15: Trump Voters, It's time to jetpack off this clusterf*ck
The biggest suckers of the 2016 election were the people who thought Trump was a crusader for "the common citizen".
There is so much to unpack in Trump's claim that he is an "anti-establishment outsider". Ostensibly, an outsider is unburdened by the moneyed interests and entrenched industries that move the currents in D.C. An outsider would stand up to Wall Street, specifically Goldman Sachs, and hold them accountable; not put them in charge. An outsider wouldn't employ career politicians or lobbyists. An outsider would fight for the people. These are all things that Trump promised to do throughout his campaign.
Let's see how that worked out.
First, Trump hires former Goldman Sachs exec and white supremacist Steve Bannon, KKK rejoices
Then Trump picks former Goldman Sachs partner Steve Mnuchin to run the treasury
Former Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn joins team Trump National Economic Council
Former Goldman Sachs advisor Jay Clayton to head Securities and Exchange Commision
Dina Powell leaves Goldman Sachs to be advisor in White House
Former Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci joins Trump administration
Fast forward to today. Trump signed an executive order rolling back the meager progress we've made in regulating Wall Street with Dodd-Frank. We've also learned that Trump didn't actually disassociate himself from his business empire in any way that matters. He still receives reports on the profits and losses of his companies and can reclaim ownership at any time. The non-blind trust is held by his son and his CFO and is listed under Trump's social security number.
So, if you've learned anything, it should be that "anti-establishment outsider" just meant "corrupt shitbag liar"
If you are one of the unfortunate suckers who voted for Trump, despite the neon-powered "CON MAN" sign floating above his head, here's some unsolicited advice:
It's not absolutely necessary for you to tear your clothes and rub gravel in your hair, but the rest of us would appreciate it. It also wouldn't hurt to apologize to your friends and family, burn that MAGA hat, and confess to your god. Now that 53% of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing, it's safe to stop boycotting Starbucks and Rogue One and mocking Patton Oswalt's dead wife. You may want to start re-calibrating your posture toward neo-nazis as well. For example, when you see the rest of America recoil in horror from Richard Spencer leading a room full of fascists in the nazi salute, that's your cue to be revolted. You might have to fake it until muscle memory kicks in.
For new recruits, we'll do some remedial exercises
After Trump's botched raid in Yemen resulted in the death of a Navy Seal and at least 30 civilians, we learned that he wasn't even in the situation room during the raid. Then, to deflect attention from the failure of the mission, the Pentagon released 10-year-old footage to demonstrate the success of the mission, then scrambled to take it down off the internet.
This information should outrage and confound you.
After Trump said that his Muslim ban only affected "a few people", the government was forced to admit that more than 100,000 visas have been revoked as a result of the ban. Note: that's not suspended it's revoked. Hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants who live and work in the US have had their visas revoked.
This information should disgust you.
Trump had an hour long phone call today with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unlike his call with the King of Saudi Arabia, the White House did not release a detailed readout of his call with Putin. This might be just a curiosity if it weren't for Ilan Berman, VP of the American Foreign Policy Council, a conservative think tank, who weighed in today.
.@ilanberman: "there was no readout of the Trump-Putin call bc WH turned off recording" - Kremlin readout is very positive @BPC_Bipartisan pic.twitter.com/oi4v1R5dN0
— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) February 1, 2017
