The Death of
Reality
Submitted by Lindsay
Melbourne Australia!
After such knowledge, what forgiveness -
TS Elliot, Gerontion, 1920
(2/2019) I guess the people who
wrote the constitution never imagined they should cater
for a time when the president became insane while in
office. Or, horror of horrors, was already insane when
elected. They surely saw that someone might become
‘unfit’, whatever that means, but certifiable insanity was
less likely than an Australian Aborigine getting the job.
But it has happened. Possibly
before this, but now? Absolutely. You scoff. Answer this:
Who in their right mind would declare that the best way to
keep terrorists out of the country was to complete the
building of a 2000 mile wall between a neighbor and
trading partner? One who had not threatened, had taken
action to infiltrate the government or try and bring it
down? Who essentially was an ally that had done badly on
all the deals that were guaranteed to make them better
off?
It’s not as though the wall would
be impregnable or would do the job – no one could ever
guarantee that – or that it would pay for itself. No, the
many billions (the actual cost keeps varying, but it’s
about seven. Reducing this by using steel instead of
concrete makes no difference) would be paid by the
taxpayer because they’d be better off. How, exactly?
They’d suddenly find their take home pay was up by 20 %?
Not likely. Oh yes, they’d be safer in their beds. No more
nine elevens.
And 99% of the refugees waiting to
get in are migrants – illegal because they do and do not
have papers, who mostly come from untold tyranny and death
squads or utter poverty, and hope for a safer and fairer
time in the US – but terrorists? How many, pray? Yes,
there are criminals and baddies, there are in every group
on earth, America having more per capita then most
countries.
But, I say again, terrorists? The
current American definition is ‘The unlawful, (that is,
not sanctioned by the government), use of violence and
intimidation, especially against civilians in the pursuit
of political or religious aims.’ There are many
variations, and legislation can be used to change it
whenever deemed necessary – or expedient. In previous
times if someone drove you out, or locked you up because
of you religious beliefs or practices, you were being
persecuted. It’s been happening since the beginning of
civilization, but to now call it terrorism is confuse
civil and state crimes.
Even more to the point, how many
Mexicans have been convicted of terrorism in the past
forty years? Sure, drug running, people trafficking,
murder and so on, but these are not terrorism. The answer
is one. Yes, one. Most terrorists are Saudi and Afghani’s
and Syrians, countries never mentioned in his earlier rant
about the source of terrorists. Many were members of ISIS,
and many of the deaths they caused were religious based.
In America, however, the greatest number of religious
based killings were by Americans taking their grievances
into their own hands – fundamental Christians killing
those who promote abortion, for instance. Far better to
call the NRA a terrorist group, since they are responsible
for the deaths of thousands of civilians. Oh, sorry,
that’s liberty, freedom of choice, and other perverted
values.
Back to La Donald. The rhetoric
(sorry, the rants) go on and on, exhibiting one of the
classic signs of mental breakdown. It’s called delusional
paranoia. People with it finish up in for whatever passes
today as asylums, given medication and maybe shock
treatment. All his tenure to date has shown this in the
confusing tweets, of-the-cuff boasts, arbitrary decisions
and the self-congratulatory raves about his genius. His
belief that anyone who disagrees or simply doesn’t like
him is out to get him is classic paranoia.
He is living in unreality,
something he has created and lived with over his career,
and it has taken over his reason. He is also sneakily
clever. At least he thinks he is. The disease allows
nothing else, just as it sees total normality in lies.
Last count there were several thousand of those, some
variations on a theme, and truly the only thing he could
be proud of is the inventiveness of his statements.
But, as I said last time, he is a
messiah figure to an astonishing number of his supporters,
who remain blind to the reality of a nation in decline, of
a nation that has become a wild card in international
affairs, no longer dependable, no longer a power that
attempts to redress some of the worst crimes and
atrocities in the world.
He’s tried playing at being a
diplomat, strutting the stage, a magician with his
underpants showing, a puppet spouting the subversion fed
to him by Putin and others. His whole attention is now
centred on a wall, a delusion that also helps divert
attention from his cover-ups and crimes.
The true problems are ignored.
Drugs, incarceration, infrastructure, lack of aid and
support, poverty, education, climate change – the needs of
the nation are so great, but are ignored because he didn’t
cause them. On the other hand, he believes he is solely
responsible for the growth in the economy and jobs. The
fed would have other ideas – it was they who held interest
rates near zero until things picked up, and that gave
industry time to recover from the crash.
And the ultimate proof of his
insanity: Using the lives of civil service employees as
bargaining chips to get money for that ridiculous wall.
The repercussions of this will be felt for years to come,
and will put America even further back in trade
negotiations.
In the meantime, the real world
goes on. States do what they believe they are best at,
local issues, (although it’s too often gerrymandered
collusion), local councils ignore Washington and try their
best to create vibrant and wholesome communities, and the
most of the media try to present balanced reporting.
Many Americans, particularly his
supporters, seem incapable of any critical thinking. Even
well educated, savvy folk are guilty of that. Sad, but
they are too self-absorbed, too safe, too lazy – and they
are Trump’s trumps.
Read Past Down Under Columns by Lindsay Coker