Trump is a mirror reflection of most of them – seething, white, grievance-addicted and determined to destroy any political, societal or diplomatic progress and norm while they seize the stunning opportunity to restore their ugly, insular idea of America. Trump’s rabidly loyal voters are, like their leader, giddy nihilists. Indeed, a recent opinion poll revealed that a stupefying 98 percent of those 63 million Americans stand squarely behind their transparently inept man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue who once confidently boasted that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and “not lose any voters”. So, beyond affirming what we already know, the proverbial catalogue of Trump’s litany of humiliating policy failures, brazen lies, nepotism, incompetence and volte-faces has had, to date, little, if any, tangible political consequence. I doubt Trump’s supporters seriously expected that he would make America great again or build his fantasy wall during his first 100 days. ![]() The hope is that a 70-year-old with the attention span of a squirrel will, after a moment of introspection, recognise that he's been doing it all wrong and abandon his pernicious ways.Īnd, like Trump, their understanding of how and why governments work is distilled into bumper-sticker slogans they find, not surprisingly, persuasive and easy to comprehend. Like Trump, the president’s legions of disciples not only take comfort in their manifest ignorance and retrograde nationalism, but also reject outright the notion that government can be a salutary force in any way, for any cause, anywhere – unless it involves dropping bombs in the same places and on the same people a succession of other US presidents has dropped bombs on. ![]() Trump was vaulted into the White House with the zealous backing of 63 million Americans who either explicitly share, or have veiled sympathy for, his overt racism, xenophobia and jingoism and, I suspect, they don’t give a damn if the “elite” media gives their political messiah a failing grade or not. Trump is the only cause he’s interested in.īeyond this axiom, the past 100 days have confirmed what ought to have been understood long ago – Trump is the embodiment of much of America’s unabashed celebration of ignorance and trademark Lord-of-the-Flies-like selfishness disguised as “libertarianism”. This trite ritual at this traditional benchmark assumes, absurdly, that Trump has a bona fide interest in governing and in the welfare of the governed.Ĭlearly, this textbook narcissist is preoccupied exclusively with the fortunes of his family, his gold-tinted brand, his hotels and golfing. Still, the Trump presidency can’t be measured using the familiar domestic and geopolitical formulas to pass judgment on the essential essence and political acumen of a nascent presidency. There is more poseur in Trump than president. On cue, Trump wails like a colicky baby, pointing an accusatory finger of blame at everyone but himself. He’s stuck in the swamp he promised to drain. Trump is pretending to try hard to wrest free from the straight-jacket of Washington’s deeply entrenched, corrective ways. WATCH: What is Donald Trump’s defence strategy? (3:00) Happily, judges are giving Trump the legal middle finger, as are some rogue members of the Republican party who think he’s gone too far or not far enough. ![]() Meanwhile, the US constitution’s intrinsic system of checks and balances has thwarted signature chunks of Trump’s legislative agenda – from his odious travel bans to his bigoted attacks on funding for sanctuary cities. Oh, and the only (trade) war he’s declared is on loveable Canada over milk and lumber. World War III has not broken out (yet) even after Trump lied about which way an “armada” was headed in the Pacific and bombed a barren Syrian airfield because Ivanka told him to. Despite the death of rationality and decency in America, the good news is that several apocalyptic prophecies about a Trump presidency have also proven to be dead on arrival. In this depressing context, the pat “report card” accounting of Trump’s first century of days in office strikes me as a silly, meaningless anachronism.Īn obituary is, arguably, the order of the day. In the face of this surreal, mind-numbing prospect, much of the sentient world inside and outside of the US is struggling with how to respond to a dystopian-tinged Donald Trump regime. At times, the past 100 days have felt like 100 years, where every day resembled the last – like a recurring nightmare.īut this nightmare isn’t a figment of our subconscious it’s real, inescapable and destined to continue for another 1,300 days or so.
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