We
continue the herculean task of chronicling all the stupidity and incompetence
of the Trump administration. So far, we have covered the chaos and ineptitude jam-packed
into 356 days of life in Trumpistan.
Today,
as on so many other days, our topic is far more serious.
1/10: In an effort to put to rest reports he normally gibbers and drools during cabinet
meetings, on Tuesday, the president allowed cameras to roll during a lengthy
sit-down with members of Congress. For 55 minutes the entire world could watch as Trump acted presidential. He even talked about saving DACA, saying what was needed
was a “bill of love.”
Trump stared into
the cameras at one point and admitted he was open to comprehensive immigration reform. He as much as said, “I’ll sign just about anything Congress will put on my desk.
I’m getting bored talking about policy.
Even more surprising than what he said was what he didn’t. The president didn’t insult anyone during the meeting. He didn’t threaten to lock up
Hillary. He didn’t insist there was no collusion or collision or conclusion.
He seemed almost…normal.
(I, for one, began to
wonder if maybe Mitch McConnell had slipped a mickey into the president’s Diet
Coke.)
Of course, just as water
runs downhill and Planet Earth revolves around the sun, Trump couldn’t stay normal
for long. His bile rose again when he heard Senator Diane Feinstein had released
transcripts of testimony given months ago by GPS Fusion founders to a Senate
investigating committee. (Fusion is involved with the Steele dossier in case
you don’t know. And the Steele dossier, which has not been verified or
dis-proven yet, makes the president look very, very bad.)
Naturally, Vladimir’s Secret
Santa felt he had to lash out. You know what’s coming!
Trump Tweets!
It turns out the leader
of the executive branch had a number of grievances he felt compelled to air. He wasn’t
just mad at Feinstein. He was fuming over the actions of a federal judge who temporarily
blocked any move to roll back DACA protections for the 800,000
Dreamers, as they are known.
At this point, the whole
“acting presidential” shtick went out the White House window. Tappity-tap went the
presidential digits. At 9:11 a. m. Tweet #1 was birthed: “It just shows
everyone how broken and unfair [emphasis
added] our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA)
always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by
higher courts.”
Well, goddamn the U.S.
Constitution, you could almost hear Trump mutter to himself. The broken and unfair judicial
branch keeps doing its job of checking and balancing. In fairness to the Tweeter-in-Chief,
those of us who actually understand the way the Constitution works realize he may fairly
prevail in the face of this particular challenge. But the system is designed to work the way it
does, to limit any one person’s power, and the way it works infuriates the president.
Had he paid the least attention
in American history class in seventh or eighth grade—or had he listened
when an aide tried to explain the Constitution following his election—Trump might
know everything I’m about to say.
Any citizen has a right to go to court,
either to plead for legal remedy, or in their own defense. A federal case normally
begins in a U.S. District Court. The party that loses may be able to challenge
the court’s findings and carry the case to the U.S. Circuit Court level. From
there it might wend its way to Washington, D.C. and end up on the U.S. Supreme
Court docket. This is how the system has worked for 229 years.
Yet, Trump has repeatedly
balked at court decisions that stymie his moves and labeled the U.S. justice system a “disgrace.”
In point of fact, this triple level of protection and carefully
crafted web of judicial procedures are glories of our system of government. And
this system is under-girded by respect for rule of law.
Trump doesn’t like this system
at all.
Think how dangerous
this is. The President of the United States hates the way people who
oppose his policies or actions are able to retain lawyers and head for court. He finds legal protections enshrined in the Bill of Rights to be impediments.
He has said he wants to torture suspects to make them
talk. Why can’t he just do as he likes? If NFL players protest against him he labels them “sons
of bitches” and says they should lose their jobs. If the courts would work the
way he wants he would already have Hillary, who he has repeatedly labeled
a “criminal,” locked up tight—and maybe Barack Obama, too. He might throw
a few reporters in jail just for fun.
For Trump, the First Amendment has proved to be a terrible
pain in the cheeseburger-induced ass.
Having vented a bit of
spleen, the “very stable genius” in the Oval Office moved on to a fresh target of his wrath. He flexed his Twitter fingers, cracked his knuckles, and went after the
legislative branch.
Specifically, Senator Feinstein.
Tweet #2 came at 10:00 a.m.:
The
fact that Sneaky Dianne Feinstein, who has on numerous occasions stated that
collusion between Trump/Russia has not been found, would release testimony in
such an underhanded and possibly illegal way [emphasis added] totally without authorization, is
a disgrace. Must have tough Primary!
Fourteen minutes later Tweet
#3 followed:
The
single greatest Witch Hunt in American history continues. There was no
collusion, everybody including the Dems knows there was no collusion, & yet
on and on it goes. Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are
witnessing. Republicans should finally take control [emphasis added]!
Think about what this man is really tweeting. Would Trump like to lock up Feinstein too? He has already fired James Comey because he was heading up an investigation into his own campaign. What does Trump mean when he says he wants Republicans to take control? Control of everything? One party rule?
No doubt about this: Trump is right. Russia and the
rest of the world are laughing (“are” being good grammar, Mr. Tweeter). The
Russians are laughing because they have exactly the fool in the White House
they wanted.
The rest of the world
and most Americans are laughing (very nervously) because the world knows
and most of us know our president is first, second, third and always a fool.
What isn’t funny in the least is that Donald J. Trump is now a very powerful
and very dangerous fool.
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| A "very stable genius." |
