OK, I confess. I am infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome. But I don’t consider it an affliction that needs a cure. This condition is brought on by the most reckless, irresponsible, self-serving behavior this country has ever witnessed by a chief executive, and my inability to ignore it is not a sign of illness.
Supporters of the current administration will tout the economy, the tax cuts, the swaggering diplomatic dismantling as signs of success. And they will ignore the unfulfilled campaign promises to “drain the swamp” and other such wild exaggerations. In their place, we witness unspeakable damage being done to government debt, to long-term taxpayer burdens, and to our country’s status on the world stage. The president’s appointments of foxes to guard the henhouses of education, the environment, the monetary system, health care, housing, civil rights and justice do not equate to draining the swamp. Appointing and hiring incompetents and crooks, many of whom are either already gone or indicted, is not draining the swamp.
I wonder—how many readers have seen a raise since the tax cut that was supposed to stimulate wage increases? Remember—that tax cut is temporary for you wage-earners, while it’s permanent for corporations. How many have seen reductions in their prescription drug costs? In health insurance premiums? How many realize our national debt has increased since Trump took office? That our national trade deficit has increased in spite of the emerging tariff war? That the key Supreme Court nominee currently under consideration has written a legal opinion that the chief executive should be immune from criminal investigations or indictments while in office?
Meanwhile, corporations have been buying back their own stock, making themselves less accountable to public shareholders. What this means is that the “captains of industry” wield ever more power and their political influence is gradually eclipsing that of the general population. In other words, our democracy is shifting toward becoming an oligarchy, where power is held by a small cluster of extremely wealthy people. One only needs to look at the current administration’s Cabinet appointments to see this playing out.
We must remember that America has always been great. We survived the Great Recession of only a decade ago, and we brought the rest of the world along with us. America is already great. It is imperative that we safeguard our democracy, and that means taking the surest action available to us to stop the current dismantling of the gains we have so dearly paid for over the last two centuries—go to the polls in November!
— Jim Renshaw, Carbondale
Note from KBJ: Batshit crazy.
