhythm

President Obama could move his feet to a Latin beat.  His Cuba policy put the United States in step with Latin America.  Venezuela was a wallflower,  left out of the line dance, shunned by the other 33 member nations of the Organization of American States ("OAS").

President Trump has stepped on his own feet.  His Cuba Policy broke the formation.  Yesterday, the OAS refused to support the United States proposal condemning Venezuela.  Obama's sizzling salsa has been replaced by a blundering box step.

Larry Stein, author of '4 Americans in Cuba: A Traveler on a Rope Guidebook'

Trump All Puffed Up

President Trump paraded on to the world stage, puffed up his chest, and farted.  Lyndsey Graham compared him to Reagan.   He got boffo reviews from the press.  Trump was judged superior to Obama, who wimped out by requesting Congressional authority before bombing a sovereign state.  Obama negotiated to have most, but obviously, not all, of Assad's chemical weapons destroyed.  Trump destroyed a building and up to 20 aircraft, leaving the runways smudged, but functional.  Hail the conquering hero!

Trump's motives and policy can only be seen through a glass darkly.  Since at least 2013 he has ridiculed regime change.  He will bomb to protest attacks on children, but will not protect them through immigration.  What does the tomahawk chop mean?

Lawrence O'Donnell, sadly, but with a small smirk, cautions that we cannot rule out the 'Wag the Dog' scenario.  Putin could be desperate to distract from the collusion scenario, and to boost his buddies poll numbers.  Less scandalous, perhaps Trump, on his own, sought the distraction of unilateral action.

The better movie analogy may be  'Being There.'  Like Chauncey Gardiner, Trump learns everything he knows from TV.  The graphic pictures evoked his response.  Unfortunately, to quote Gil Scott-Heron, "The Revolution Will not be Televised."

Donald Endangers Democracy

Elections have consequences.  Give a new president a chance and wish him well. These platitudes have power in a normal election.  Progressives can hardly expect to love a Republican agenda.  If my qualms with Trump were merely on policy grounds, I would hope for the best, and work politically, to fend off the worst.

Unfortunately, Trump is not a normal president.  Democracy in its purest form is a clash of ideas.  But the battlefield must be composed of a common set of facts.  Alternative facts and the conspiracy theories they foster, tear the fabric that unites America.  A plurality of Trump supporters believe that George Soros paid women to march on the 21st of January.  The president believes massive voter fraud deprived him of winning a majority of the popular vote.  You cannot argue with crazy.  Democracy suffers when discourse dies.

Equally troubling is the Russia connection.  First lets examine the facts.  Trump has had a campaign manager and foreign policy advisor with close ties to Putin and Russia,  His soon to be Secretary of State received the highest award that can be given to a non-Russian, directly from Putin.  Russia used information from cyberattacks to help Trump and to discredit Hillary.

Trump has taken pro-Russia and pro-Putin positions for no obvious reason.  He changed the plank in the platform supporting the Ukrainian efforts to fend off Russian attacks.  He has floated plans to remove sanctions on Russia and called NATO obsolete.  The pro-Putin stance is almost as unpopular with his supporters as it is with his detractors.  He gains nothing politically.  Trump has fired the senior State Department Officials best positioned to oppose a pro-Putin policy.  The fired four served under multiple presidents.  They were fired on no notice, without replacements ready.  One of the four was on a plane to Rome to attend a non-proliferation conference, and was ordered to turn the plane around and clean out his desk.

Whether it is emotional, financial, or even darker, Putin has an untoward influence over our President.  Absent tax returns, we cannot know if his enterprises our in debt to Russian oligarchs.  Then there is the dossier that alleges that Putin is able to blackmail Trump.  The dossier is not alternate news.  The source is a former British MI6 agent who  has been a reliable source.  The claims in the dossier may not be immediately verifiable.  They may be false.  But the terrible truth is they could be real, and would explain both Russian support of Trump's candidacy and Trump's strangely pro-Russian positions.

Respect

The media and the political establishment have not taken Donald Trump seriously.  He is the president elect.  The condescension must stop.  He deserves to be held to the same high standard as other presidential candidates, let alone as the president elect.

Conflict of interest is a stunning example.  Under sustained pressure from left, right and mainstream media, as well as a broad spectrum of politicians, Hillary was forced to commit to divesting the family charitable foundation.  In the interim foreign and corporate contributions, were curtailed.  This is a foundation that has saved thousands of lives, and helped millions.  None of the Clintons received any compensation from the foundation.

Contrast this with the far flung Trump business empire.  Rather than building a wall along our southern border, he should build a Chinese wall between himself and the business.  Instead his laughable plan is to have his children run the business.  Going for an even bigger laugh, he has made his children special advisors to the president with top secret clearance.  They also serve on the transition team, staffing the new administration.

The potential for conflicts is legion.  Suppose they lack their father's golden touch.  In return for investment capital or a favorable loan from foreign player, they influence policy.  To gain access corporations need only agree to hold a major conference at a Trump property.

Good times are no shield.  The most insidious threat is trading state secrets for financial advantage.  Suppose they meet with Russian officials as representatives of our government.  At the same time they ask for favorable terms, on building a hotel in Moscow.

Holding President Trump to a high ethical standard is not an attack, but rather appropriate respect for the office of the presidency.