The President of the United States is as close to out of control as one of our presidents has ever been. The mass exodus among White House and cabinet staff has denuded the administration of checks on Donald Trump’s worst instincts. In just the last couple of weeks, he’s been trying, against massive amounts of pushback from just about everyone on the planet, to start trade wars with any takers. China has stepped into the ring, and our leader seems determined to go tit-for-tat with China’s response to Trump’s tariffs.
The uncertainty that Trump is inserting into our economy is causing wild swings in the stock market, as investors try to parse whether or not Trump will have follow-through on his wild pronouncements. This uncertainty hasn’t reverberated to the part of the economy with actual workers, yet, but the ripples are coming.
Also this past week, Trump revived his ban on transgender people serving in the military. To this point, it’s a mystery why this is such a bee in his bonnet. Someone must have whispered the idea into his ear early in his presidency and it was enough to make him speak out loud about it. He has been denied his wish to ban transgender troops at every step, but since he has the temperament of a toddler, Trump just can’t accept ‘no,’ so he keeps bringing it up like it’s an actual administration priority.
Also also this past week, Trump floated the idea of pulling American troops and support out of the Syrian Civil War. Sure, it would be nice if we could cross a country off of the list where we are currently at war, but when Donald Trump suggests ending a war, it’s certain that he hasn’t thought through any of the implications. In fact, it’s clear by this point in his presidency that he is incapable of understanding any implications of his policies in the first place. After much pushback from the Pentagon, Trump has backed down on this idea. But, since he was told ‘no,’ it should only be a month or so before the idea is revived.
Also also also this past week, and what accounts for the wildest nonsense coming out of the Oval Office, is Trump’s desire to militarize the southern border of the United States. This stems from his inability to get his stupid border wall built.
Despite what Trump tweets, the wall is not being built. The budget that he recently signed has barely any provision for it, and there is no serious planning or appropriations happening. Once again, little toddler Donnie is being told ‘no.’ He’s just smart enough to know this, so he’s throwing a temper tantrum. If Congress won’t fund his wall, then he’ll just redirect Pentagon money to build the wall. But, after someone pointed out to him that idea wouldn’t work, either, he took it to its next logical step. If he can’t have the military pay for the wall, he’ll just send the military to guard the border. After all, he’s the Commander-in-Chief, the military is his, he can do anything he wants with it. Right?
Here’s the timeline of the border wall, from back during Trump’s campaign to today, as formulated by reddit user u/AFlaccoSeagulls:
- The wall is just a metaphor, not a real thing
- The wall is totally a real thing
- Mexico is going to pay for it
- Mexico is going to reimburse us at a later date after we impose import taxes
- Congress will pay for the wall and Mexico will reimburse us
- Congress will pay for the wall
- The wall will pay for itself from all the economic winning
- The military will pay for the wall
- The military is the wall <—- We are here
This man is dangerously incompetent, but also dangerously efficient. He has no clue what the powers and responsibilities of the presidency are, and he has no desire to learn. His sense of power, and it’s truly ruthless, is to do what he wants and see if anyone out there has the power to stop him. It’s the instinctual leadership style of a despot, and works so well because he fears no confrontation. If there is power to be had, Trump will take it. It is up to members of his administration and the other branches of the government to stop Trump. They have to be willing to take some punches, and hit back at every opportunity.
If Congress was fighting back to the degree which they should, Trump’s presidency would already be relegated to the dustbin. Since the day he took the oath of office he has been in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which is an impeachable offense, as he is abusing his office for personal profit. So, even without proof of collusion with Russia to win the election or proof of obstruction of justice, there is already more than enough awful behavior to throw this scoundrel out of office. So far, what Congress has been willing to do, and it’s only slightly more than nothing, is pass a budget that basically ignores anything Trump wants. That’s cute, but it’s like trying to put out a house fire with a garden hose. Sometime soon, Trump is going to get us into some bad, bad trouble. It sure would be nice if Congress could show him the door before this happens.