Good ever-lovin’ grief, it seems like a lifetime or three.
Exactly two years ago, Donald John Trump Sr. took the oath of office to become the 45th president of the United States.
He swore to protect and defend the Constitution, then launched into a dark, foreboding and grim inaugural speech that contained only one memorable line: “This American carnage stops right here and right now.”
He had pledged to unify the country. He pledged to “make America great again.” How has he done at the halfway point? By my account, not well . . . at all!
You see, part of the federal government is shut down. Why? Because Donald Trump wants to build a wall along our southern border. Democrats don’t want to do that. They insist on bolstering border security through other means.
In short, the two sides are miles apart! Unity, anyone? It ain’t happening! Not by a long shot.
One of Trump’s Republican primary opponents in 2016, Jeb Bush, called it correctly: Trump would bring “chaos” to the White House. Yep, the president has delivered on that prediction.
Of course, the legions of Trump’s base of supporters say he’s doing better than just fine. They say he’s restored American primacy on the world stage. How they justify that is utterly beyond me, but they stand by that absurd notion.
He has pulled the United States out of a North American trade agreement, the deal to block Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the Paris climate accord, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He has blustered and bullied our NATO allies, kowtowed in front of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, professed a goofy “love affair” with North Korean despot Kim Jong Un, and then denigrated our country’s intelligence network that has determined that Russia interfered with our 2016 presidential election.
Yep, but he’s winning, bigly. He says. I would laugh if I wasn’t so damn scared of what occurred when this guy took office two years ago. We’re halfway through this individual’s term.
I do hope it’ll be four years and out. Better yet would be for the president to leave beforehand. That eventuality, of course, has yet to be determined.