By the time you read this, Donald Trump will have been well and genuinely inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States of America.
In the many articles I have read, I have yet to come across any writing that adequately explains just what it is in American psychology that has led them to commit this most licentious act of electing Donald Trump as their President for a second term.
Where else in the world would people deliberately elect as their President a man who is an acknowledged felon, racist, sexist, sexual predator, homophobe, xenophobe, conspiracy theorist, bully, imposter, conman and a would-be dictator?
Only in America.
This time, he will be an even greater disaster for America and the rest of the world than he was the first time. His history has always been that of a lewd, controversial man, a narcissist of the worst kind. Scandal has been as much a part of his life as is the daily necessity to eat. He has brought together many malevolent, like-minded billionaires to achieve his aim of ‘Making America great again’ but in doing so, he has never really explained what he means. And he never achieved what he set out to do.
It was an empty slogan designed to rekindle another slogan: “the great American Dream” a return to the age of American exceptionalism. If so, America has picked the wrong man to do it.
It is a dream that at least half of Americans see as an illusion, one that was perpetrated on them by those of little understanding who really believed that if you achieved success by making money, you elevated yourself to a superior economic class.
“Only I can make America great again,” he said.
America has picked the wrong man – a man at war with everyone. Before his first inauguration, Trump trumpeted that he would be the most successful, best-ever President – a view from inside a world of self-importance.
Robert Reich, a former Bill Clinton, cabinet member at the time, had an opposing view:
Trump insists people are pouring into Washington in record numbers” for his inauguration and brags about his “unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout.” But according to Elliott Ferguson, President of Washington’s convention and tourism bureau, the “level of enthusiasm” and demand for hotel rooms has not reached that of previous inaugurations. In fact, some hotels have reduced the minimum-night stay from four nights to two. Other hotels are only half full. “It’s been much slower than anyone would have anticipated for a first-term president.”
As I perused the American media the day after his first inauguration and read his speech, I noticed that the thing that struck me most was the naked popularism he employed. It taps dances on every word. The American people have taken charge of Washington, but he will make the decisions. Only he can make America great again.
The man who owns America spoke thus:
“Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another. Still, we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to the people.”
His speech was full of the same grandiose rhetoric of the election campaign. There is no explanation for achieving these things and who will foot the bill. These words await unwarranted applause from a man with few principles:
“That all changes starting here and right now because this moment is your moment; it belongs to you.”
The absurdity here was that his speech was full of what he thinks is wrong with America. A speech that overlooks the fact that the country is entering a period of economic prosperity and that we live in a vastly different world to the one he wants to take us back to. Australia found out that America is not competitive with other countries in manufacturing.
“What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.”
I’m assuming then that the people will demand that he pay taxes, place his business in a blind trust and refuse to benefit from overseas business interests as required by the Constitution.
“You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it will be only America first, America.”
“Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath and never disappoint you.”
“We will follow two simple rules; buy American and hire American.”
His sales pitch was just the same the second time around.
History has already judged, showing that we need more internationalism and less nationalism.
The world dislikes America for its superior view of itself.
Will the consumers of America accept the higher cost of living that goes with economic protection? And when other countries reciprocate, what then. Tariffs will tell us by way of financial disaster.
“We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilised world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.” Never happened.
Does he mean America will enter yet another war they cannot win?
“There should be no fear. We are protected, and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.”
God must have been on extended leave.
Well, firstly, the law seems to do an awful job if your skin is black. The people kill each other to the tune of 35,000 folk a year, and yet he is in favour of the guns that do so. God always seems too disinterested to intervene.
“Do not allow anyone to tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart, fig, ht, and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.”
It must have passed me by. It’s the same old sales pitch.
“We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions.”
A delusional old man making grandiose promises on top of plans to eliminate funding for childhood vaccines.
To “harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.”
You must first believe in science.
“And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they will their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator.”
Only if they are a citizen of this great country.
“Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together, we will make America great again.”
Like many of his statements, I am unclear what that meant. Safe, tell that to the kids who will be murdered by the guns he condones.
Personally, I don’t want America to be great. I want them to be one of many in a peaceful international community.
But when a president says every decision, he makes in his four-year term will be “America first,” you have to be a little frightened of what it will cost other nations for them to be so.
Author’s note: If the reader has found this article a little strange, it is because I have used the content of an article I wrote after his first inauguration to illustrate how incompetent he was then and how he used the same set of lies and promises with more significant exaggeration to obtain the presidency for a second term.
He lacks class, charm, coolness, credibility, compassion, wit, warmth, wisdom, subtlety, sensitivity, self-awareness, humility, honour, or grace – some of the qualities needed to make America great again.
My thought for the day
It seems to me that the wisest people I know are the ones that apply reason and logic and leave room for doubt. The most unwise are the fools and fanatics who don’t.
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Sour stifling SHIT, ignorant imbecilic ILLNESS, terrible terminal TURD, evil excremental ENEMA, putrid pustular POX, foul festerng FILTH, Donald Dogshit Dithers and Destroys.
The ONLY thing this vain narcissistic sociopath, Donald Trump, will achieve – as the worst, most corrupt, divisive, racist, predatory president in American history – is to make America HATE again! The man ticks EVERY box as a dangerously undemocratic, egotistical, thoroughly malignant, misogynistic psychopath!
Maybe it’s me but I saw this inauguration as resembling a coronation !
I had a “discussion” with a friend of a friend about Trump and his past misdemeanours, and how they relate to his “annointment by God”
His response was that Trump must have asked for forgiveness and received it from Christ himeself as promised in the New Testament, and so is the right choice for president.
To be honest, I really struggled to find a civil response to that. Of course he is entitled to his beliefs, but he just could not see that some/many of the things that Trump has done will be bad for the USA in the long term, and was insistent that they are part of God’s will and plan for the country.
First, it wasn’t half of USAnia that chose him, it was at most one third of eligible voters; a slightly smaller number voted for Harris and a similar number didn’t vote at all.
Second, don’t underestimate the role misogyny and racism played in this. That has been deliberately fuelled by the RRWNJs, enabled by the techbro billionaires. The christofascist right has a lot of power in USAnia and they’ve been pushing their agenda for a long time.
Third, the deliberate dumbing down of the populace, and the spread of misinformation and disinformation via social media.
Fourth, complicity by mainly RW MSM particularly the likes of NewsCorpse. They sanewashed Trump’s rhetoric and minimised reporting of actual actions (and their impacts) by the Biden administration. We see the same thing happening here.
Here’s a pleasant thought. When Mob Boss Donnie finally has a heart attack, guess who becomes POTUS. Yes, folks, it’s that mental genius and all round nice guy J.D. Vance!!!
Trump 2.0,confirms he is criminally insane, and his vendetta of revenge will simultaneously accelerate America’s decline,whilst strengthening the rise of China,who, no doubt, cannot believe their luck.
The people that voted for him are going to have a terminal case of buyers remorse.
As we watch the most stable genius dismantle the remains of what passes for democracy in the USA, here is a timely and timeless reminder from the late, great Gore Vidal:
“The American Constitution… does not provide any American citizen the right to vote for president. One votes for a near-anonymous member of the Electoral College, which explains why so few Americans bother to vote. But then a majority don’t know what the Electoral College is.” (Gore Vidal, ‘Inventing A Nation’, 2003)
Bleak comment from Irish novelist Dan Sheean, currently resident in Wyoming:
“I am so bone-tired of living in this ignorant, hateful, all-powerful circus of a nation..
..There are not enough hours in a day to even track the grotesqueries—from politicians, public figures, ghoulish private citizens, both Republican and Democrat..
..This is an utterly lost place.”
https://x.com/danpjsheehan/status/1885375918593417639?mx=2
The United States Capitol building should have “Abandon Sanity as You Enter the Menagerie of Madness” inscribed on the lintel along with a sign on the doors that says, “Don’t talk to the Inmates.”
On this matter, Xi Jinping brings into play The Grey Rhino. An interesting essay, with additional meat on the bones of Xi’s lines.