Progressive View and Commentary
This is the inaugural post in the Progressive Assault blog. Its debut comes as Donald Trump has been in office for nearly two full years, the Republicans have just lost forty seats (and control) in the House of Representatives in the last midterm elections, and the government is on it 25th day of shutdown.
This blog is dedicated to the belief that the ideas, policies and legislation of progressives (the democratic party and liberals) is superior to that of conservatives. And please note the name: It is not, Progressive Suggestions, it is not Progressive Reflections, and it certainly not Progressive Discussions of Subtle Nuance of National Issues. The blog is meant to be a full scale assault on the ideas, policies and laws of the reactionary, racist right - which means, by and large, most of the Republican party.
Even after two years of his presidency, much of the political blogging (and reporting and everything else) these days is still centered on Donald Trump. This makes sense because he is the president, the leader of the Republican party, its most prominent personality, and personifies most of its obvious bad characteristics. And of course, there is the endless speculation concerning the Mueller investigation, the corrupt Trump Foundation, whether or not Trump is using his office to illegally enrich himself, and whether or not his tax returns are going to be made public.
At some time in the future, however it happens, Donald Trump will pass from the scene and we will move on from him. However, in the meantime, he sucks up a lot of attention and comment. And, of course, we now know him well: he is blatantly racist, hates immigrants (at least the brown skin ones - he’s more tolerant of them if they are white), is committed to making rich people (including himself) richer, threatens rather than leads and gives everybody reason to believe that he is beholden, for some reason, to a former communist KGB dictator. Even though much of this blog deals with the superiority of progressive ideas over those of the conservatives, it is necessary to make some specific commentary on Trump.
Even at this point in his presidency, one of the most astonishing characteristics of our president is how much he lies. Even after he has been caught doing it, and embarrassed for doing it, he keeps on doing it. Indeed, he lies even more than ever. He lies, he lies a lot, and he lies blatantly, even stupidly. The question is - why?
People have speculated that Trump is simply trying to create his own reality by lying to everyone. Others say that he is a pathological liar - that psychologically he can’t help himself. There is also the idea that he tells stupid and obvious lies as a way to continually distract our attention from other more serious matters. Others view the lying as just a way to keep the mainstream media off balance.
I have a much simple explanation: Donald Trump lies because he has always been spoiled and protected.
Trump is now what he has always been: a big, pampered, spoiled rich boy. He has always, since the day of his birth, been rich. He has always had the use of his rich Daddy’s money. With his father’s gifts, loans, and with his own gigantic inheritance (now estimated from recently discovered tax returns to be about 415 million dollars), Trump has always been able to pay to surround himself with toadies, sycophants, and people who just want some of the money that Daddy gave to Donald. Among these people, the ones that surround him and do his bidding in business and personal affairs, even if Trump says something obviously untrue, no one is going to contradict him. Even if the lie is outrageous, likely to cause trouble, or easily disproved, none of the hired help is going to to contradict him. Why would they? There is no profit in it. “Yes Mr. Trump, just as you say, Mr. Trump.”
Even worse, having great inherited wealth has allowed Trump, like other trust fund babies, to insulate himself from the direct consequences of his lies (and other bad actions). Daddy’s money pays lawyers (Michael Cohen) to intimidate people who have been hurt by his lies,. Daddy’s money pays for publicists (just like the White House aids) to spin the news and explain away the lies and misdeeds. Daddy’s money buys the lawyers and fixers (Michael Cohen again) to capture the truth about his words and actions. And Daddy’s money pays to have victims silenced and the facts of their mistreatment bought up by newspapers and buried (David J. Pecker and the National Enquirer). In short, why not lie? Seventy-one years of using Daddy’s money to lie and be protected from its consequences has created a habit that Trump cannot and will not break. It also creates the kind of life so insulated from reality that lying becomes normal, routine, and expected. You live this kind of life long enough and you kind of lose touch with reality (and honesty).
The “pampered, spoiled, rich boy” theory also explains something else notable about Trump: he exclaims, but never explains.
Trump is constantly on Twitter attacking people and trying to defend himself. He exclaims, “No collusion, no collusion!” or “The dimms (sic) just want to defend illegal aliens!” or “Obama tapped my wires!” or even, “It’s the deep state!”
Trump makes his startling and hyperbolic statements without any explanation as to what he means or why you should believe them. Unlike, say, President Obama, who clearly explained his reasoning and why he came to the conclusion stated, Trump merely asserts something is true and leaves it at that. There is no explanation for why the remark is true or why the assertion made is relevant to the discussion at hand. Trump merely exclaims it is thus and so and ends with a barrage of exclamation marks.
Again, rich, spoiled, and pampered. When you are the big man you exclaim, you state, you make your pronouncements. You do not explain. That bit of humiliation is reserved for those under you who must give account of themselves when they have done something that displeases you!!!!
The abuses and terrible effects of great and inherited wealth is a topic that the Progressive Assault blog will be exploring in the future posts. The history of the United States until recently has been one of antipathy to great wealth being passed from generation to generation. The founding fathers in particular hated the idea of great inherited wealth, as they saw it as a big reason for imperial British oppression and arrogance.
Do not expect Donald Trump to stop lying, or even to explain himself - between the insulation that great money can buy, and the unwillingness of supporters to criticize the man who is punching liberals and making all of their supreme court nomination dreams come true, Trump will continue to live as he has lied and to lie as he has lived.