To the surprise of many, following election day, where results were uncertain, and the front pages of many of the nation’s daily newspapers bannered that uncertainty, it finally became official that Donald J. Trump had indeed won the American presidency, if only by a slim margin. What ensued, on Inauguration Day, after a brief thumbs up sign,was a short inaugural speech that said little, and promised much. Then the bedlam began: first there was the chaotic first press conference with seemingly everyone, screaming and shouting questions, and Trump giving snarky answers and pithy putdowns, accompanied by a noise level akin to Barnum and Bailey; an unprecedented scene from the elegant and historic East Room of the White House, under the watchful gaze of George and Martha Washington, from their gilt framed portraits.
Then there was the implementation of the travel ban against those travelling from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea. The ensuing chaos at the nation’s airports gave more credence to the ethos of Steve Bannon, an advisor plucked from the alt-right press, who bent toward chaos, and got it. With his removal and the challenge from the appeal courts the ban is now in place while the appeals court follows procedure, in a move from the Supreme Court, who in an unsigned order said that the ban could remain; and seemed to suggest that Trump was not exceeding his constitutional powers with immigration laws, and does not reflect an anti-Muslim bias. Critics do not agree, and the Administration is not entirely happy with less than a full court press.
As each new day dawned the president was front and center news with his incessant tweets, attacking everyone,(including GOP leaders) , obscuring the facts, and even downright lying; there were calls to pull the plug. When someone did just that, many applauded. Upon its restoral, some saw the role of advisor to favourite daughter, Ivanka, that she could control her father. Yet, nothing or no one could, even bringing in the Marines, in the role of chief of staff, with General John Kelly, did no good, Trump kept keeping on, keeping on, despite charges that the West Wing resembled an adult day care facility.
Race has seemed to plague Trump in the White House with charges that he is a racist, and while some have begun to accept the label, despite his denials, his early campaign to deny President Obama his tenure, claiming that he was foreign born, buttressed by his attacks on the protest against racial profiling by some American police, from mostly black players made many pause. That was lifted after the demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va, over the threatened removal of statues of Confederate leaders,erupted with a stream of tiki lantern carrying white supremacists marching on a rather ragtag assembly of local protesters, mostly undergraduate students from the University of Virginia. Things got ugly when a protester was killed by a car that ran over a young woman.
Trump’s response waffled at best, and was less than what was expected from the chief executive. Writing during that time, I noted, “Trump was also criticized for a slow response to the incident, and when he did, did not call out, or identify such people as David Duke, a Klan member, (who was present) or even the Klan itself, (which was there), among other groups present, is ironic, for he continually criticized President Obama, during terrorist attacks for not saying, “radical Muslim extremists.” He after a more equivocal response backtracked, on a trip to New York and said that there was fault on both sides. The die was cast.
Concern among GOP leaders was unequivocal in its condemnation of both the march and the death; and some including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted privately that the president did not know how to govern, and did not want to learn. All of this was against the clear evidence that Russia had intervened in the 2016 election, and that the possibility that Trump was linked to that effort, in his desire to thwart Hillary Clinton in the presidential campaign; as belief supported by both the FBI and CIA. While the president denied the charges, credible reports showed that his son-in law Jared Kushner, had secret talks with Russian officials to establish a back channel, without informing the U.S. government. With most people believing that this was done with Trump’s full knowledge, his polls fell and fell some more when Paul Manafort, a campaign official was charged with further collusion.
Soon after rumors swirled across the supper tables of Georgetown, as well as the local diner, that Trump was money laundering, as well as cavorting with Russian prostitutes. To separate the wheat from the chaff, the esteemed Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to lead an investigation, that is still ongoing. Seasoned observers where beginning to think of Trump making Richard Nixon and the Watergate break-in looking like kindergartners. But, the seriousness, and the Trump administration's ineptitude at crafting meaningful legislation was beginning to take its toll, as conservative critics were equally incensed that Obamacare was still in place, and the wall between Mexico was not.
Efforts to repeal Obamacare fell flat more than once with the last iteration from Sens.Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. With the CBO stating that 13 million Americans would lose coverage, the law, officially known as the Affordable Care Act, they got a chilly reception from constituents who acknowledged, along with their medical providers, how much the ACA helped them with preventive measures, as well as emergency surgery.
With hands wrung on both sides of the aisle, and aching for a victory, the GOP dominated Congress passed a tax reform bill that solidified great tax cuts for the wealthy and cleverly using the rules, gave temporary tax cuts to some people, depending on where they lived, while capping state and local tax deductions, and the popular homeowner deduction, under the guise that a simplified system would benefit individuals, while the corporate tax would provide trickle down benefits; a charge not seen since the Reagan administration.
Declaring a victory, and soothing some Republican nerves, the Act gives cover to some officials, but not to those in high tax states such as New York, or California, who lose more than gain benefits. Riding on this success, the GOP is looking forward to infrastructure change - much needed effort and one that should include the Democrats; but hovering in the background is Speaker of the House Paul Ryan ready, and now emboldened, to try to slash away at Medicaid and Medicare, his long held wish.
If you are experiencing any problems viewing this post, as a Chrome user, please use IE. Blogger is experiencing some technical problems. My apologies.
No comments:
Post a Comment