A Toddler in a China Shop With a Shotgun
Nothing good can happen when a needy, insecure narcissist is given the awesome power of the American Presidency
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Disbelief is in the eye of the beholder
For those Americans who did not vote for Donald Trump, for Democrats and independents, for the Kamala and Hillary supporters, and Never Trump Republicans, the first four months of Trump v.2 have painted a bleak picture against the backdrop of 250 years of the world’s most enduring democracy. Forget American Exceptionalism; what the country- and the world- has gotten is economic instability due to the President’s tariff lunacy. Forget the Constitution’s aspirations “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”, Trump is too busy with self-dealing, using his office to enrich himself and his family and cronies in myricad corrupt schemes. He is like Sheriff Cobb in the movie Silverado (1985), a career criminal who is the chief law officer in the town.1
The tsunami of corruption- the crypto coin scams, the undeserved pardons indiscriminately handed out, the extortion of law firms and media companies, the threats against prestigious universities, and the secret police-style rounding up of immigrants by masked men- overwhelms the senses. Keeping up with the daily outrages- the hollowing out of executive branch agencies by Elon Musk’s unelected DOGE bureaucrats, or declaring sketchy emergencies so he can invoke emergency powers, like deploying the military to the streets of Los Angeles, leave people numb. It is the realization of Steve Bannon’s plan to “flood the zone with shit”.
Trump’s actions flout traditional norms of political behavior. Some are criminal, falling outside the immunity that the Supreme Court decided accompanies the official duties of a President. Others are plainly unconstitutional. If the norms, laws, and court rulings leave a crack of daylight, Donald Trump relentlessly slips through it. As David Frum writes in The Atlantic:
Nothing like this has been attempted or even imagined in the history of the American presidency. Throw away the history books; discard feeble comparisons to scandals of the past. There is no analogy with any previous action by any past president. The brazenness of the self-enrichment resembles nothing seen in any earlier White House. This is American corruption on the scale of a post-Soviet republic or a postcolonial African dictatorship.
Let’s not equivocate about the damage being done to our representative democracy- it’s enormous. But it’s also true that the Administration’s approach to what it presents as policy has been clumsy at best, and chaotic in toto. The DOGE assault on the civil service resulted in the loss of government services and, ironically, in light of its stated mission, a loss of efficiency with nowhere near the promised cost savings. The mass deportation operation is long on Stasi-like thuggery but short on legal rigor and is being stymied by the Federal courts.2 Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’, the budget reconciliation bill passed by the House but currently stalled in the Senate, would contribute trillions to the deficit if enacted.3 The tariff seesaw not only injected a heavy dose of turmoil into the global economy, but the roiling of the securities markets proved to be a boon to some, notably Trump and those close to him.4
The Toddler Overreaches
The game plan of would-be dictators is to obliterate the truth and destroy the public’s trust in democratic institutions. It is the plan Trump is following, but there is an obvious flaw- Trump himself. The internal struggle between his narcissistic ego and his deep-seated inferiority complex is barely hidden behind his sociopathic persona. He cannot admit to anyone, including himself, that he lacks the intellect and courage of a true leader. He seeks acclaim and lies about his accomplishments even when he fails. He is a bully who punches down, attacking those he considers weak. When challenged, he gives in, but then claims victory. He is the Taco Man (Trump Always Chickens Out).
He treats the Presidency as he did his role on The Apprentice, as a reality TV character. He is, in the current vernacular, ‘cosplaying’ as President. And that is exactly why he is a threat to the Republic. We are ten percent through his term and Trump has:
Appointed a motley crew of misfits and ideologues to positions of authority in the national security and military establishmenst.
Enabled Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE, which is not an actual executive agency and is staffed by unelected bureaucrats), to wreak havoc on the government.
Without legal authority, fired inspector generals, the watchdogs of the executive branch, from multiple agencies, including those who oversee the operations of businesses of Trump and his cronies (e.g. the SEC).
Attempted to remove the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship
In defiance of both the law and the Federal judiciary, deported immigrants and others without due process.
Initiated a campaign of terror against immigrant communities by having unidentified, masked agents seize people off the street, in courthouses when they lawfully appear for immigration hearings, at schools when they are picking up their children, and at places where immigrant workers shape up for jobs as day laborers.
He may be the President and wield great power, but he seems unaware that such power is a double-edged sword: it must be used wisely, or it will work against him. A pathological liar, Trump incessantly overpromises and overreaches. A case in point is now on full display in Los Angeles: Attempting to fulfill his promise to take a tough stand on illegal immigrations, Trump launched a campaign by ICE to seize and deport as many persons as possible regardless of their immigration status. ICE raids on workers gathering at Home Depots sparked large protests. While the crowds were mostly peaceful, there were enough incidents of violence that Trump saw it as an opportunity and called out the California National Guard5 (illegally, of course, since he did not receive a request to do so from Governor Gavin Newsome). When Newsome protested, Trump doubled down by deploying more Guard troops and sending in a battalion of US Marines, raising fears of a confrontation between the uniformed military and American citizens.
It is too early to label the situation in Los Angeles as an inflection point, as the moment Trump’s miscalculation and overreach begin to weaken him politically. It is unlikely that Trump will back down. Like a dog with a bone, Trump will not let go of of what he views as his signature issue. Today (June 11), The Washington Post is reporting that “Trump to ramp up transfers to Guantánamo, including citizens of allies.” Sooner or later, his continual phucking around will land him in the Find Out stage.
Strong Man, Weak Man: A Comparison
I’m old enough to remember that, during the campaign, Trump said repeatedly he could end the war in Ukraine “on Day 1”. Memory lapses are not unusual for someone his age, so maybe he doesn’t remember when Day 1 is. Or perhaps the self-proclaimed master dealmaker should get Tony Schwartz6 to negotiate for him. Despite his promises, he found his desire to be seen a “great peacemaker” frustrated by Vladimir Putin’s stalling and Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky’s insistence on not relinquishing territory to Russia. So Trump, having verbally attacked Zelensky during an Oval Office meeting in February (Trump told Zelensky), “You have no cards.”) , dropped out of the peace process. To date, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have n ot produced a ceasefire.
On June 1, Ukraine launched Operation Spider Web, a drone attack on Russian military airbases that destroyed a number of bombers. The next day, Ukraine detonated underwater explosives, damaging the Kerch Bridge connecting occupied Crimea to Russia. Ukraine apparently has cards to play. And it has a President who knows how to lead and how to unite the people of his nation.
In February, 2022, when Russian troops were closing in Kiev, the US offered to evacuate Zelensky and his family from the country. He refused, famously stating, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,”
If the roles were reversed, do we believe Donald Trump could utter those words?
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Early in the movie, Paden (Kevin Kline), a down-on-his-luck ex-outlaw, encounters his former gang leader, Cobb (Brian Dennehy), in town. Paden turns down Cobb’s offer of a job, saying he’s given up his outlaw ways. Cobb tells him he has, too: He now has a legitimate job. Paden is doubtful.
“You've got a legitimate job.? “ Cobb pulls open his jacket to reveal his sheriff’s badge. “This is mighty sweet, Paden. I think I finally found my place in the world.”
Being the chief law enforcement officer and the most notorious criminal in town would indeed be a sweet deal. Even sweeter to be the President of the United States.
We should remember that Trump lobbied the Senate to defeat the bipartisan immigration reform bill in February, 2024 because he wanted to run on the issue. He wanted the result we see now: ICE agents seizing people off the street.
In May, Moody’s downgraded the US credit rating down from AAA to AA+. Competitors Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s had done so previously. The result is upward pressure on interest the Treasury must pay to attract buyers for its offerings. Greater interest payments will add to the government’s budget deficit.
On the podcast Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, business professor Galloway pointed out that Trump’s announcement of tariffs and pauses led to predictable reactions from markets that worked for certain investors.
Galloway: This [the on and off and on agan tariffs] is nothing but a weapon of insider trading. And that is, he can create volatility. He can take markets up to some of the biggest gains in history when he takes these ridiculous trades [tariffs] off the table. He can take markets down and the people around him are trading stocks like fucking crazy…
The nation's top cop is the Attorney General. Pam Bondi on April the second sold somewhere between one and five million in Trump Media stock. Why April 2nd? That was the same day the Liberation Day tariffs were announced. So we have the person supposedly ensuring the markets have rule of fair play is trading stocks the day her boss announces tariffs that will take the markets down. She sells a ton of stocks.,.. They are trading in and out of the market based on who knows what, when. Huge spike in options volume right before he makes these announcements which means that people know something. ..
An ironic move in light of the fact that Trump did not call out the D.C. National Guard when the mob he incited stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 .
Tony Schwartz is the ghostwriter of The Art of the Deal, which was credited to Trump.
It may be an old goal of Trump to leverage control of United States as President to secure Trump Tower Moscow, but old habits die hard. With 3 Middle East Trump Towers emerging, the urgency of catering to Putin for access to Moscow real estate is waning. We can judge so by the acts of Trump toward Ukraine-Russia peace talks that are going nowhere. Putin is intransigent; Zelinskyy won't give up territory. But the supply chain of armaments to Ukraine is/has dried up; Putin's foot dragging leading to peace talks are being accepted by the president.
So Trump is still driving down ole America in economics, culture, alliances and more. Tariffs are solving nothing with friend or foe to redress any former trade imbalances in any hemisphere or continent. We all know Trump slept through his Wharton class on foreign trade--doesn't know or care, if he knows, that tariffs punish consumers not suppliers of goods. He's raising prices on most everything that comes here from abroad. That spells inflation down the road a few months or year from now--raising family costs it's estimated from one to $4,000.
Using the excuse of an immigrant invasion, he is deporting, or is it shanghaiing, non-whites from streets, schools, courts hearings with unmarked vehicles and masked thugs--ala Portland several years ago. That puts millions of DACA dreamers, migrant workers, bonafide green card holders, foreign students and Americans in general into jeopardy. The goons immediately transport captured individuals across state lines without legal representation or Miranda rights, and often right onto planes to Guantanamo and El Salvador prisons and elsewhere, sometimes within days.
That causes those with darker complexions to fear lone travel outside of homesteads. Meanwhile books are burned that contain DEI diversity, equality and inclusion notions anathema to white supremacists in charge of Trump's policing forces; Ivy League universities are extorted for control of curricula and operations under threat of withdrawn grant funds, their lifeblood; parents continue to remove their children from public schools for unaccountable charter schools; rhetoric of invading sanctuary cities and states turns to National Guard federalizing with regular troops mobilized to support ICE immigration and customs enforcement police in Blue cities, starting with Los Angeles.
Abroad Trump openly rejects NATO and European Union treaties and shared intelligence findings, urges Russian president Putin to invade former East Bloc nations, sits mute while Israel's Bebe threatens war on Iran while starving Gaza citizens. We know this is in favor of foreign dictators Trump likes because he's silent about every one of them and the gains they make with American preoccupation with Trump pot-stirring. Whether Trump is following Project 2025 ultra-conservative moves knowingly or ignorantly, his staff steams full speed ahead to trash our Constitution and the rule of law.
Every White House move neglects laws and Constitutional conventions using arcane and obscure laws or loopholes to justify his moves. His cabinet members when affected by actions knee-jerk support their leader, lying and obfuscating about justifications or goals/aims. Congress is either silent like the Senate's new Thune leadership or obsequiously vague about backing whatever the dear leader wants or has done. There isn't a Red backbone to be found after the rhetoric of condemnation is quickly silenced. The Big Beautiful bill that sucks funds from Medicare, Medicaid, stops food stamps and distribution of infrastructure funds, stops nuclear power plant construction, wind and solar reimbursements, inhibits storage battery development, cuts funds for schools, hospitals and social security, and initiates trillion dollar tax cuts for millionaires awaits Senate passage and presidential signing.
You couldn't script the last 5 months degradation of American life in a nightmare or TV story line. Courts can only deny illegal moves when suits are filed by civil rights groups, and those can be appealed, the ones that survive factual inspection, into the distant future without estopple, depending on the judge involved, or adjudication continues at snail's pace while the dirty moves continue. Meanwhile big business says nothing, hoping for eventual stability, refusing to rebuff their deregulator, and awaits the windfall tax bonanza to come; Supreme Court lays low trying to protect the Chief Justice's reputation; Red States remain silent hoping to maintain control in upcoming elections in the face of public demonstrations about immigration and personal rights; DNC the Democratic National Committee settles it's leadership internecine warfare; and potential Democratic leadership licks it's election loss wounds while regrouping to allow emergence of new leadership while older leaders like Clinton, Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Walz keeping mum for the most part when they should be encouraging the nation to resist, giving direction on how to slow deterioration of everything, and assisting civil rights groups to stop the juggernaut trashing the country. Let's hope the people rise up for every election to throw out the bastards and elect democracy defenders, activist leaders, moral and ethical practitioners, and future-looking leaders that appeal across the political spectrum. The world wonders. . .