It's been a little unnerving this week watching Donald Trump's descent into lunacy.
If you're having trouble keeping up with the Madness of Donald, Vox has a handy summary but it only covers Monday to Wednesday. There's a lot you have to add onto that to make it a week. Today, for example, the Orange Bloat branded the chairman of the Federal Reserve an 'enemy' for complaining that Trump's erratic trade wars were making the bank's job chaotic. Right after that Trump 'hereby ordered' American corporations to abandon China and come home.
There are websites now, such as 'What the Fuck Just Happened Today' that keep a daily log of this lunatic's ramblings.
Yesterday, for example, senior Republicans had to intervene to derail Trump's plan to cut $4 billion in foreign aid. Trump then mused about issuing an executive order to end 'birthright citizenship,' something that is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Trump appeared before a veterans' group, telling the audience that he wanted to award himself the Medal of Honor only his aides said he couldn't. A guy can always dream, I suppose.
Trump is plainly showing signs of steadily worsening mental deterioration. It's no longer just a matter of endless, self-serving and grandiose lies. Yet there's no sign of anyone around him considering removing Trump from office as provided for under the 25th Amendment. Why not?
Could it be that Trump is someone's useful idiot?
The law books are full of cases of the unscrupulous taking advantage of the mentally impaired, especially if they're wealthy or powerful.
Cui bono? Who stands to gain from Trump's mental infirmities? Take a few minutes. Ask yourself who benefits from keeping Trump inside the Oval Office. You'll need a pen and paper, trust me.
There are the obvious names - Putin, Netanyahu, Kim Jong Un and the broader Thug Club. There are people who benefit enormously from an erratic, enfeebled White House. There are others who reap more tangible gains such as America's richest of the rich, the oligarchs, corporations liberated from unwanted regulations. There is the radical right that now have their own, especially John Bolton, in senior cabinet posts. There are the white supremacists, the neo-nazis, the gun nutz - they love Trump. He may be a mental basket case but he has a lot of fans who
For some, Trump is tax cuts the nation cannot afford. For others, Trump is a blank cheque for utterly reckless military spending. The Christian Right love the guy no matter that there's not a Christian instinct in their president - they want, he delivers.
For some, Trump is a wrecking ball seemingly eager to tear down the very alliances that were instrumental to America's rise to power and global security.
Mad or not (just kidding, he's mad), Trump is a very useful idiot to a great many people and institutions that have much to gain from every wound he inflicts on the United States and the American people.
Here's something else to keep in mind. Those with so much to gain from their useful idiot are probably even more unnerved by Trump's mental deterioration. Some may want to consolidate their gains. Others might want to cut their losses and withdraw. Still others might be tempted to make bold plays while America remains confused and weak.
That's creepy.
"Mr. Trump added he is "ordering all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE,....all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop - it didn't."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-hes-ordering-u-s-businesses-to-start-looking-for-alternatives-to-china/
I think you summed it up nicely Mound, the guy is nuts but unfortunately for the whole world there still seems to be a not inconsiderable portion of the U.S. population who either cannot see that or prefer an idiot in power. I do hope there are not too many of those folks here an Canada come election time.....
ReplyDeleteHow are the HF and quant traders doing? It would be such a shame to waste all this volatility.
ReplyDeletePutin, Netanyahu, Kim Jong Un
ReplyDeleteEach in their own way may take advantage of the situation. But control tRump?
Cui bono?
I think you are right about the oligarchs along with the Emir of Qatar who arranged the Kushner bailout.
While tRump may be crazy, he also represents the apotheosis of current American culture. It's a mad mad mad country.
He provides entertainment while ... for ex: the nuclear treaties get cancelled
@ Northern PoV
ReplyDeleteWhile tRump may be crazy, he also represents the apotheosis of current American culture. It's a mad mad mad country.
Well said.
I have for some time contended that USA citizens have become unique in a world of ,most often, sane individuals.
It's almost like the USA have produced an offspring of the human race.
Perhaps American exceptionalism is a real thing, but not in a positive way?
TB
I know it isn't the only one but what would we expect from a country that identifies itself not so much as a nation but more as an ideology? Trotsky never understood this, but his mindset was very un-American.
ReplyDeleteFor many, Dump in the president that the American dream was built on. No damn socialism, hitting those foreigners where it hurts, cutting taxes (except for the deplorables), no socialized medicine and on and on. I've been thinking lately that it's not Dump they love but what he preaches that makes him so popular- the very epitome of the dream, MAGA and dont take away our guns. Pretty deranged stuff, but with the state of the democrats wanting to put up the hapless Joe Biden as their nominee, we can sit back, microwave more popcorn and watch the never ending bottom get deeper and deeper, even with the inevitable economic collapse, Dump will be the only one who can fix it.
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ReplyDeleteThe puzzle of what is going on in the mind of so many Americans today is what steered me to read books such as 'Defying Hitler' that I dealt with in a recent post.
The goal was not to compare Trump to the German tyrant but rather to explore the process through which ordinary German volk went from opposing the Nazis to accepting them and, ultimately, becoming ardent supporters. It was a process in some ways choreographed but in others haphazard, a series of strokes and flukes.
The process of Germany, in the shadow of Weimar, and 21st century America does reveal some interesting parallels. What most concerns me is whether, across the US, there are more to come.
What will a post-Trump America look like? Many believe he could be followed by another, even more dangerous charismatic ready to exploit the field Trump has already tilled.
So many of these questions will be influenced, at least in part, by the changing world conditions we'll see over the next decade.
It may be time to dust off those old copies of 'Brave New World' and '1984' if only to know what to look for.
.. I left a comment over at Northern Reflections this ayem.. it was a post about 'voodoo economics'. We spent a fascinating amount of time with nice Americans this past week.. Not a single nice or kind word about the diseased crank Trump was heard..mucho eye rolling, shrugs of disgust.. embarrasment.. even course language.. and the word 'thieves' usually included.
ReplyDeleteAs a Canadian, with my own opinions, I look upon 'politics' in North America as to a great extent.. a crime scene. That's right.. there's a murder and related robbery going on.. and kind of a pathetic acceptance by we the victims. My vocabulary has degraded into a course language shrieking howl of anguish.. and agony..
I see our politicians embracing the tactics and strategies of the American diseased scumbags like Trump.. the sociopathy, the psychotic deceit.. they barely make an effort anymore to disguise the deceit and conceit or lack of regard for us or future generations.
the salamander
Mound...you have to say out loud what is happening..the wistful hope in your voice with all that ache behind it is not doing any of us any good including yourself. It is truly frighting this America of ours right next door. What I see are hordes of people pushing forward into northern Europe and Northern North America. Then there is India without water as of this day and what of China. I hope humanity sees the light of what is going on before their eyes and screams bloody hell. Anyong
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