AMERICA IN TRUMP LA LA LAND

In the Trump surreal world that America has stumbled into words no longer have any meaning. Jay H. Ell, normally a political junkie, is numbed into waves of disinterest. What is the purpose of debate when, to paraphrase, Alice in Wonderland, “Words don’t mean what they say?" The Trump alternate reality operates side by side with the real reality. Appointments are being made in real life while at the same time everything that was said on the way to the Presidency and thereafter is not necessarily so. The campaign disinformation and fake news has not stopped with the Trump victory. The situation is such that no serious journalist or commentator is remotely interested in “insider” information from the Trump camp because it has as much chance of being valid and reliable as are his public announcements, which is zilch.

TRUMP REALITY

Society is left to guess what is for real and what is not. The fact that President Elect Trump continues with the alt reality means that it is the new normal. Examples include; 

Interpreting his two and a half million vote deficit, he bragged that, “He won in a landslide if you exclude the millions that fraudulently voted for Hillary”; 

Hillary, who was never even indicted for a security breech and whom The Donald claimed was the greatest security risk ever, is juxtaposed, without a blush, by the promotion of David Petraeus onto his shortlist for Hillary’s former position, Secretary of State. Petraeus, who is still under parole supervision, was convicted for sharing highly classified State Secrets with his mistress and biographer; 

The blue collar populist, worker’s candidate has appointed more billionaires to his Administration than any in history. The Administration consists of billionaires and generals who know less than him, "believe me"; 

With unemployment at a record low and with Obama having created fifteen million jobs, a million of which are manufacturing jobs, Trump by saving a thousand manufacturing jobs at the Carrier Company, (make that eight hundred at the last count), using a method he castigated on the stump - tax payer funds - “has turned the corner for restoring jobs to America”. All to which Chuck Jones, the Head of the Union that represents the Carrier responded,  "Trump and Governor Pence pulled a dog and pony show" and he,Trump, lied his arse off.

Trump and his daughter Ivanka spent, an apparently productive, few hours with Al Gore who is the face of the danger to the planet of climate change. Within twenty four hours Trump appointed as head of the Environmental Protection Agency a politician who has ongoing litigation against that agency and believes, with his fossil fuel masters, that climate change is a hoax.

Then Trump, although he “never settles lawsuits”, settled his law suits, against his defunct fraudulent University, for twenty five million dollars, claiming it as a victory in the process; 

 Eric Trump responding to an American Muslim comedian’s query countered, “Come on man. You can’t believe everything you read. Do you really think we’re gonna do that?”; 

The beautiful wall that Mexico is going to pay for, “believe me”, has been forgotten, at least for the first hundred days………

THE PEOPLE’S CANDIDATE

The populist on the stump pledged to keep Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid intact. His appointments and the GOP Congress leaders tell another story. The privatization and voucherization of those and public education are a priority to all and sundry in the GOP and his cabinet appointments are in sync with this objective. His infrastructure programs and the plan to put them into effect are missing in action. He is more preoccupied with running his Secretary of State reality show with a bit part being played by Kellyanne Conway. The latter is "ostensibly" caucusing against Romney. Jay H. Ell says “ostensibly” because there is no way that snake oil saleswoman would take on her snake oil salesman boss in public. The boss, it was leaked, “was furious with Kellyanne” - cha cha cha. 

IT’S THE MONEY - STUPID

The whole issue that his conflict of interest byzantine financial empire causes is still up in the air. Money is still Trump’s achilles heel, if he has one. What impact, for example, does his decision making have on Germany when he owes the Deutsche Bank a stack of tom and the latter is under investigation by US Regulators The President Elect’s tax returns are still under audit where they will apparently remain for the rest of history. What are the chances that they will ever see the light of day?  

Supposedly the conflict of interest issue will be resolved on December 15 at a “major press conference”.  If any of the previous “major” announcements are anything to go by it will be another infomercial. It will once again be confirmed that the media have been played for the venal suckers that they are. 

THE PRESIDENCY ALA TRUMP

The media and society having given up waiting for him to become “presidential”. He is still tweeting up a storm on anything and everything. He shows no discrimination between his inane personal vendettas and matters of State. He cannot wait for Saturday Night Live where, with tweets, he is taking on Alec Baldwin who is spoofing him. He cannot handle the mocking, demanding that Baldwin cease and desist. Baldwin has offered to do so if he releases his tax returns! 

He has hardly attended any Security Briefings which shouldn’t be surprising, because, “believe me”, he knows more about ISIS than the Generals. He conducts international business over a private “unprotected” telephone. He does not bother to obtain State Department briefings on the intricacies of the international relationships America has forged over generations. He has already disturbed the Pacific rim by courting Taiwan angering China no end. The immediate assumption is that he has business deals in Taiwan and or he owes Chinese banks money. Then the dealings with Japan, with Ivanka in tow, look murkier and murkier by the day..

What does our guy in Pennsylvania Avenue have to say about Kim Jung - un’s North Korea? Maybe it’s time to call the runt’s bluff and nuke him to kingdom come or at least launch a thousand tweets? 

All this should send shudders down the spines of any sane citizen as the issue is complicated even further by his international holdings. 

He intersperses this circus with his ongoing Nuremberg style rallies reassuring the faithful that he is still telling as it is - even though the “is” is ever changing. It is raising some concern in the Trump Towers bunker that the victory venues have been half full.

BUT THE SANE DISCUSS THE INSANITY IF IT WAS SANE

The media talking heads discuss the comings and goings of the futureTrump Presidency as it did the Bush or Obama transition. They have all drunk the kool - aid. One hopes that the end result won’t be the same as Jonestown and somehow we will all survive this train smash about to happen. It can come from any direction with this loose canon in charge.

In the meantime it is futile discussing anything because everything means nothing. It is a bit ominous however that two of the biggest flakes in American politics and the military are his two most important advisors: Steve Bannon , (who is not a racist but he is the poster child for every racist from the KKK downwards), and Michael Flynn, (who has tweeted that Hillary is involved in a child sex operation). They are not even subject to Congressional confirmation.  

In fairness to Trump it is his not totally his fault that his pitch was bought in enough places to swing the electoral college. Over sixty million Americans pulled the lever for Trump/Spence and  a hundred million didn’t even bother to exercise their franchise. While leadership is crucial the electorate are not absolved from responsibility. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

House Speaker Paul Ryan is either delusional or is spot on. Ryan went on CBS’s Sixty Minutes and to interpret what he said, in political speak - there are two realities related to Donald Trump. According to Ryan there is the Trump that has agreed to the GOP Agenda as enunciated by ideologue Ryan. When the Speaker was confronted with how that jived with the forever tweeting, racist and populist Trump, he hedged and smiled and concluded that President Elect Trump was an unconventional candidate and would be an unconventional President. Ryan explained that the billionaire was speaking to a constituency that had been thus far ignored! In layman’s talk Ryan was arguing that Trump was just bullshitting them all. Ryan, clarified that the beautiful wall and the eleven million deportations were just election speak… 

It is argued that Trump needs to be given a chance. He is being given every chance and he is doing nothing to reassure us that we have an adult in the Whitehouse. 

Perhaps Henry Kissinger got it right when he cautioned the media not to get on The Donald’s case when he failed to deliver on his election promises. But Henry probably isn’t so sanguine now that Trump has all but declared at least a trade war on China. After all it was Henry who painstakingly paved the way for the China rapprochement. This he achieved with all manner of stratagems including organizing an international table tennis match. 

What Trump doesn't realize is that his Trade War will largely be conducted against American Companies who have installations in foreign lands and all he will do is push up the cost of living at least thirty - five percent. The good news is that the GOP Congress have openly bucked agianst trade tarrifs. Trump really should understand why these businessmen go oversea as that is what he did. It is cheaper and as he explained on the trail, when confronted with his behavior, he had a responsibility to his business.

The last occasion when words meant as little to Jay H. Ell emanated from the good old USSR in the period from Stalin to Kosygin. Here we got daily lectures on the glories of USSR democracy, economy, respect of country integrity versus the Western colonial, neofascist, capitalist, imperial warmongers. It took a while for that cookie to crumble so let’s hope the Trump fake reality crashes earlier. 

But then again maybe Jay H. Ell just doesn’t get it. This is all about change!