Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Government by Twit

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

It hasn't been that long ago when the Republicans had such tight control over Congress that the only available channel President Obama had for advancing his program was through executive orders, a situation which angered the GOP do-nothings in Congress to the point that they accused the President of governing by fiat.

Now, several months later, Congress is still Republican and a member of their party also sits in the White House.  It ought to be a perfect situation for the Grand Old Party, one in which both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue could work together to destroy every advancement secured by ordinary Americans during the Obama era.  Militarism, greed, and hate should be reigning supreme.

But we are barely six months into the Trump administration, and the good times seem to already be over.  Trump's political clout is weakening to the point where many of the right-winged creatures in Congress no longer fear the impact that he could have on their re-election bids, and some are daring to assert independence from their party's leadership.

Trump, too, is no slave to political orthodoxy.  This week he has angered many in his party through his disparaging remarks about the "weakness" of Jeff Sessions, the man Trump himself appointed United States Attorney General earlier this year.  Trump initially attacked Sessions a couple of weeks ago in an interview with the New York Times with remarks some felt were intended to goad Sessions into resigning - ostensibly as a prelude to Donald John being able to appoint a new AG who would fire Trump's nemesis, Robert Mueller, that man leading the independent investigation into the Trump-Russia affair.

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III, however did not take the bait and remained at his post - so Trump upped the ante.  Yesterday he issued a series of tweets blasting Sessions as being weak.  His tweets, in fact, were so in-your-face as to be tantamount to a request for Sessions to resign.  But the disparaged attorney general appears loathe to take the hint.

Sooner or later Jeff Sessions will succumb to the presidential pressure and quit - or he will be fired - most likely by tweet, because that is how Trump rolls.

(Will this all come to a head on a Saturday night?)

Today in a series of three tweets, Donald John Trump, after noting that he had been in consultation with "his" generals, announced that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed in the Untied States military - some of that government by executive fiat stuff that Republicans used to hate.

Donald Trump has abbreviated the "executive order" process and transformed it into executive tweets.  Is that what passes for leadership in America in 2017 - an angry old man sitting on the can at four in the morning and venting his gastric distress in one-hundred-and-forty-characters or less?

America is overdue for a good flush.

No comments: