Beneath the Spin * Eric L. Wattree
DONALD TRUMP: A FOOL WITH THE POWER TO DESTROY THE WORLD
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Can you even imagine Barack Obama using empty and immature language like that to attack even his worst enemy and biggest critic? Of course not - because President Obama was a mature adult who recognized that one of the most important tools in a leader’s toolbox is gaining and holding on to the world’s respect, and the very best way to do that is by always maintaining presidential decorum, not getting into spitball fights over twitter like a 7 year-old playing in a sandbox.
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Now that's the way you deal with a critic, with class, good humor, dignity, and the understanding that criticism comes with the job. But Trump’s behavior in this regard brings worldwide shame and embarrassment upon the American people. Who wants to see the leader of their nation jumping up and down in a childish snit, and stomping his feet and name-calling like a spoiled brat on an unsupervised playground? Nobody - it's an embarrassing thing to watch. Thus, as a direct result of Trump's childlike behavior, other leaders around the world no longer take either Trump or the American people seriously. In a little over a year with Trump at the helm, the United States has gone from a respected leader of the free world, to a nation that's being ignored on most serious matters, but managed, to make sure it’s idiot leader won’t blowup the world. We're treated like a reckless kid that needs to be watched at all times.
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So Donald Trump is not looked upon as a legitimate president, he’s seen throughout the world as a very bad international joke, but a dangerous one. Like the vast majority of the American people, the international community recognizes that Trump doesn’t think. In the past year or so he’s been in office it’s become increasingly apparent that in order to accommodate his obvious insecurity, he’s developed a narcissistic and self-aggrandizing personality that’s completely oblivious to everything else. That makes him totally incapable of considering what’s in the best interest of either America or the world, because he’s so completely absorbed in what’s in his own best interest that he never gives it a second thought. That makes him a dangerous man, because if he thinks a limited nuclear attack on the North Koreans will raise his poll numbers, it’s a done deal. And in spite of the fact that he managed to get 5 deferments to avoid his own military service, he’s fully capable of sending our troops to their deaths just to defend his fragile ego.
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Former FBI Director James Comey pointed out this flaw in Trump’s character in his book, “A Higher Loyalty.” He indicated that when he briefed Trump on the ‘Steele Dossier” by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligent agent, which recounted alleged instances of how the Russians interfered in the 2016 election and had collected evidence that could be used to compromise Trump - like video of a sexual escapade that Trump allegedly had with Russian prostitutes where the women were peeing on one another - Trump was more interested in how he could protect himself against the potential embarrassment of the escapade than he was in how we could protect the United States from future Russian meddling in our elections. He didn’t even seem to be interested in the subject - it was all about him, and HIS image.
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And then there’s the matter of Trump’s proposed military parade, supposedly to honor our troops, but actually, as a salute to to himself. Trump has ordered the pentagon to organize a huge military parade to be held in Washington, D.C. in the very near future. While several other countries routinely stage such parades as a part of their national tradition, the United States as a rule has shied away from that kind of military muscle-flexing except upon return of our troops from overseas and to punctuate the end of foreign wars. But in spite of that, Trump demanded, ‘I want a parade like the one in France [on Bastille Day],’ a military official told The Washington Post.” Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the parade that George H.W. Bush gave after the Gulf War was $21 million. So Trump wants to throw millions of dollars away on a whim to honor himself - and that’s in spite of the fact that the GOP wants to cut Social Security, Medicare, and other programs for the American people.
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In addition, Military.com, reported the following:
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The Trump budget “would cap the next military pay raise; hike healthcare fees ‘modestly’ for working-age military retirees, and increase co-payments on pharmacy drugs for TRICARE beneficiaries, including retirees of any age.” It goes on to say, the “administration has fresh cost-cutting plans. Many target federal civilian employees but one that would hit 208,000 seriously disabled older veterans particularly hard. These “IU” veterans have disability ratings from the Department of Veterans Affairs of 60 to 90 percent, but because they aren’t able to work they receive VA compensation as if 100-percent disabled. Individual Unemployability or IU status provides, on average, an additional $1300 a month in VA disability pay. The administration wants Congress to end IU eligibility next year for any veteran 62 and older who qualifies for at least minimum Social Security payments. Their VA compensation would be rolled back to amounts payable based on their actual disability ratings of 60 to 90 percent.”
.So while Trump claims to want to honor our military with a parade, his budget doesn't seems to reflect a concern for our military veterans at all. It seems more like a document designed to rob veterans in order to help finance his egregiously vulgar tax cut for the rich - so egregious, in fact, that it's left average Americans $1.5 TRILLION in debt.
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Retired Major General Paul Eaton penned what some have referred to as a "jaw-dropping" response to Trump's call for a military parade. The general said the following:
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| MAJOR GENERAL PAUL EATON |
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“The military is not Donald Trump’s to use and abuse in this way.” The retired major general went on to say that the military would not be “reduced to stagecraft to prop up Donald Trump’s image.
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“Unfortunately, we do not have a commander in chief, right now, as much as we have a banana republic strong man.”
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So the stakes are much too high for us to continue to tap dance around this issue - Donald Trump is unstable; we all know it, and the heads of state of all of the nations of the world know it. In fact, many of our long-time allies are distancing themselves from us for just that reason. Due to Donald Trump, America is no longer being led by the best among us, but the loudest, most obnoxious, and craziest among us, and he's flooding our government with more just like himself on a daily basis. That's not only a huge threat to our democracy, but to our very existence. And further. we cannot trust this man's judgement, that's why his attorneys don't want him to be interviewed by Special Prosecutor Mueller. What if Trump's approval ratings fall into the twenties and he decides that the best way to get them back up is to engage in a "limited" nuclear exchange with North Korea, or if Kim Jong Un says or does something that fractures Trump's fragile ego or sense of narcissism? A simple slight could lead to the end the world.
Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.