Do We Have A President, King or More?

Trump as he looks heavenward proclaiming
"I am the chosen one"

You see his handy work everywhere. It's like something out of a graphic novel where one man believes he is a supreme being and all must swear allegiance to him. We didn't seem to think much of James Comey's remarks when this president asked for his loyalty.   

“I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed,” Comey wrote. “We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our dinner.” - Washington Post June 2017

We know how that ended. Comey was abruptly fired while he was out of DC. The effect obviously was to make his dismissal as fully effective as possible. Following that, Trump bragged to Russian dignitaries that he got rid of the nut job Comey so the pressure is off.  It must have started up again with the then acting Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe. Trump brazenly asked McCabe who he voted for in 2016. The fact that McCabe abstained from voting and it seemed his wife might have ties to Hillary Clinton, got under Trump's skin. Eventually McCabe's refusal to bend the knee and back away from the Russia probe, got him fired too and with a vengeance via Jeff Session. Just days short of his official retirement date, Trump heartlessly severed him from his retirement benefits. But Andy wouldn’t go quietly. Trump is now pushing for his full-on criminal prosecution. And why? McCabe dared to speak out to the media about his firing, Russia, and other things. The President’s pettiness has reached a new low according to some analysis:

"You get the strong feeling that there is political pressure being imposed on the Attorney General, the US Attorney and Law enforcement, to go after Andrew McCabe because he had the audacity to be a CNN analyst and make derogatory comments about the President of the United States. ---I'm not being facetious but the actions they took against Andrew McCabe is like killing a mosquito with an AR-15. They won’t let it go." - Gene Rossi, Former Federal Prosecutor MSNBC

While a person shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter image of anyone, is this the way an American President should act? His record for rally appearances more than any other president, as well as his strutting mixed with self-applauding and thumbs up seems to signal Trump's deep need for people approval. His reason for so many appearances it seems, is to hear the chants of the crowds and look at those bearing the name "Trump" on apparel and placards. Are the people at these rallies bearing his brand constituents or in his mind loyal subjects? And what American President has a military parade on the 4^th of July with the pretense that it’s for the country? One could easily say this was a self celebration that was an attempt to impress his dictator buddies.

You must ask yourself, does Trump believe he’s won the Presidency or has been exalted to a monarchy or something greater? In front of reporters on the White House lawn and a noisy helicopter as a backdrop, he lifted head and eyes upward, as out of his own mouth came the words; “I AmThe Chosen One.” That phrase un-nerved many watching their TV’s, not because it might be true, but because many of us suspect that Donald Trump might really believe it.

Whether you take him serious or not, there is something to his disregard for the Constitution, the laws that we expect a person in his position should abide by, as well as traditions set in place by other presidents before him.   

He is repulsed by the company of our global allies, and feels an affinity for dictators, oppressors, and some of our most historic global enemies. In a “Else world” style today, Trump has been ushering the American Military to his properties for refueling and layovers as though they were his own. And he strategically is moving appointees into place who (unlike McCabe or Comey) are willing to kiss his political ring. These men have shocking pasts which to Trump seems to be more of a qualifier than not. It’s as though he picks appointees like Brett Kavanaugh to give his sexual assault accusers a smack in the face.

Some have jumped off the Trump train, but as the train picks up more speed, the risk of jumping off in the future may come with a high price. Ask yourself what scares you the most? The full speed and unpredictable future actions of Trump, or the sudden impact when the train crashes. When men like Corey Lewandowski can have contempt for the truth in an open Congressional hearing and blatantly remark to Republican Congressman Matt Gatz, “They hate this President more than they love this country” it feels very Orwellian. Men like this have grabbed the live wire of the Trump propaganda that believes winning is the ultimate Nirvana for America.

This all started not with an escalator in Trump Tower, but in a hotel room in Washington DC. From Richard Spencer and his emboldening of white Nationalism and his Nazi cry of “hailTrump!!!” as he thrust his glass in the air, to Charlottesville NC where tiki bearing racists came out in the middle of the night shouting “Jews will not replace us!!!” Not to mention the uncountable atrocities and subtle harassment done in the name and under the watch of this President across America. His loyal fans are helping Trump's Make America Great Again slogan along with calling the police on people of color who seem to be loitering at a Starbucks, or walking in and shooting up a Walmart in El Paso.

Richard Spencer salutes "hail Trump!!!"

This is America today. MAGA no doubt means more power more money and more of himself. It’s what keeps Trump moving from President, to potential monarch, and maybe someone none of us will be able to touch or question if he wins another term.

A Chef, A Poor Man, and The President

Homeless Man Ronald Davis 2013

"My name is Ronald Davis, and I’ve been on the streets for a year and a half now. Life is rough. I’ve slept on the curbs, under bridges, I’ve slept under cardboard boxes and stuff trying to survive. Especially in the wintertime, - it’s the hardest time. I fill out applications and stuff and I’m not looking presentable. And then they say, well, leave a number and we’ll call you. But how can I when I don’t have a phone? So, it’s just a struggle out there. From day to day, I come out and panhandle with my cup --- some days I don’t even have enough to get a room so I just sleep on the street. It’s really humiliating to be shaking a cup and people look at you like you’re a bum. I’ve had people walk past me and say, get a job, bum. And I say, wait a minute, I’m a human being, I’m not a bum."

Our lives are more and more complicated these days. When you see a man like this, what do you feel? Resentment? sympathy, apathy, empathy, or even annoyance that he is everywhere you turn?

Maybe you feel a little angry or scared because he could be you? The pressure from the top seems to be pushing us down another rung. Some of us are one paycheck away from free falling into the streets of poverty like Ronald, while the leaders whom we voted for promised to make America great again.

Some leaders like President Trump, appear to be treating the world like his own private monopoly board. While he promised to abide by the laws laid down in the American Constitution not to make profit for himself while president, he has set up the monopoly game as a rigged system to put money into his own private coffers for the sake of his dying hotels. He does this while boasting of creating jobs for people like Ronald. Trump makes it seem as though the Air Force crew making stops to his properties were all a coincidence. He hasn't said "I'll return the money and correct the situation." His words were "they had good taste."

In the middle of many Americans day-to-day struggle to keep body and soul together at all levels,
maybe fearing we'll get a pink slip or eviction notice, a man presides over us who is obsessed with making more money for himself while violating the Constitution to do it. He seems to be all powerful with no heart. Imagine this: an act of nature has wiped out your home, left death and destruction around you for endless miles. You’re alive but food and what little water there is, is running out. You and countless survivors are walking around in an endless nightmare. Finally, there is news of a ship that will take you off this island to a better place with food, water, and a chance to recover from the devastation. With your baby in arm, and maybe a suitcase in hand, you get to the ship, cross the gang plank, and find a seat. You think to yourself, it won’t be long now. And then it happens. A voice over a loudspeaker announces that all those without the proper papers must get off. The hope for relief that you had in your hands has dissolved. With a numb dizziness, you pick up your child and your belongings and walk slowly down the gang plank. The voices of others walking beside you can be heard as well with deep expressions of disbelief.

Victims of Dorian Disembark after refusal By Trump To Enter US

It’s seems that Donald Trump, out of his racist inclination, has decided to prevent those people who
might be drug users, and gang members (in his mind) from boarding a ferry for relief. He attempts to speak to this humanitarian crisis as though he is doing what is best for America and preventing those from what he calls “a shithole country” (code for people of color) from infecting us with the wrong kind of people.  

"We have to be very careful. Everybody needs total proper documentation. ---The Bahama's have some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahama's who weren't supposed to be there. I don't want to allow people who weren't supposed to be in the Bahama's to come into the United States--- including some very bad people, and some very bad gang members and some very very bad drug dealers." -President Trump

Many people were looking forward to having some relief from that class 5 hurricane that destroyed lives and property, only to have their hope sink by a President who equates immigration with drugs and gang members. He has presented no facts to back up this decision, just an agenda to keep a certain kind of person from entering, while he is free to travel wherever he pleases managing monopolies with his brand on it that are designed to make millions for him.

If you’ve apologized to others for this president’s behavior you’re not alone. His actions, in my book of how a President should behave, make him deeply immoral.

Ironically, I stumbled on this Tweet from a man named Chef Jose Andres. In the background cooks are busy cooking massive quantities of food as he narrates in the foreground.

It’s an amazing spectacle of men and women who are part of an effort to feed the survivors. Their thoughts are not for themselves but a way to get the food to parts of the Bahamas faster giving some relief. I had almost forgotten in a world that believes winning means to take more for yourself, what Chef Andres is doing gives hope.  

Andre is the founder of a group called World Kitchen that seems to be responders to the needs of hungry people all over the globe. This man could have forged out a career for himself catering to the rich, or a reality show celebrity chef, but he has chosen to inspire others to make a difference.

One man through the veil of his racism acts out his bigotry and attempts to make it appear patriotic. There are some like him who justify their hate for others with the same distain. Or we kid ourselves in believing that poverty and homelessness will never touch us. So we associate it with race or that person isn’t trying hard enough or else he wouldn’t have to beg.

Ronald has passed on. His final words are worth remembering, because people matter. "No matter what people think about me, I know I’m a human first. Just because I’m down on my luck, it doesn’t give nobody an excuse to call me a bum--- because I’m not."