Letter: The Donald IS in charge

Letter: The Donald IS in charge

Terry Buckenmeyer
St Augustine, FL

Dear Historic City News Editor,

These are some random thoughts from an old radical leftist on the presidency of Donald Trump.

As with any person who would be president, if you think that you can do the job well, you must be an egomaniac. Secondly, to accrue the power and wealth required to successfully win the presidency requires a certain degree of psychopathology.

This applies to every president that I can remember in my adult life, from Lyndon Johnson to the present. (The possible exception being Gerald Ford who was sort of a placeholder.)

Trump has certainly hit the ground running and he is carrying out his campaign promises – unusual for any president. Admittedly, he has no well-thought-out plan to transition smoothly from where we are to where he wants us to be. It appears that the poor, the veterans, the elderly and the disabled will pay the costs of the transition, as always.

Trump supporters tout his business acumen as the salvation of our economy. Seriously? Look at his business record. He is mediocre at best. The application of profit gathering principles to government has not worked well since I first noticed its application under Reagan. There is a reason why MBA and MPA are separate degree majors. If you want a successful businessman as president, look to the Koch brothers. Donald Trump’s best performance was as a reality TV star. I will admit that when The Apprentice first aired, I thought it was a comedic parody of reality TV.

As for Trump’s opposition, they are almost as funny as The Donald, himself. A couple of times a day they explode in an outrage at the latest Trump-ism. He has total control of his opposition. He lives in their heads and controls them. He can make them respond whenever he wants. They are so busy expressing their righteous indignation that they never actually strategize an effective opposition.

I would recommend that all liberals and progressives read the recent article in the Guardian about ignoring “Trump’s dead cats” – he is a weapon of mass distraction. He has the opposition performing a weekly ritual. Every week to 10 days, they run to their Congresspersons’ offices to complain about The Donald and his evil plans. And, a couple of times a day they send emails and sign petitions. Makes them feel good and accomplishes nothing.

While I try to joke about all of this, I am very sad and very afraid of what will happen to my country. Trump is effectively setting up scapegoats for the failure that is coming for the working class. The rich have always worked to keep the workers divided by race, religion, ethnicity, etc. I fear that the anger against Muslims, immigrants, LGBQT, and anyone else who is different, will erupt in a white-hot rage of violence that will sweep the country.

We Wobblies have a saying, “Direct action gets the goods.” Y’all know what really needs to be done. It’s hard work and you must walk away from your computer. You must go outside, meet and talk to people you don’t know. People who are different from you. ORGANIZE!