The Unmasking of Trump (#166)

So it’s happened; Trump failed very publicly on his perceived strength as the ‘Great Negotiator’ doing what he is self-admittedly ‘great’ at (‘perhaps better than anyone else’) negotiating and winning, ‘until everyone is sick of winning and will cry out to Paul Ryan to make it all stop!’.  

That fantasy script unravelled far too early; even for Trump sceptics.  

In a stunning setback, after a few days of intense effort at negotiating Trump-style, it was he who cried out to Paul Ryan to stop the agony of a prolonged and possibly endless defeat, on his and the Republican sponsored key ‘Repeal and Replace ObamaCare’ policy initiative. This President, with his Party holding majority in both Houses, could not pass a critically important piece of legislation that they had vigorously campaigned on, for years, and which he had assured his support base repeatedly, was a done deal.   

In the first 64 days of his Presidency, Donald Trump, as the 45th President of the United States, on most of his initiatives has failed more publicly, and more frequently, than perhaps any other President in history. The word most often used to describe his first two months in power has been ‘chaos’.

His inner circle of closest ‘Advisors’ have contributed to the chaos, whether it was General Michael Flynn, his short lived National Security Advisor, who had to quit (reluctantly fired by Trump for lying to the Vice President);

Or it was KellyAnne Conway, his Campaign Manager, who became famous for coining the phrase ‘Alternative Facts’ to explain away the blatant lies that she, the President and his White House indulged in as a matter of course;

Or it was his Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, who is now famous for his infamous verbal contortions in trying to put a positive spin on the un-spinnable constant stream of bad news coming out of the oval office and Trump;

Or it was Steve Bannon, the shadowy ex-investment Banker and Alt-Right Guru, who is suspected of being the power behind the throne, and purportedly the chief architect of some of the more radical far right ‘Executive Orders’ that have come flying out of the White House in the first few weeks like a stream of bats out of a dank cave (Bats out of Hell);

Or Stephen Miller, the other radical Right-Wing nut-case that gives an air of distinct creepiness to the entire Trump gang now ensconced in the White House - some of the Trump’s family, shills and surrogates.

It is a bizarre camp, presided over by a painfully unsuitable President, who cannot stop from constantly and energetically stirring a cauldron of ongoing political and policy chaos, through his twitter account.

Every major and loudly proclaimed initiative Trump and his administration have undertaken so far, since his inauguration, be it the potential manifestations of his campaign promises, or the high profile picks for top jobs that turned into Russia tainted advisors, have failed and done him damage. It’s a record of sorts and unassailable by any President in recent or distant memory, in scale and scope of failing.

The head scratching that is now taking place in America and the rest of the World is: how could someone who was so effective on the campaign trail, and could beat all the odds arrayed against him in winning the U.S. Presidency, be so glaringly unsuited for the position of President, and be so demonstratively bad at governing?  

It obviously goes beyond just inexperience.  

One of the answers simply is that he made dramatic bold statements that people wanted to hear, of being a super-fixer for all that ails America, while he had questionable intentions and even more doubtful ability to deliver, he knew it but he did not let that stop or bother him.  

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump did not hold back on promising heaven, with just as much surety as the global priesthood has had in the delivering of it. He had no ability to deliver on most of what he promised, as is glaringly obvious so far. He said whatever he thought his audience wanted to hear, regardless of the outrageousness or the unbelievability of it. And in fact the more outrageous he got, the more his supporters loved it, it was as if he liberated them from the painful reality of their lives, and for that period of time gave them a glimpse of the utopian America that they had been yearning for.  

He sold some form of alt-right, alt-left version of ‘America Great Again’ that defied reality. But it was ‘alternative reality’ that he was selling, and he excelled at it because there were no norms of generally accepted behaviour that constrained him, as they would a more responsible candidate. But his history, personality and his actions point to his unsuitability for the role he won through untruthfulness, and his weeks in Office have proven, almost on a daily basis, that he does not have what he has promised to the American people, the ability to make America great again, through alternative reality.

Trump promised his supporters an America full of great jobs, safe and protected, emptied of all illegal foreign undesirables, ringed by great unbreachable walls, real or figurative, that someone else would pay for, that kept out ‘bad dudes’ with bad intentions (particularly from Mexico and select Muslim countries). He promised an America that was no longer the nice guy or the friendly policeman to the World, but a hunkered down, self sufficient, non-interfering but lethal America, bristling with renewed military and nuclear power that would dictate terms to the rest of the World, kick ass, and negotiate only ‘great deals’ for itself, and make allies and competitors pay for it’s great generosities going forward.

He promised that and more, including the best healthcare system that would cover ‘everybody’, at the ‘lowest’ premiums, and with lowest drug prices. He promised tax cuts for the middle class, and help for the poor, while draining the Washington swamp. Trump wasn’t going to leave anything or anybody behind, even as he installed the worst of the swamp dwellers in his cabinet, took away protection for the environment and ordinary people, and okayed the gutting of healthcare for those really in need, women, the old and the poor. Ironically his own Party, with full majority, rejected the hastily and atrociously put together TrumpCare/RyanCare Plan, and brought about his greatest defeat.

The spectacular failure to ‘Repeal and Replace ObamaCare’ did not humble him; instead he promptly blamed the Democrats for not ‘helping’, untroubled by the fact that he had mercilessly abused them throughout their years in power, and on the campaign trail. Besides he did not ask for their help in fixing the Healthcare Bill, and consistently slandered their venerated President, Barack Obama, for his two full terms, and his signature legislation ‘ObamaCare’. But such considerations never occur to Trump, nor does it bother him to almost never take responsibility for his recurring failures, and never apologize for his many deliberate faux pas, blatant lies, and for always playing the blame game.  

In spite of his glaringly flawed personality, for reasons personal to them a lot of people believed in him, while the rest of us watched and listened to his bizarre antics and pronouncements incredulously. The Republican Party held their nose and fell behind him and rode his coattails to absolute power. Expectations rose sky-high and the shyster in Trump kept doubling down on his outrageous statements and behaviour, while his ‘posse’ ran constant and equally outrageous interference, with statements and explanations that bent credulity permanently out shape.  But in the end, when he became President he and his team, and the Republican Party now in full control, had to get to work to try and fulfil his many fantastical promises, all ‘immediately’, or in less time.

That’s when the rubber hit the road, and the Trump phenomena ended up in one ditch after another, constantly, for 60+ days, with plenty of help from his cadre of delusional personal advisors, and the fractured, dishonest, self-loathing Grand Old Republican Party.  

Donald Trump’s reality is unmasked. He is no super fixer, or a great negotiator, or a chronic - to the point of tiresome - winner. He is the greatest con played on America, not because of some nefarious intent, but because Donald Trump has always been a self-promoting, self-aggrandizing, moderately successful (in the true big leagues) phony, to whom lying comes all too easily and shame/embarrassment doesn’t register at all.

In the land of true business titans and mega-Billionaires, he is small time and suspect.

It may be possible, at times, he really believes the BS he slings without a thought. But what makes him particularly offensive is his propensity to attack others undeservedly, not to respect leaders and people greater than him - for example John McCain, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, or lesser than him – everyone - but particularly the handicapped reporter at the rally.  

His constant lying and pervasive hypocrisy, and his lack of remorse in hurting others, be they women, contractors that provided him services, or duped students to his fake Trump University, makes him quite detestable.  

Additionally, Trump doesn’t give a damn as long as his purpose is being served, and that makes him most dangerous as the President of the most powerful country in the World.

From here on out, as his in-capabilities become increasingly apparent and his failures mount, and he and the unstable, unhinged bunch that are his inner circle try to cover his incompetency, he is capable of saying and doing anything, and that is scary. Also what is particularly worrisome is that creating a crisis to cover his mounting problems, investigations and failures, would not be beyond him or them.  

Donald Trump, the ‘unmasked fake’, has already caused chaos in America in his first two months in power, and is under FBI counter-intelligence (possibly criminal) investigation for his and his team’s links to Russia, which is unprecedented.  

And with this latest and high profile setback of his healthcare initiative, in his typical remorseless manner, he openly threatened to ‘let ObamaCare explode’ with nary a thought as to how many millions of Americans would get seriously hurt. That is the true Donald Trump, uncaring and unfit to govern.