Belaboring the Point

January 4, 2017

The Trump show, now in its fifty-seventh day, is a clear indication that the American Dream is not dead, but remains available to anyone with the right chromosome pairing and credit rating. Clearly, any guy starting out with just a few million bucks and bigly ambition can grow up to become president. Hell, growing up is barely required – chronological age will do, here in the States surviving thirty-five years is good enough.

With only two base requirements (dicks and dollars), one would think there’d be more competition for the lead role in the American Power reality show. After all, in a nation of over 300 million there must be more than the usual handful of ass hats with the obligatory attributes.

Perhaps, candidate culling has more to do with what contenders don’t have. If you want to be prez, some things are just not appropriate. Let’s see, no atheists allowed – we serve our secularism heavily flavored with godliness. Also, no vaginas, while implied in the requirements, is worth a second mention because – scary.

Then there’s ethics. Ethics are not only not required, but are a hindrance. The number of unethical acts required to become a presidential candidate likely filters out all reasonable people and most sociopaths. While there are some rare exceptions, (Bernie! Bernie!) people vying for ultimate power do so ruthlessly – ethics be damned.

So why would we credit the Donald with defending ethics just for reigning in Paul Ryan and his gang from gutting a congressional ethic office?

While there was a groundswell of protest when the Republicans attempted this latest power play, I doubt the protests moved any neo-con hearts or minds. Frankly, they don’t care about post-election public opinion.

But, they were moved when Trump tweeted.  And they changed their minds more quickly than soiled underwear. They fear Trump even more than vaginas – we should take note of this. It may prove useful in the future.

So, while Trump prevented the trashing of the ethics office, ethics had nothing to do with it. The Donald does things that benefit the Donald. Hence, question remains: how does he benefit from this particular action? (Beyond the obvious entertainment benefit of watching his sheep run from him while shitting themselves.)

The republic stands mildly amused watching congress redefine the word coward – again and again.

In Peace and Justice,
osv