Trump is credible? That’s funny
As kids, we would shout, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” At this point, President Trump and his White House cronies must be down to their skivvies, as their credibility is reduced to a laughable level.
Trump’s tweets have gone from outrageous to dangerous. Without a scintilla of evidence, our new president asserts that Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 election campaign. When is wise and mature governance of this country going to matter more to him than the crazy alternative facts he reads in the far-right media at 6 a.m.?
Remarkably, in two months as the 45th president, Trump has further fractured an already very deeply divided nation. His pledge to unite us, made in those early days after his election, rings hollow today. His war on a free press is as frightening as the blinders he wears when it comes to Vladimir Putin, Russian aggression in the Ukraine and Syria, and the Kremlin’s interference in last November’s election. Referring to journalists as “enemies of the people,” he invokes the wording of dictators past.
Confidants like Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer daily twist the truth about Trump’s words. They spin so much that a permanent state of political vertigo cannot be far off. The IRS audit of Trump’s taxes is a nonstarter for discussion. Short of a congressional subpoena, we will never see or know what secrets are hidden there. Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan and the Republicans in Congress kowtow to Trump at their peril.
As to repealing and replacing Obamacare, the public should be be careful what it wishes for. The Affordable Care Act is flawed and needs fixing, but it also provides millions with health care coverage. The new Republican plan – call it TrumpCare – is a very inadequate replacement. It provides yet another huge tax benefit to the wealthiest Americans.
The GOP leadership in Congress is hell-bent on reducing Social Security benefits, creating a voucher system for Medicare and making Medicaid disappear. During last year’s presidential campaign, we heard Trump swear to protect all three of these vital programs. We can only hope this is one promise he intends on keeping.
Carl A. Haberl
Washington