There used to be show called Truth or Consequences on TV in the 1950’s thru the early 1970’s. We now have a real time reality show called Trump and Contradictions.
Every politician accuses his or her opponent of flip-flopping their position on certain ideologies and promises, some more than others. We are now in the MOST more than others. The following examples are either direct quotes from a speech or a tweet and some are reported remarks. For example:
September 27, 2016 – “If you’re not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for”?
March 31, 2017 – “Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse or big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion”
June 15, 2013 – “We should stay the hell out of Syria, the “rebels” are just as bad as the current regime. WHAT WILL WE GET FOR OUR LIVES AND $ BILLIONS?? ZERO”.
September 2013 – “President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your “powder” for another (and more important) day.”
April 5, 2017 – “…These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Amad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution”.
August 2012 – “An extremely credible source has called my office and told me that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud”.
September 2016 – “Any time you see a story about me or my campaign saying “sources said”, DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made-up lies.”
November 2012 – “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make United States manufacturing non-competitive”.
September 22, 2016 – In the first presidential debate, Donald Trump denied saying that he stated climate change was a Chinese hoax.
October 9, 2016 – “If I win, I want a special prosecutor looking into Clinton’s “situation“,”.
November 22, 2016 – President-Elect Trump said he had no intention of pressing for an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server or the financial operations of her family’s foundation, dropping the “Lock her up” pledge that became a rallying cry for his campaign for the White House.
July 8, 2015 – Candidate Trump, “Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the United States”.
May 11, 2016 – “Hillary Clinton I think is a terrific woman. I’m a little biased because I’ve known her for years. I live in New York. She lives in New York. …”.
Jan 30, 2017 – Trump: “Keystone and Dakota pipelines will be built with American steel … the pipe to be manufactured with United States steel,” Trump said.
March 3, 2017 – The Keystone XL pipeline won’t be required to use American-made steel to earn construction approval from the Trump administration, the White House said Friday, despite President Donald Trump’s repeated claims.
June 15, 2016 – “I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me –and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
Campaign promise – Trump has insisted that he will force Mexico to pay for the wall, but Mexican officials have refused. The president’s budget request Thursday included $2.6 billion, mostly for first stages of the wall.
March 9, 2017 – When asked whether the neighbouring nation would foot the bill, he said ‘Uh, no’ – Senator Mitch McConnell.
Trump is at his most bewildering when it comes to nukes. He has repeatedly insisted that nuclear stockpiles should be reduced, saying last week, “I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially.”
But it’s difficult to square that view with the position he took in December, when he tweeted, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”
He elaborated the next day that he had no problem if that position led other countries to build up their own nuclear capabilities. “Let it be an arms race,” he reportedly told MSNBC.
And we’re not even 100 days into this!!!
Let Me Just Say This About That
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
How To Dismantle Democracy in Two Weeks or Less
Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged democracy, Donald, Dump Trump, Executive Orders, fascism, I did it my way, President Trump, Show and Tell, Trump on February 2, 2017| 1 Comment »
Well, now Donald Trump has been in the White House for less than two weeks and already the process of destroying democracy and establishing a new form of Fascism has begun. The hallmarks of an autocracy are evident.
Proclamations in the form of Executive Orders have been issued like autographs and held up to the camera so he can be the one in the room doing show and tell today. Some are more show than tell. Here is a list of EOs so far:
Look – Show and Tell
1.An order instructing agencies that whenever they introduce a regulation, they must first abolish two others. Sounds logical but the premise is based on reducing restrictions on companies and institutions that impede its ability and freedom to do whatever they want in the pursuit of profit. Yeah that’s true
2. A memorandum to restructure the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. This allows Trump to put Steve Bannon, a known racist and alt-right supporter on the Council and God only knows to what flagrant measures General Flynn will stoop after he tweeted insane nonsense during the election.
3. A memorandum directing the Secretary of Defense to draw up a plan within 30 days to defeat ISIS. I thought he already had one! He said so during the election but was keeping it a secret from our enemies.
4. An order to lengthen the ban on administration officials working as lobbyists. There is now a 5 year-ban on officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government, and a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. So now instead of a 2 year on lobbyists joining the administration, it’s been revoked to just one year! On the face, the order sounds good but read deeper and you will see that in fact we have less insulation from scandal than before.
5. An executive order imposing a 120-day suspension of the refugee program and a 90-day ban on travel to the U.S. from citizens of seven terror hot spots: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. This is ONE BIG HOT MESS. And this one is not sitting well with lots and lots of people. The protests have begun and will continue. This is not well thought out and for some bizzaro reason doesn’t include those Muslim countries where Trump has business interests. NO conflict of interests huh?
6. Two multi-pronged orders on border security and immigration enforcement including: the authorization of a U.S.-Mexico border wall; the stripping of federal grant money to sanctuary cities; hiring 5,000 more Border Patrol agents; ending “catch-and-release” policies for illegal immigrants; and reinstating local and state immigration enforcement partnerships. OMG, seriously him and that stupid wall. One day it’s described to have golden arches and a gate, the next day it may be a figure of speech, the next day it got higher and higher. Talk about a taxpayer revolt – don’t tax me so you can build a monument to your own ignorance! AND he’s taking federal funds away from the sanctuary cities. Since they number well over 200 and many are densely populated, doubt this will go over without major resistance and think of the Senate and Congressional votes lost in 2018.
7. A memorandum calling for a 30-day review of military readiness. Really? Why not just call upon your heads of the military and tell them to do so.
8. Two orders reviving the Keystone XL pipeline and Dakota Access pipelines. He also signed three other related orders that would: expedite the environmental permitting process for infrastructure projects related to the pipelines; direct the Commerce Department to streamline the manufacturing permitting process; and give the Commerce Department 180 days to maximize the use of U.S. steel in the pipeline. Taking backward steps to protect the environment is one thing. I think the best line in this order is the use of US made steel – this from a man who had his ties made in China and his Make America Great Again hats in Vietnam, Bangladesh and China.
9. An order to reinstate the so-called “Mexico City Policy” – a ban on federal funds to international groups that perform abortions or lobby to legalize or promote abortion. The policy was instituted in 1984 by President Reagan, but has gone into and out of effect depending on the party in power in the White House. This one is just great – after all the party who most definitely wants to keep the government out of our private lives holds the most unusual thought process that allows us (USA) to say we will help you out BUT not if you allow abortion. Whatever happened to “Don’t tread on me”?
10. A notice that the U.S. will begin withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Trump called the order “a great thing for the American worker.” We shall see now won’t we?
11. An order imposing a hiring freeze for some federal government workers as a way to shrink the size of government. This excludes the military, as Trump noted at the signing. I guess the plan for hiring 5000 border patrol guards does not fall under this mandate.
12. An order that directs federal agencies to ease the “regulatory burdens” of ObamaCare. It orders agencies to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement” of ObamaCare that imposes a “fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications.” Again, the uproar continues as more and more people sign up for the affordable health care act before it is repealed and replaced with ??????
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