Lie Lie Land

Well, this week has shown me a press conference that reminds me of Comical Ali in the days when we had our man in Baghdad, before the worm turned.  What will be interesting is how shows like Saturday Night Live cover it as it was in essence a parody.  What consoles me after watching it and his comments about attacking Russian assets which are just outside American territory, is that if nuclear armageddon does occur, by living in what many call a garrison town, we will be annihilated in the first strike and will not have to die slowly in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland.

As the conference showed, we live in a world where alternative truths are presented as facts. It has taken a while before the facts about the Electoral College win were actually presented to Trump, and he had to answer them, under the glare of the worlds media.  But I do have some sympathy with him. Not much but a bit. Unsubstantiated leaks are being reported in a manner to suggest that they are facts.  As interesting as they are, leaks are the actions of people who are disloyal. Yes, they do make it easier for the government to be challenged but in the USA, it allows Trump to claim that the media is biased. While many are concerned about antisemitism in the White House, alone with racism, Trump has Jared Kushner, an observant Jew as both a senior adviser to him as well as a son-in-law with his daughter becoming Jewish to marry him. And while there have been many allegations of racism directed at him, Ben Carson is the secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Alexander Acosta has been picked to join the Trump cabinet as well. Yes many will argue that minorities are under-represented in power now, but that is a matter of opinion and deflects us from real issues such as how Trump accused Hillary Clinton of being in the pocket of Goldman Sachs and then, after taking power, invited representatives into power.  And amongst the many provable issues in the Trump Cabinet is the way that a man who was given the Order of Friendship by Putin himself, is now Secretary Of State. If those Americans who support Trump are to see the truth about him, we need to focus on verifiable facts, not leaks, no matter how funny they may be.

Trump is a salesman. His being a salesman is part of the way he presents himself when he starts by talking about himself first. He has developed the business he inherited, and while he has had setbacks, he has done it well. The way he talks about things has brought him success in business and sadly in the US elections last year (along with the help from Putin). His sales patter is intended to distract us from issues with his goods and it has worked to get us to ignore the many elephants in the room.