Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 25 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 4/22/18

Distractor-in-Chief Trump Is Gaslighting Us Into Forgetting America's Real Issues

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   3 comments
Message Ted Rall
Become a Fan
  (26 fans)

From Smirking Chimp

Trump Twitter Bird?
Trump Twitter Bird?
(Image by pixabay.com)
  Details   DMCA

Eight days before Donald J. Trump took his presidential oath before a crowd whose size the president still insists on fibbing about, I wrote a column titled "Life Under Trump -- What Happens Now?"

"In a dictatorship, particularly where the despot is a megalomaniac in the vein of a Saddam Hussein or a Muammar Gaddafi, citizens obsess over the Great Leader's every move. These days, there's no better place to witness this phenomenon than the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan," I wrote on January 12, 2017. I described how the founding dictator of that post-Soviet authoritarian state was manic, "constantly passing edicts and decrees about anything and everything that crossed his mind."

"Whenever I visited Turkmenistan under Turkmenbashi," I wrote back then, "the only thing anyone ever talked about -- and this included ex-pats -- was Turkmenbashi."

Sadly, my predictions usually come to pass. As I expected, the United States remains a democratic republic but under Trump, everyday life has assumed some of the characteristics of an authoritarian regime, especially our obsession with Trump.

OMG can you believe what he tweeted?

What the hell is wrong with him?

How long can this go on?

Trump's antics have prompted two strains of pundit reaction. One, represented by the comedian John Oliver, urges us to "keep reminding yourself this is not normal." Others argue for ignoring the Keeper of the Launch Codes, at least his tweets. Ever the contrarian, I subscribe to None of the Above.

You can't ignore the President of the United States. He's too powerful. On the other hand, chasing down and driving rhetorical stakes through a maniac's barrage of nonsense is exhausting and futile. You feel like a character at dusk in a vampire novel -- too many undead, not enough stakes, definitely not enough coffee. The proper tack is insipid: Keep Calm and Carry On.

Here I offer my apologies.

For 15 months I have, like my competitors in the mainstream media, been reacting to Trump: to his tantrums, to his weirdness, and the incongruous hypocrisy of Democrats who complain about stuff Trump does that is exactly the same as what Obama did (mass deportations, bombing Syria). To paraphrase Walter White in the last episode of "Breaking Bad," it was fun. I enjoyed it. And frankly, I didn't think he would last this long. Trump was the Political Satirist Full Employment Act of 2016. I didn't want to miss out.

But I've been remiss. I have always tried to be forward-looking, to change the conversation, to argue for what we Americans ought to be doing and talking about. Reacting to the agenda of our worthless political "leaders" was something I left to the mainstream idiots of the corporate media.

I snapped back to reality a few days ago after reading another piece about the booming economy. Never mind whether Trump is priming the pump before busting the joint or whether the good times are about to end with yet another recession. Things are humming now -- so now, while the getting is good, is while Americans ought to be demanding that Trump and his Congress fork over big bucks to fix the country's long-neglected problems.

Workers ought to be out in the streets agitating for a raise: a $25-an-hour minimum wage is literally asking for nothing, since it's the same, adjusted for inflation, as it was in the 1960s. I say go for $50. While we're at it, let's set a $200,000-a-year maximum wage. No one needs more.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Funny 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Ted Rall Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Ted Rall, a political cartoonist, is the author of "The Anti-American Manifesto." He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, raised in Kettering, Ohio and graduated from Fairmont West High School in 1981. His first cartoons were published (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

If Trump Wins, Don't Blame Progressives. This Is on You, Centrists.

The Revolution Will Not Be Deactualized

Coverage of the anti-NSA Protest is an Example of a New Way to Disseminate Government BS

Why Trump is Doomed (It's Not the Nazi Thing)

The Difference Between Liberals and Leftists

Now, A Postmortem By Someone Who Actually Saw Trump's Win Coming

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend