…even if he thinks it is. It’s not. And I ran across an interesting column in today’s Washington Post which offers just six quotations as evidence that the weird-ass dysfunctionality of our politics, if not our society in general, is seen in more than just the batshit-crazy emanations from the Toddler in Chief.
He’s there on the list, of course, at #1, but not quite in the way I would have expected. Writer James Hohmann turns to this week’s budget submission document from our “I’m all about business and will shrink the deficit and take care of the budget” president for the quote that shows there are still some adults standing watch in Washington who are trying to send a signal to the brainwashed (folks wearing red ball caps, to protect their very clean brains) about what this administration is doing to our economy:
“Even with high levels of economic growth, excessive deficits continue to threaten the Nation’s progress, and any unforeseen shocks to the economy could make deficits unsustainable,” it says. “If financial obligations continue to grow at the current pace, the Nation’s creditors may demand higher interest rates to compensate, potentially leading to lower private investment and a smaller capital stock, harming both American businesses and workers.”
It’s not that this budget submission is going to become law as is; Congress hardly ever passes the budget that any president proposes. This one came from the man whose most significant achievement of his first year in office (just in under the wire) was to pass a giant tax cut that is already swelling the debt and the deficit. I’ll admit that my federal income taxes were down for 2018 as compared to 2017 so I’m benefitting, at least in the short term. I don’t know that any of us benefits in the long haul in an economy in which, as the White House itself warns, deficits are going to stay above a trillion dollars a year “for the foreseeable future” and that the national debt “will soon surpass a percent of GDP not seen since 1947.” Hohmann notes, “The White House projects that the government will need to spend $482 billion on interest payments for the debt next year alone. That’s more than the entire budget for Medicare.” Good allocation of resources, Donnie.
Second quote, from the noted not-Trump hater Dick Cheney, who was talking tough with VP Pence about the administration’s foreign policy at a conservative function in Georgia last weekend:
“We’re getting into a situation when our friends and allies around the world that we depend upon are going to lack confidence in us. … I worry that the bottom line of that kind of an approach is we have an administration that looks a lot more like Barack Obama than Ronald Reagan.”
I first thought the next thing to say here was to marvel that this Republican administration is frightening the previous Republican administration when it comes to dealing with our allies, but I decided that was wrong: it’s not fair to Republicans—the mass of good, not-crazy ones—to label Trump a Republican, and it’s no surprise that former diplomats and officials and the defense hierarchy disagree with Trump’s attitude of telling our allies to just shut up and be grateful we deign to be on their side.
Pence, unprepared for tough questions, mostly shrugged off Cheney’s concerns and praised Trump as a transformational leader. Reading the transcript shows what a total loyalist Pence has become to Trump. He staked out several positions that are at odds with the posture he took as a congressman and governor.
Moreover, the conversation between the two men who have held the No. 2 job underscored the deep fissures that remain inside the GOP over Trump’s foreign policy. It’s the same tension that led to Jim Mattis’s resignation in December as defense secretary after Trump abruptly announced the complete withdrawal of troops from Syria. The president eventually relented under pressure from hawks on the Hill. Some troops will stay.
Consider the other quotes: Nancy Pelosi thinks impeaching Trump is “not worth it” because it’s so divisive, Paul Ryan predicts Trump will lose in 202o if the race turns out to be “about Donald Trump and his personality,” Tucker Carlson doesn’t deny and doesn’t “bow to the mob—ever. No matter what.” when he’s exposed for hateful comments made more than ten years ago (which should not to be confused with the hateful comments he makes on his Fox News Channel show these days with regularity). They all offer us a chance to think, if we choose to.
Oh, wait, there was one more quote. It was reported by people who were in attendance at a GOP fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, and was flatly not denied by the president’s press secretary:
“The Democrats hate Jewish people.”
Said Donald Trump. No further discourse required.
Wait, you don’t suppose it really is all about Trump after all? Do you?
HEY, IT'S PAT RYAN'S BLOG! 
“This one came from the man whose most significant achievement of his first year in office (just in under the wire) was to pass a giant tax cut that is already swelling the debt and the deficit.”
That’s as far as I got. When did this space dedicate itself to “fake blogs”. Why would you so deliberately set your credibility meter to absolute zero like that? Or, rather, why not preface your blog with a health warning?
“CAUTION: Reading the slanted, twisted, double salchow, representation of recent/current events may cause cognitive dissonance to anyone who’s actually been paying attention to the news. This applies especially to elderly white men somewhat overweight with a disproportionate sense of honesty and/or love of country.”
I have to leave now…this might be the Big One comin’ on…Elizabeth!
So you disagree with my judgment on what was Trump’s biggest achievement in 2017; that’s cool. Is it your opinion that there was a more significant achievement, or that the tax bill is not responsible (or not substantially responsible) for the increase in the debt and the deficit? Or both?
You are (like almost all the left) Trump Deniers. He has had myriad successes, and some failings. He accomplished more in his first year than Obama in eight. (Which is pretty easy, because Obama didn’t actually do anything except “not letting a crisis go to waste” and ramrodded Obamacare via parliamentary trickery down America’s throat. We’re still trying to cough that hairball up.) China, NATO, Iran, ISIS, NoKo, military preparedness, judgships, NAFTA v2.0, economic stimulation…wait, here’s a more detailed list. https://spectator.org/everyone-is-smart-except-trump/
And he’s done all that in the face of overwhelming virulence, skullduggery, press smearing, etc. An unfettered Trump would have been astonishing.
It’s OK to think the guy’s a clown. Or a blowhard. He’s all those things. Doesn’t matter. I hire a plumber to fix leaks and keep from having shitty water all around my ankles. Not to deliver grandiose “presidential” speeches filled with soaring rhetoric written by focus groups and committees and unrecognizably far from the intent.
Trump is a can of Spam. I understand not liking it. But it accurately represents its content. I was 100% opposed to his candidacy, but am not 100% convinced he’s far better for the country than the swamp.