Seemingly
more interested in “ratings” than executing his agenda, Trump has had one of
the most inauspicious starts to a Presidential term. His poll and favorability
ratings are falling, his claims of a mandate misguided and his promises to the
people who voted for him already in tatters.
There is
a surreal element to a President being labelled a liar after only three days in
the White House, not only by the New
York Times but the Wall
Street Journal, for continuing to claim that at least three million
Americans voted illegally – all for Hillary Clinton, of course. But that was
just the latest lie in the past five days, with the other about the size of the
crowd that witnessed his inauguration (NYT).
Both issues, along with his incessant bragging about the number of people
cheering him on at the CIA this past
weekend, all reinforce the notion that Trump will run the country as he did The Apprentice, based predominantly on
ratings, and that the truth is an inconvenience he is not terribly interested
in supporting.
Of
course, if Trump only cared about his ratings and popularity, there would be
little reason for fear. The problem is the very real policies he is already
starting to pursue, including an agenda to undermine any attempts to deal with
global climate change (The
Free Thought Project), an isolationist cum imperialist foreign policy that
hearkens back to the Monroe Doctrine (Salon),
an anti-labor stance that appears set to hurt the average American worker even
more than the 40-year attack on their wages and benefit (Morning
Consult), and the realization of his anti-immigrant, anti-feminist,
anti-LGBT campaign rhetoric (CNN).
Of
course, with the Orwellian ramblings of his Press Secretary Sean Spicer (Raw
Story) and aid Kellyanne Conway (Crooksandliars),
who is much smarter than the media gives her credit for being, it might be hard
to know what Trump is actually thinking, except for his continued addiction to
twitter (Business
Insider). Trump appears to live in a bubble that mixes his megalomaniacal
nature with one of the most easily bruised egos of any leader in the world.
Since his popularity is likely to decrease over time, who knows how he will
confront the increasingly vociferous attacks of not only his enemies but former
supporters.
The real
problem, as I’ve written before, is the general direction he appears poised to
take the country. He has selected an administration team made up of individuals
who generally detest the very offices they will head, of millionaires and
billionaires who consistently support corporate interests over those of
American citizens and filled with far too many members of an alt-right that has
just been fully mainstreamed, a mere six years after the Tea Party took them
from the fringe to the seat of American political power. His agenda will be
uber-nationalistic, pro-corporate, anti-environment, anti-Muslim,
anti-feminist, anti-poor and working class, anti-environment, anti-science and
anti-truth.
At its
core, the administration appears to be fulfilling our worst fears – an acceleration
of the march toward fascism. If that sounds extreme, think of how fascism rose
in the past. It’s central tenets revolve around manipulating the truth to serve
their interests, merging politics with the corporate power structure,
uber-nationalism, scapegoating one or more groups that are already oppressed,
controlling the media, using militaristic rhetoric (if not action), building
coalitions around hate and attempting to quash all attempts at dissent. Fascism
essentially begins with this last element, controlling the flow of information
so that critique is eliminated through intimidation, control and, if necessary,
violence. But we have seen each element of these tenets promoted by our new
President and his most fervent supporters.
Only the
future will tell whether his supporters continue to believe his bluster and misinformation
campaign as they see their quality of life decline and the country itself fall
into peril.
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