What promises kept? Trump sure hasn’t kept his promise when it comes to the QAnon-inspired child sex trafficking conspiracy. If I were a MAGA waiting for the revelations about liberal elites, I’d be awfully disappointed. I don’t usually quote Joe Rogan, but does Trump take us for a bunch of children? His story of how Virginia Giuffre was “stolen” from the spa at Mar-A-Lago made it sound like he was running a competitive sex-trafficking ring. If Trump isn’t guilty of any wrongdoing, why is he trying to distract us with nonsense about Barack “Hussein” Obama attempting to stage a coup in 2016? Talk about recycling old hits for the MAGA base!
Trump claims he has stopped six wars since taking office, but as usual, it’s hard to know what he’s talking about. Besides taking credit for deescalating the conflict between India and Pakistan, he claims he helped bring about peace between Thailand and Cambodia, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia.” Promises made, promises fantasized.
But the two wars he vowed to stop on his first day in office are still going strong. The argument continues as to whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide,” but clearly the situation has evolved from catastrophic to apocalyptic starvation and innocent people are suffering more every day. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government—the only way he can maintain power and avoid prison—has not only been a disaster for the Palestinians but for Israel’s standing in the world, despite its military success. Trump’s most noteworthy contribution has been the idea to displace the Palestinians and turn Gaza into a resort (the Gaza Riviera with bearded belly dancers, etc.), another idiotic fantasy dreamed up by the former real estate developer turned mad king.
If You Fail to Keep Your Promise, then Heck, Fire the (Data) Messenger.
As for Ukraine, Trump has finally realized that his buddy Putin has been playing him for a fool and has no intention of ending his war of aggression. Speaking as a veteran of the American Civil War, this humble spirit fears the war in Ukraine is no longer anything but a battle of attrition, not unlike the last months of the Confederacy. But whereas the Confederacy fought for the evil Slave Power and was thankfully relegated to the dustbin of history, Ukraine’s defeat will mean the demise of an up-and-coming democracy and its return to Putin’s despotic rule in a new “evil empire.” Trump has admitted that his threatened sanctions against Russia are essentially meaningless and calls it “Biden’s war,” as if that will make it go away.
The big promise Trump has kept is on immigration. He’s succeeded in mostly shutting off the southern border, and ICE is on the way to meeting his goal of deporting as many as 13 million people during his four years in office. But what we really need is a coherent immigration policy that gives us the workers the country needs. Putting aside the inhumanity of destroying people’s lives and tearing apart families, how are we going to fill all the jobs in agriculture, construction, and hospitality previously held by the people ICE is deporting. We already have a terrible housing shortage, mostly because new construction can’t keep up with demand. And Trump wants to reduce imports, but if we can’t grow enough of our own food, we’ll have to import way more than the 15-20% we do already. If Trump has a real plan to address these issues he hasn’t shared it.
The More Promises Trump Keeps the Worse it Gets!
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had an opposition party in this country that made some promises of its own? Some Democrats are making valiant efforts, but leaders Schumer and Jeffries don’t seem remotely up to the task before them. I hope you’ll pardon this humble spirit’s frequent habit of referencing the Civil War era, but when Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilke’s Booth, was tracked down and shot, his last words of anger and despair were “useless, useless.” Well, the same could be said for the Democratic Party’s leadership.