I swear I didn’t want to write another word about Donald Trump. But some weeks – almost any week, in fact – he’s inescapable. So, with apologies, here we go again…
When the history of the Donald Trump presidency is written (my guess is sometime around mid-2018), Dec. 1, 2017 will be seen as the beginning of the end of his presidency. At least, we can hope.
On Friday, Michael Flynn – the former national security advisor to Trump, a former U.S. general, the guy who lead “lock her up” chants at the Republican convention, and a guy who clearly fell in with a bad crowd – pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russians. He admitted to just the one charge (he was facing a whole raft of them) in exchange for telling the special investigation everything he knows about the Trump campaign’s links with Russia. Flynn is ready to spill the beans about who was giving the orders to talk to the Russians, and the word is that the source is very high in the White House, possibly Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, primary advisor and background extra on The Walking Dead. And if the orders came from Kushner, you’ve got to know that the First Father in Law was well aware as well. (A top White House lawyer called Michael Flynn “an ‘Obama administration official” in statement distancing Trump from Russia plea deal.) The walls are closing in on Trump and his clown posse.
The Flynn flip capped a brutal week for the president. Earlier in the week, he retweeted a batch of videos that purported to show Muslims doing bad things. One of them allegedly showed a Muslim attacking a guy on crutches, another allegedly showed Muslims throwing people off buildings, and another showed some swarthy types (i.e. Muslims) smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary. All of the videos came from Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of a far right wing outfit called Britain First. Fransen was thrilled with the attention, tweeting “GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP!” for giving her discredited organization a boost. And, of course, the videos had all been debunked a long time ago. The British government was outraged. A senior member of Teresa May’s government tweeted: “So POTUS has endorsed the views of a vile, hate-filled racist organisation that hates me and people like me. He is wrong and I refuse to let it go and say nothing.” The leader of the Labour Party called the retweets “abhorent, dangerous and a threat to our society.” Trump retaliated by tweeting at Theresa May, or so he though. He sent the tweet to someone named Theresa May Scrivner.
And just to wrap up the week in Trump, there are now people openly suggesting that he is mentally unwell. The guy who co-wrote Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, said on TV this week he thinks Trump is genuinely crazy, as in mentally ill. A poll found 56 percent of the population says he’s unfit to serve, and even senators have been caught on tape describing him as “crazy.” Aside from his core of fanatical followers (a large group, to be sure) it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t think that he’s mentally unbalanced.
So this is the situation we’re in. The United States of America, the bulwark of democracy, is crumbling before our eyes. It is under the control of a man who may not be in full position of his faculties. Crazy or sane, he’s dangerous, and the U.S. of A. is falling apart. Britain is in free-fall thanks to the Brexit decision. Germany – stable, dependable, powerful, no-longer warlike Germany – is struggling, since two months have past since the federal elections failed to produce a working majority for Angela Merkel (or anyone else), Germany is in a state of limbo, and Merkel’s time may be done. Meanwhile, China is getting stronger every day, and still a one-party state that brooks no dissent. Russia is led by a cunning, cold-eyed killer who will do anything to advance the cause of Russia. North Korea is under the control of fat little lunatic with nukes.
The major democracies are in crisis, the major anti-democratic nations are strong and confident, and getting stronger and more confident every day. Just as Trump’s history may look back upon Dec. 1, 2017 as a pivotal moment in his presidency, future historians may look back on 2017 as a pivotal moment in world history.
And I’m worried what they’ll find.
RIP
Jim Nabors, 87, who played the amiable hick Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show, and later on his own show. Nabors spoke in a typically Southern drawl, but sang in a deep operatic baritone that was a weird contrast, to put it mildly. Go to about the 3 minute mark of this video to get a feel for Gomer Pyle the character, and Jim Nabors the singer.
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