If I didn’t know better, I would think that the Trump Administration was an invention of Lewis Carroll.
The only question I mull over is whether it more nearly resembles “Through the looking Glass” or “Alice in Wonderland.”
The latest thought provocation on this topic occurred yesterday when former CIA Director, John Brennan, testified before Congress that by August 2016 he had determined that Russian intelligence agencies were meddling in the election and trying to aid the campaign of Donald Trump.
Trump continues to insist that these claims are “Fake news” yet he fired the FBI Director, James Comey, who was leading the investigation and tried to enlist Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence and Admiral Michael Rogers, the National Security Agency Director, to publicly deny that there was any evidence of cooperation between the Russians and his campaign.
To both men’s credit, they refused to do that.
You have to ask yourself, if it’s fake news, why would you fire the FBI Director and try to involve the heads of two of the major intelligence agencies?
More fantasy is found in Trump’s first budget.
This week Trump proposed a 4.1 trillion dollar budget that would devastate the safety net and amounts to a war on the poor.
It would cut Medicaid by 800 billion dollars, cut nutritional assistance by 192 billion, and reduce other welfare programs by 272 billion. Likewise, it would cut disability benefits by 72 billion.
It would eliminate subsidized student loan programs available to poor college students and those who take jobs in government or not-for-profit organizations.
Food Stamps would be cut by 194 billion dollars and a household’s allowance for Food Stamps for children would be limited to six children.
The seventh child would have to fend for itself.
The budget also includes draconian cuts to such programs as Children’s Health Insurance Program, Meal on Wheels and almost every aspect of medical and scientific research. Even some of the far-right Tea Party “Freedom Caucus’ members are balking at it.
Trump’s budget would eliminate outright the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He would also eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Science and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is responsible for National Public Radio and Public Television that provides 1,200 hours per year to children’s programming with shows like Sesame Street.
These organization, which have been part of our life since the mid-1960s, amount to >02% of the Federal budget.
There hasn’t been a wholesale assault on culture like this since ISIS and the Taliban destroyed the ancient cultural artifacts in the territories that came under their control.
The other head scratcher that was revealed this week was Trump’s telephone call to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. Under Duterte there have been over 6,000 people killed by police and vigilantes because they were suspected of drug dealing. The extrajudicial killings are being carried out without the benefit of an arrest or any evidence that the victims were, in fact, dealing drugs.
Duterte has obliquely hinted that he has been personally involved in the killings that took place when he was Mayor of Davao and boasted that he personally killed three kidnapping suspects during that period.
On Friday, Duterte placed the island of Mindanao under martial law and declared that he would support his troops even if they raped the women on the island under their control.
During the Trump initiated phone call, Trump praised Duterte for the “unbelievable job on the drug problem.”
Trump went on to ask Duterte whether he thought Korean dictator, Kim Jung Un, was “stable.”
Duterte confirmed that Kim was “not stable,” which is somewhat like being called ugly by a toad.
Trump went on to disclose that the United States had two nuclear powered submarines in the area, which caused a considerable amount of consternation at the Defense Department.
After inviting Duterte to the White House, Trump closed the conversation by telling Him to “keep up the good work, you are doing an amazing job.”
It will be interesting to see if Trump offers Duterte a position in his administration, perhaps, Director of the FBI.
That would certainly keep Special Prosecutor, Robert Mueller in line.