America Moves to the Dark Side
Reagan's 'Shining City on a Hill' seems a quaint aspiration in the new Age of Trump
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Donald Trump, a malignant narcissist, practicing sociopath, and convicted felon, has no use for the rules and norms of America’s constitutional order. Six weeks into his second stint as President, he and his band of tech-bros, right-wing ideologues, and sundry butt-kissers have taken a wrecking ball to the institutions of the federal government. Using the non-statutory authority of Presidential Executive Orders, Trump has unleashed a blitzkrieg of appointments of egregious misfits to powerful administrative posts, mass firings of career government employees in defiance of law, and the illegal impoundment of Congressionally-appropriated funds. Many of these actions are directed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who holds no appointed office but has sicced his data dogs on the bureaucracy in search of “waste and fraud”.1 Unsurprisingly, the blitz has already led to a torrent of lawsuits2 and increasingly angry reactions from citizens, particularly those who voted for Trump.
Chaos is the point of this. Monty Python told us that no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, but no one told 21st-century America not to expect the radical Project 2025 and Elon Musk sharing the reins of Presidential power. We have reached the find-out stage of our fucking around by electing a faux-populist wanna-be dictator.
So, as the institutions of the world’s most enduring democratic republic are being eviscerated to shift political power into the hands of a cabal of plutocrats and ideologues, the principles we long held to be permanent features of our society- our rights and freedoms, the rule of law, the commitment to liberty and equality- are, as Hamlet put it, “More honour’d in the breach than the observance“. In these early stages, we are left only with questions. Will the nation ever revert to what was once “normal,” or are the changes Trump seeks to impose indelible? How do we measure the damage done to a society beset by the divisiveness stoked by those seeking authoritarian power? Is there a scenario in which America displays the wherewithal to avoid the fate of previous republics? And if there is to be a renewal of America, where are the leaders to show us the way?
While we search for answers, we cannot ignore the obvious, that the havoc on the domestic scene pales in comparison to the diminution of America’s standing in the world. Trump’s myopic view of world affairs runs counter to the rules-based order the United States and its allies imposed on the world after their victory in World War II. Then, the goal was to avoid the cataclysms of future worldwide conflicts by creating a framework for peaceful coexistence and cooperation among nations. It is this framework that Trump is actively working to dismantle.
In several ways, Trump has made clear that he views interactions between nations as transactional. He accuses trading partners of “ripping us off” and bullies them into concessions with tariffs. This includes our top three trading partners (Mexico, Canada, and China).3 The increased costs are passed on to American businesses and consumers, fueling inflation. And when those nations enact retaliatory tariffs of their own, the result is a trade war. Trump’s tariff policies should be viewed as economic malpractice. A prime example is that Canada is now shipping its unrefined oil to Europe and China instead of the US.
Beyond the global economy, Trump’s America First foreign policy aims to distance the US from its long-standing allies, particularly in Europe. During his first term, he expressed a desire to leave NATO, the post-WWII alliance formed as a defense pact against potential Soviet Union (and now the Russian Federation) aggression. Since returning to office, he has informed the Europeans that he not only wants to withdraw American troops from the region but is pressuring our allies to pay subsidies for the remaining American military presence.4 The resemblance to an old-fashioned Mafia protection scheme is hard to miss.
This week, in the most dramatic action taken by the Administration to date, the US sided with Russia, China, North Korea, and several other nations in voting against a United Nations resolution labeling Russia as the aggressor on the third anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. It was the ultimate abdication of America as leader of the free world. In one symbolic, non-binding vote, we had aligned ourselves with the pariah state that Ronald Reagan called the ‘evil empire’.
The United States has crossed over to the dark side.
Coda
A meeting in the Oval Office today between President Trump and Vice-President Vance with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zenlensky deteriorated into a shouting match among the three men. The New York Times is reporting that:
President Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday in an explosive televised Oval Office shouting match that ultimately blew up plans to sign a rare minerals deal and signaled a dramatic break in relations between two wartime allies.
In a public confrontation unlike any seen between an American president and foreign leader in modern times, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance castigated Mr. Zelensky for not being grateful enough for U.S. support in its war with Russia and sought to strong-arm him into making a peace deal on whatever terms the Americans dictated.
With voices raised and tempers flaring, Mr. Trump threatened to abandon Ukraine altogether if Mr. Zelensky did not go along.
Two things are apparent from this debacle: One, Trump lacks the persuasive skills of a diplomat, relying instead on threats and bullying. Two, he feels more comfortable cozying up to dictators like Putin than the leader of a democracy. This ultimately leads to an isolated America. What he might achieve eventually is not America First, but American Alone.
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There are no precise definitions of either ‘waste’ or ‘fraud’.
From USAfacts.com: Combining imports and exports, the United States' top trade partner in 2023 was Mexico, with nearly $798 billion in goods and services exchanged between them. Following that were Canada ($773 billion) and China ($575 billion). These nations have been the US’s top three every annually at least 2009, accounting for 42% of all US trade in 2023.
As reported in Stars and Stripes
Having witnessed the unusual televised Oval Office Trump-Zelinskyy meeting today, I must differ with the online characterization of the meeting as a shouting match. That is, the only ones shouting were the President and Vice President. Watch carefully on news reruns. The Ukraine President has arms folded in defensive posture, not aggressive. His voice doesn't rise in volume like both American leaders. It was NOT a shouting match as billed by NBC news. More than most leaders, the Ukrainian has reason to dislike Trump and Vance. It was Trump who campaigned against Biden by trying to blackmail (with the strong assistance of Rudy Giuliani) the Ukes into framing Hunter Biden in 2016 with dastardly tricks that just didn't happen in return for future support. We all know how Trump keeps his word--NOT.
The continued drumbeat of Trump and sycophants bowing to Putin, dictator of Russia, and spewing his propaganda lines is sickening. Especially when nominal Republicans in Congress follow along in public while complaining about it in private. They are gutless in the face of bully Trump who has enough vicious followers in the Proud Boys, KKK, White Supremacists, 3-Percenters (hate group rated by the SPLC, Southern Poverty Law Center and others in the know) to make primaries rough for incumbents on the right. What they haven't learned is changing parties ala Sen. Kennedy of Louisiana who changed from Democratic office holder to Republican senator. The reverse is also possible in a state with a strong, large Democratic population like state-dominating New Orleans.
The economy is also something to watch. Promising in campaign speeches to bring down costs of living and the inflation rate, Trump all but abandoned the tact saying it's hard to affect food prices; his efforts to 'drill baby drill' are also defacto limited by American refineries already producing gasoline and other volatiles at capacity. No place to make more gas to drive down the prices domestically; and, you know the neighbors facing tariffs aren't likely to help. Refiners won't build more capacity as Trump is term-limited and Democrats may nix any federal assistance for building this infrastructure when Trump/Republicans are gone from office. Canada is already sending its crude oil abroad for refining, not to the USA. Plus tariffs starting soon to bite into domestic budgets will limit money to keep up with the expected expanding costs, if not profit margins, of daily necessities. Housing, likewise, isn't on Trump's agenda so rentals and new housing stock are increasing slower than the demand keeping prices up, though not at their peaks like during Biden's tenure. And clothing imported from China faces tariffs that raise the prices for consumers, not China. Trump knows nothing, or feigns ignorance at the fact that producers and distributors pass along raised prices to buyers. So forget about lower costs for food, clothes, gas and housing anytime during Trump-in-office.
Now look at the large number of people laid off or fired from government service, not lawyers. It's my guess that those not ready to retire are going to find it hard to get jobs at their qualification levels. How many transportation department workers can be absorbed in trucking, Uber/Lifting , cabbying and the like very quickly. Where do education clerks and others from that department go except into teaching which is also being driven into alternative Charter schooling with its lower pay. Invited to join a charter school in my career, I quickly found they couldn't pay my current salary unless I added non-classroom jobs to my workday. My reputation for good teaching depended on individualized instruction that eats up lots of time outside classes. Would married couples survive with the teacher gone from spousal and parental duties when extra time on the job would maintain the prior income level? I suspect that cost me two wives and a son with ordinary teaching time.
And which employers want to hire over-qualified professionals in a field for service beneath their capacity? A college educated, well trained worker reporting to a school of hard knocks boss???
So we're in for a rough 4 years with under employment, higher prices, fewer friends around the globe and the target of every two-bit terrorist who wants to take a bite out of America. And don't get sick as there will be no vaccines, ambitious doctors, cheap drugs and fewer hospitals shortly. Anybody signing up for Medicaid, or Advantage today. The calls will keep coming but who's switching plans in this healthcare neverland under RFK in HHS? And all the tricks used by Democrats to overcome the lack of dominance in Congress to vote good programs will be used now by Republicans in the majority to cut services for the hoi polloi and taxes for wealth people and companies. Can you feel the deficit ballooning already--going up 2.5 trillion in the upcoming budget bill in Congress? Get out your sign-makng materials and join the picket lines!!!
This is a good article. I hope it gets out to many different people because what you utter is cogent and well worth reading. I am going to refer my friends to your site and thanks for helping us. I’ll see the truth.