March 1-7, 2017: Trump Discovers a Poll He Likes

 

March 1, 2017: Trump earns praise from pundits, left and right, for his speech to Congress the night before. On this fine morning polls show 78% of those who listened responded positively. 

These polls are not “rigged.”

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3/2/17: The Illinois offices of the Caterpillar Corporation are raided by federal agents in an investigation into tax fraud begun during the Obama administration. Caterpillar is accused of using illegal tricks to hide money in Switzerland, pay 4-6% in taxes, and live greedily ever after. 

Estimates put the loss to the U.S. Treasury at $2.4 billion, enough, if you’re a Trump fan to pay for a good portion of the proposed 1,954-mile border wall.

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3/3/17: A Sikh gentleman, born in India and living near Seattle, is approached in his driveway, and shot by a white assailant. The gunman shouts, “Go back to your own country.” (See: 2/22/17 and 7/16/19.) 

In other words, illegal immigrant criminals aren’t our only problem, and a wall isn’t going to help in this regard. 

In the first month after Trump is elected the Southern Poverty Law Center logs 1,064 hate crimes (thirteen are later found to be unfounded). These include 26 against Trump supporters.  

All hate crimes are repellent. 

 

POSTSCRIPT: People in the U.S. are ten times more likely to be killed by guns than people in 22 other high-income nations. A child in the U.S. has a far greater chance of being killed in an accidental shooting than he or she does by an illegal immigrant. (See: 6/24-25/17.)

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3/4/17: The Tweeter-in-Chief stuns rational citizens when he unleashes a flurry of tweets, accusing the previous administration of illegally tapping his phones. “How low has President Obama gone to tapp [sic] my phones during the very sacred election process,” he tweet-fumes. 

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“Bad (or sick) guy!”

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“This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!” 

The heads of the F.B.I. and N.S.A. deny his claim. The head of N.S.A. calls it “ridiculous.” (See also: 3/5/17.)

 

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OLIGARCHS ROUND THE WORLD: A Chinese news agency reports that 200 delegates to the nation’s parliament (in a communist country!) have a combined wealth equal to $500 billion.

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3/5/17: On Meet the Press former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper rejects the president’s claim that the Obama administration tapped Trump Tower. Trump probably misses his comments because he is spending Sunday morning watching Fox & Friends and tweeting ideas he copies from the show. Trump also salivates watching Abby Huntsman.

Trump loves watching Fox & Friends.
Abby Huntsman, above.

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3/6/17: Travel ban 2.0 is issued, but won’t go into effect till March 16, to avoid the wild disruptions that greeted the first ban. (The administration denies there were any wild disruptions.) 

This time, Iraq is dropped from the list of countries from which immigrants will not be allowed. 

The courts block 2.0, too. 

(Trump later prevails at the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s how checks and balances work, even if he doesn’t like it.)

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3/7/17: Trump takes a long afternoon nap. For 65 uninterrupted minutes nothing bad happens. (Okay, that one’s made up.)