“I am the Chosen One!”
Donald J. Trump (August 21, 2019)
With each passing day, Donald Trump demonstrates he neither understands nor likes nor America. He openly disparages the work of our nation’s intelligence agencies while giving a pass to Putin, MBS and other despots; hates our system of Constitutional checks-and-balances; shows no commitment to his oath of office to support and defend that Constitution; and demonstrates utter contempt for all of his presidential predecessors.
If his fawning over foreign autocrats while picking fights with our historic allies; insulting everyone who disagrees with him, including former members of his White House staff; and labeling the media as an “enemy of the people” hasn’t been enough … his delusional remarks over the past week, and twenty-four hours particular, are reminiscent of the short-lived Roman emperor Caligula, who proclaimed himself a god.
Reacting to the Danish’s prime minister’s comments that Trump’s offer to buy Greenland was “absurd” … which it was … Trump called her “nasty” and “insulting” and cancelled his trip to Denmark, knowing full well that, as usual, the great dealmaker again couldn’t make a deal. In reality, the president only seems able to pull America out of prior agreements with other nations.
While personally disagreeing with the stance of Congress women Omar and Tlaib on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, both are Americans, duly-elected members of Congress and entitled to their opinions, however unpopular. Rather than simply saying he disagreed with their positon, Trump openly encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to ban the two members of the American Congress from entering his country.
What happened to his obligation to defend their First Amendment rights or his “America First” rhetoric?
Meanwhile, he has caved to the NRA on universal background checks and eliminating assault weapons, declared he can unilaterally change the tax code, had one of his immigration minions rewrite Emma Lazarus 1883 poem on the Statue of Liberty to favor primarily wealthy immigrants, and lay the groundwork for lengthier detention periods for children crossing our borders illegally.
As appalling as those actions were, he then retweeted a harangue from Wayne Allen Root, a long-time conspiracy theorists and self-described “Jew turned evangelical Christian” to declare that, “Israeli Jews love Trump “like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God.” In Trump’s eyes, he’s the Jesus that Jews don’t believe in — but really should.”
Trump then when on to rant, the 80% of American Jews who typically support Democrats are “guilty of a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty [to Israel].” One would think that as Americans, their first loyalty was to America and had the right to hold differing opinions from the president.
Then in remarks to the media outside the White House today, the president defended his inane trade war with China, “This isn’t my trade war, this is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago … somebody had to do it.” He then looked toward the heavens and proclaimed: “I am the Chosen One.”
How his increasingly bizarre Tweets and remarks to the press cannot set off alarm bells about his sanity with Republicans is stupefying.
At some point, even his “base” will, hopefully, begin to understand that their “savior” is a self-absorbed and increasingly unbalanced demigod who has no loyalty to anyone or anything but himself!
While self-serving political realities obviate the president’s removal through the impeachment process, will there come a point when his inner staff … which increasingly has shared concerns about the president’s policies and personality … have had enough and seriously consider his removal under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment.
