SILVER LINING?

 Silver Lining?

Is there a silver lining to the Trump presidency? Well, maybe not silver, but perhaps pewter? I think all would agree that our government has been, at best, narcoleptic managing our affairs of late. It seems to only wake up when it gets violently poked into action. September 11, 2001, was one such poke. January 20, 2025, it got poked again.

On September 11, 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were hit by two planes and collapsed into rubble in under two hours. This was the work of terrorists. America had been attacked. Our response would happen over the ensuing decades. We would spend $8 trillion on wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria related to 9/11. Globally, nearly one million people died. Another 38 million were made refugees.

On January 20, 2025, America swore in its 47th president. He held this job once before. This time around, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Donald John Trump became only the second president to serve a split term. He shares this distinction with Grover Cleveland. Other similarities would be that they were both from New York and both dodged the draft. Cleveland paid George Benninsky, a Polish immigrant, to take his place in the Civil War. Where they differ would be that Cleveland was renowned for his rectitude. Trump would, in this regard, be his direct opposite.

After his second inauguration, Trump began to “drain the swamp.” To be more accurate, he sprayed the swamp with Round-Up, doused it with expensive gasoline, and set fire to all he surveyed. He would literally declare himself to be king and above all regulation. A recent Trump quote was, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD, Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

The wanton destruction of the government in an uncoordinated fashion, the firing of federal employees, the invasion of private information, the conflicts of interest, the overreach of power, the usurping of authority previously held by Congress, and the resultant lawsuits and challenges, are all designed for their shock and awe value. He and his fellow oligarchs are tipping the financial scales in their favor while convincing the bewildered public that this is all for their benefit. When the tax cuts are implemented and paid for by raising the debt ceiling and eliminating government programs relied upon by his own constituency, it will be too late. It will be too late for, “I didn’t vote for THIS.”

So, where is the silver/pewter lining in all this? Well, in order to have a lining at all, you have to have a large dark cloud. Trump and friends are that dark cloud. The benefits will come many years down the road when our offspring look back and realize why they are in this predicament. Hopefully, things will still be reparable, and they can learn from their/our mistakes. Perhaps they can “build back better.”

This assumes that there will be enough of our original platform left to do this. Our almost 250-year-old foundation served us well for most of this period. It was just flexible enough to protect us from the frailty of human greed and the temptations of corruption for two and a half centuries. It was overwhelmed by complacency. It was deceived with promised baubles of an ill-defined better future.

For the time being, be prepared for more chaos. Republicans in office fear the reprisals of a vengeful demagogue. Only if that fear is overcome with a greater fear of losing their lofty positions of power at the ballot box, could they grow a backbone. Only then would they have the fortitude to follow through with the removal of the tumor growing inside the Oval Office.

Until then, we will all have to suffer the rambling rants of a man without policy, only whims, likes, and dislikes. A man making decisions based on emotion and last-minute ideas. He is a man not unlike the Dr. Hill character in the movie, Malice. Dr. Hill: “You ask me if I have a God complex? Let me tell you something: I AM GOD.”

Postscript: As an aside, President Grover Cleveland had five children. His firstborn was named Ruth. She died of diphtheria at age 13. The Curtiss candy bar, the Baby Ruth, was named after her.