Betting that things can’t become worse with Donald Trump has constantly been a losing proposition, and never more so than in these dying days of2020 That’s the last, unambiguous, Signal of 2020.
Recently, Trump pardoned a who’s who of venal politicians (consisting of ex-Representative Duncan Hunter and his other half), corrupt consultants (Paul Manafort and Roger Stone), loved ones (Jared Kushner’s odious father), and child-killing mercenaries founded guilty of a massacre in Iraq.
There’s no “process” to this pardoning spree. Trump has bypassed Department of Justice protocols, arrogating to himself regal-like powers to reward cronies and (in Manafort’s case in particular) make great on his guarantee to secure those who went to the wall to secure him from potential criminal liability.
There is talk that Trump will issue pardons-in-advance to his kids and to close advisors such as Rudy Giuliani. There is talk that Trump will attempt to pardon himself for any federal misbehavior he may be accused of when he leaves office.
Meanwhile, thousands of Americans are passing away of Covid-19 each day. Healthcare Facilities in Los Angeles, the country’s second-largest city, along with the rest of Southern California, are so swamped with patients that ambulances with seriously ill clients are needing to circle for hours prior to finding one that will admit them. Some medical facilities are reporting that they are running low on oxygen supplies.
How has America’s president responded to this escalating crisis?
After decamping to Mar-a-Lago for the vacation weekend, Trump introduced a Twitter barrage versus the Supreme Court, Congress, Democrats, and the Justice Department, as he sought to keep the fiction that he won the November 3 election. And he continued to place himself as an insurrectionist leader instead of a president, urging his advocates to oppose in D.C. on January 6 versus congressional ratification of the Electoral College vote.
When he wasn’t fascist-tweeting, he was playing golf
And when he wasn’t playing golf, Trump was going out of his method to undermine the meticulously worked out Covid relief bundle. On Christmas Eve, he pulled the carpet out from under Congress, after big, bipartisan bulks in both houses passed the costs authorizing $900 billion in investing to counter the continuous economic effect of the pandemic. With no warning, he unexpectedly announced that the legislation didn’t make the cut which he wasn’t going to sign it. And up until Sunday late night, he didn’t. As of Saturday night, since of Trump’s inactiveness, countless Americans– especially independent contractors who have received unemployment insurance coverage since March– who were counting on expanded benefits to tide them over into the brand-new year were without financial help. And even though Trump belatedly signed the expense, the hold-up guarantees at least a temporary break in joblessness payments for those Americans whose benefits abandoned the 26 th. Merry Christmas, America.
It wasn’t just the jobless who were held hostage to Trump’s tantrums this previous weekend. The Covid relief plan includes $20 billion for vaccine circulation, expulsion protections, moneys for public transit systems and arts institutions, help to endangered school districts, loans and grants to small businesses, and so on. All of that support was taken into limbo by Trump’s shenanigans.
This isn’t governing in any identifiable sense. It is, pure and simple, hostage-taking. Trump, in a fit of rage over his having lost the election, is now trying to take the nation down with him. He is corrupting the justice system, ginning up violent conflict in the country’s capital, and– in withholding his signature for a number of days on legislation important to the survival of countless small companies and the well-being of 10s of millions of citizens– showing just how far he’ll go to stay in the spotlight.
For Trump, it’s all about being center-stage, all the time. And if millions of people see a time out in their unemployment benefits as an effect, well, that’s simply the cost that should be paid to keep the headlines concentrated on No.45
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