So now Trump’s a “centrist.” Uhh, okay….
Over the weekend we saw the outlines of the new “centrist push” by the Trump regime.
There was the firing of Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Chair, undoubtedly the result of a Trump order to Ryan designed to let us know that, No, Donald isn’t really as partisan as we all thought. Then we saw the firing of Steve Bannon from the National Security Council, a reassurance, I suppose, that Bannon is now a little too psycho even for Trump. Finally, we saw the bombing of Syria, and while that couldn’t exactly be described as “centrist,” it does seem to have prompted some people to see him as more presidential (more on this in a minute).
At the same time, we see the rising up of Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, whom Bannon supposedly called a “cuck,” meaning a mainstream Republican—a more updated form of RINO.
Well, to some of us, RINOs are far preferable, and less dangerous, than tea party Republicans. So if we have to have Republicans, give me a good “cuck” anytime!
I’ve been saying since the Syria bombing that it was all wagging the dog, a transparent way for this beleaguered President to try to up his abysmal poll numbers. It’s a given that a President engaged in foreign battle will temporarily experience support. Even MSNBC, which has been Trump’s fiercest critic, was largely positive on the missile launches, while my newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, headlined that Trump was getting praise both abroad and domestically, on a bipartisan basis. “Donald Trump became President” with the bombing, declared the pompous CNN opinionator, Fareed Zakaria.
Really? The most unqualified President in U.S. history, and all he has to do is kill a few Syrians and he’s suddenly a statesman?
I don’t think so.
Look, we know what’s going on. The man has no fundamental values, except greed and a lust for power. He pandered to the Republican right, in order to get elected, and for a while he thought he could continue to work with the tea party. Then came the collapse of Trumpcare, and the Freedom Caucus’s middle finger to him. Trump, desperate for a date, wiggled his tushie to Democrats, announcing he was available, but Dems weren’t buying—and why should they? So what’s a troubled President to do?
Wag the dog! Kill Syrians (whom his voters don’t like anyway) and get credit from the likes of Fareed Zakaria for being “presidential.”
Let’s call this what it is: a transparently cynical move, bordering on evil. Trump decides there will be a “new Trump” and he expects the country to believe it. Well, there was a “new Nixon” too—in fact, several of them.
Nixon changed his stripes every time it was politically convenient. It didn’t do him much good; he got impeached and quit in disgrace. I don’t think this Syria nonsense will do Trump any good either, although he might get a short-term bounce. The guy is a fraud. His most ardent followers, white men, are deserting him. He’s conceded he’s not going to do anything more in Syria, beyond this ineffective pinprick. Then what? Where does he wag the dog next? Because, my friends, be assured, this guy won’t go down without a fight. Devoid of moral boundaries, he will thrust us into a war, a bad one, and risk the lives of American soldiers in order to save his disintegrating presidency.
“Where does he wag the dog next? ”
North Korea?
Maybe. His surrogates are making a lot of noise about it. I don’t think he’ll do anything before the South Koreans get a new president, though.
A “cuck” is short for “cuckold” – a pejorative to indicate a man that is subserviant to his wife.
Not sure about the Rino reference. Kushner is a Democrat.
Jeff, I know the derivation of cuckold. The “cuck” is a modern Republican insult for more moderate Repubs. As for Kushner, if he was a real Democrat, there’s no way he would work for Trump, with all the destruction he’s causing, and will cause, to women’s rights, the environment, gay rights, worker’s rights, healthcare insurance, and so on. He has sold his Democratic soul for power and money.
You really have to go to great and outlandish cherry picking lengths to get anything more than very specific things Trump has done so far as anything fairly labeled as centrist.
So far that nonsense doesn’t amount to anything other than marketing bluster, and a freak show like Bannon calling somoene a cuck – wingnuts like him call even some right wingers who aren’t right wing enough for them that, so that reallt doesn’t tell us much about Kushner.
Maybe he is a moderate, maybe just a regular conservative or maybe hard core, but more realistic than Bannon… who knows. Only time will tell.
I don’t believe trump has ANY values, except greed, an attachment to his children, and a lust for power and to be loved. He is utterly without moral moorings–a sociopath. It doesn’t even matter to me if he goes right, center or left–I still want him gone because he’s an insult to everything we stand for.