clown car shotgun

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“I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown.

It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.”

 

—–

Charlie Chaplin

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Ok.

 

30 days into the Trump presidency and here is a headline you most likely didn’t see:

 

Trump Fights For Oppressed Political Prisoner

President Trump met with Lilian Tintori, wife of Leopoldo Lopez who is the most well known political prisoner currently being held in Venezuela.

The Trump administration accused Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami of drug trafficking and imposed sanctions against him.

President Trump sent out a tweet saying “Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner & husband of @liliantintori (just met w/ @marcorubio) out of prison immediately.”

 

 

How about this one:

 

President Trump on Thursday signed legislation ending the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule

The rule is among the most controversial environment regulations the former administration put together. The coal mining industry said it would be costly to implement and lead to job losses across the sector, which is already suffering from a market-driven downturn in demand for its product.

 

Environmentalists supported the administration rule, saying it would protect waterways from pollution and preserve public health. They have criticized the GOP for repealing environmental rules in the name of supporting coal mining jobs, but doing little else to help displaced workers in mining areas.

 

Or how about this one:

 

A strong majority of Americans say the U.S. economy is running strong and most believe the upward trend will continue under President Trump, according to a Harvard-Harris poll.

us economy optimistic trump clown carThe survey found that 61% view the economy as strong, against 39% who say it is weak.

A plurality, 42%, said they believe the economy is on the right track, versus 39% who said it is on the wrong track.

 

Now.

The economy aside, Americans have a far more pessimistic view of the nation’s trajectory as a whole, with only 34% saying the country is on the right track, against 52% who say things are headed in the wrong direction <but, as I have noted before, at any given point in our history the majority of Americans are perpetually dissatisfied with the direction of the country>.

 

Look.

 

Whether you agree with his actions or not, in that time Trump has accomplished the following:

  • Freezing all federal hiring outside of the military <trying to take steps to shrink government spending>
  • Withdrew a motion filed by Obama seeking to allow men to use women’s bathrooms.
  • Barring U.S. government funding <tax payer’s money> to international non-governmental agencies that promote or perform abortions
  • Ordered federal agencies to cut two regulations for every new one they propose – decreeing that the net cost of any new regulation that is added after cutting the old regulations should be zero.
  • Hired three fabulous consistent & moral military people for Cabinet level positions <Kelly, Mattis, McMaster>
  • Putting out an Executive Order asking the DOJ and Homeland Security to withhold “federal funds, except as mandated by law” from sanctuary cities.
  • Approving the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone Pipeline.
  • Killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal.
  • Ordering the government to “exercise all authority and discretion available to them” to delay the law and grant exemptions to Obamacare
  • Ordering the construction of the Mexico border wall.
  • Selecting Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court.

 

I could point out that most of these are quasi-empty proclamations having some agency ‘review, report or consider’ with regard to existing practices and that any serious legislation has not even been proposed let alone implemented … but I will not.

 

Some shit is being done despite the appearance of a clown car careening down the road.

 

You know what?trump clown car yell bombast

 

Take away Trump talking <press conferences, foreign leader press announcements, the absurd filming of signing mostly PR ‘orders’, & tweets> we would look at this first month as maybe one that is simply an administration struggling to get its feet under it … but doing some small stuff while it gets its shit together.

 

No one will dispute that somehow his words on the campaign trail tapped into a % of Americans who had felt like they, and their thoughts, had been ignored … and many of his actions could be construed in some ways as ‘delivering on promises he made to this smaller group of people.”

The majority may not like it all but to that group he is certainly delivering upon his words.

 

Republicans overwhelmingly overlook all the trappings and focus solely on what they see as ‘actions they agree with.’

Even original skeptics, while remaining skeptical because of the trappings, remain hopeful as conservative actions appear on the horizon.

 

he slimed me trumpThe struggle with the actual actions is everything gets cloaked in … well … Trump slime.

 

Trump slime distorts the real things.

It exaggerates good, diminishes bad, is made up of a unique formula of uncertainties & lack of clarity, offers alternatives <facts & universes> and serves to only create difficulties in exactly describing what is, and isn’t, actually happening.

 

While accomplishing some things, which if discussed like a normal human being everyone would be fine with, the abnormal human being <called our President> say things like : “I don’t think there’s ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we’ve done” and … “we are running like a fine tuned machine.”

 

There are a couple problems with this.

The first is that we have eyes & ears. We can actually see what is going on and we can hear what people are saying <Trump included>.

 

The second?

Uhm.

Unfortunately for him his immediate predecessor achieved a lot more … as did others who actually prepared for day one legislation. But that really doesn’t matter … he is doing enough and making it look hopeful enough that a large swath of America is hanging on to the hope that despite the Trump slime good things will happen for America.

 

I imagine my point here is that we all know someone at work whose biggest fan is himself/herself. They exaggerate all their contributions and diminish & deflect any blame or negatives. Those people make it really difficult to compliment. Our first instinct is to try and deflate <or ‘right-size’> accomplishments so that even good gets diminished so it doesn’t get exaggerated. Unfortunately this sometimes means that even when credit is due the person has just made it hard for us to WANT to give them credit.

This is Trump <and media should take note of this>.

 

But going back to that Trump slime.

 

That slime is often discussed in a weird way. Weird in that his surrogates pound on the table adamant that he is ‘delivering on what he promised’ as if that is proof everyone should be comfortable.

Yeah.

What they seem to be missing is that for almost 60%+ of America, I would even imagine it being up to almost 75% if I include those who voted for him grudgingly, our only hope was that his campaign ‘promises’ were simply stupid rhetoric and not what he would actually do.

 

In fact … I could point out that many of these same surrogates tried to convince us we shouldn’t focus on what he says literally <oh, how wrong they were> but rather metaphorically … and then translated what he really meant to say <which they are still doing … which is slightly troubling to those of us who seem to want to demand I have a leader who can say something and we understand it>.

 

In fact, if anything, Trump’s first month in office, has been even more do i really look like a guy with a planbombastic, hollow, untruthful & destructive to core institutions & values of America than the Trump of the campaign trail would have prepared us for <who would have ever thought that could be possible after that heinously negative campaign>.

 

I am certainly not suggesting that there are not some “…. people across the country are recognizing these actions. Outside the bubble of Washington and the coastal cronies of the mainstream media, Americans are embracing a leader who speaks their language and acknowledges their problems.”

<albeit I think that lazy rhetoric of Washington and mainstream media as ‘the enemy’ crap is … well … lazy and simplistically untrue>

 

In fact.

 

Fulfilling his promises does not show the actions of a skilled CEO but rather a bumbling overwhelmed CEO focused on showing action to try and cover up incompetence and cover up the fact there is no plan <domestic or foreign>.

 

But that is nether here nor there for today.

 

Because even bumbling incompetent CEO’s can do some things right in a flurry of ‘doing shit.’

 

trump clown smail smugAs Trump and his clown car careen between appalling and appealing all within a deeply flawed thin skinned, selfish, vain, bullying character … he remains one thing on a consistent basis – the antithesis of the highly polished ineffective  politician who carefully calculates their words.

 

While he may be authentically incompetently horrible … he remains authentic – what you see is what you get.

 

Authentically speaking … he is not a fine tuned machine nor is his administration currently a fine tuned machine.

 

And if he didn’t try and slime us we would most likely give him a break on not being fine-tuned.

 

But he is oblivious to any responsibility in the whole thing <except his self-proclaimed productivity> and continues to slime everything he claims & says.

 

I dislike everything about Trump as a leader … but that said … I need him to do well … we need him to do well. 30 days in he is teetering in a precarious position trump confidence global lack pew clown… and that means the country teeters in a precarious position.

The country is certainly teetering internationally as global leaders not only dislike Trump their countries dislike Trump and have little confidence in him.

 

WE need him to get better and be better … soon. I tend to believe everyone, even his most diehard supporters, would like a slightly more polished presidential version … but I am just not sure it is within his DNA.

 

What I do hope is within his DNA is that he learns to listen to some of the smart people he has around him and actually do some of the things they suggest <although history shows he may fake listen and do whatever the last person told him>.

 

What I do hope is within his DNA is that he learns to have a plan <at some point> and offer some policy not transactions.

 

And.

 

What I do hope is that he can stop sliming us so that maybe we can give him some of the credit he may actually deserve without having to swallow that hard to do it.

 

clown car trump get out go

 

And.

 

 

Lastly.

 

I want everything to stop looking like a clown car because it is making America the laughing stock of the world.

 

 

 

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Written by Bruce