It was bad enough that His Trumpness decided to overhaul the Kennedy Center. Now he is hosting the year-end event, essentially turning it into a MAGA rally. No more backseat to the cultural arts of America, Trump made it known loud and clear that he would be honoring the unsung heroes of his orange revolution from this point forward. Surprised he doesn't tear the Edward Durell Stone national theater down and build a new gilded palace in his own honor. I'm sure the thought has crossed his mind.
Donald wasn't done there. He was off to the Poconos to make a pitch for the great economy no one seems to recognize. He called affordability a "hoax" and blamed Joe Biden and immigrants for dragging the economy down despite being 11 months on the job. Privately, he did admit tariffs might be a factor and announced a $12 billion package to win back the farm belt in time for the midterms next year, but it might be too little too late as his approval numbers have sagged like his belly falling over his belt. We all need a little belt tightening at the end of the year but it looks like he needs a stronger girdle or let his shirt hang out.
Trump has been accused of taking his MAGA faithful for granted as prices are once again on the rise throughout the country. No more discussion of propping up Medicaid or the subsidizing health insurance after eight Democrats broke ranks to approve a Senate budget that offered no funding for health care. Apparently federal workers were more important than the millions who will see health care services cut and massive rises in health insurance premiums. Even a few Republicans among his own ranks are lamenting this decision. Fetterman et al. supposedly got assurances that they would discuss the matter in the next session. Wink, wink.
The biggest news however is a new national security strategy that has left European allies aghast. Donald considers Europe "weak sauce," much like Quentin Tarantino does Paul Dano, regarding the continent irrelevant to his global ambitions. He lashed out at "stupid leaders" who have made their countries weak by letting in too many immigrants. They don't even know what their national identities are anymore, he bemoaned, which is why his administration will now be supporting right-wing nationalist parties throughout the continent hoping to dissolve the EU. This falls right in line with Putin's hybrid war in Europe, leading Moscow to praise a "strong" Trump. European NATO members have a tough decision to make as it is clear the US will no longer have their back if push comes to shove on the continent.
This puts Ukraine in a tough spot. Zelenskyy has tentatively agreed to hold elections within months as mandated in Trump's so-called peace plan, but much remains unclear. The shuttle diplomacy going on has yielded nothing in the way of concessions from Moscow. Why should they when Donald has essentially taken their side. Zelenskyy now has until Christmas to sign his peace plan.
All this unrest has made the markets jittery once again. Trump proudly hailed the Dow climbing over 48,000 only for it to slump back down this past week. The stock prices have been kept afloat by the surge of investment in AI, which many market watchers regard as a bubble waiting to burst wide open. To this point, AI has proven to be little more than a glorified google search engine, but don't tell Elon that.
The tech gladiator thinks it will make us free to pursue other interests, no longer bound to our work place, as "money will be irrelevant." I guess that means we will all be going down into the bitcoin mines to chip out a little cryptocurrency for ourselves, assuming we can afford the massive electricity bills. Better save up for this latest "gold rush," otherwise you will end up eating your shoe like Charlie Chaplin.
Needless to say, very few people have thought this AI fools' gold rush out. Certainly not the consequences that will come with automating our society to this degree. The whole idea of "Making America Great Again" was to return America to its traditional roots, not open the door for all these tech barons to take over the country and indeed the world. Remember when Donald was pitching "beautiful clean coal," while decrying deadly windmills and solar farms.
People didn't want to think about all these alternative ideas. They wanted lower gas prices and be able to buy eggs for less than two dollars a dozen. This is why they threw Biden and Harris out of the White House. Yet, here we are again with rising inflation and seemingly very little recourse with the Orange King in the White House. Nothing has changed.
No real surprise as the president has very little impact in this regard. We live in a market based economy, the holy grail of conservative thought for decades. Hell, centuries. No subsidies, no communist thinking allowed. The market should be free to operate on its own volition. If we leave it alone, it will correct itself. No need for pesky regulations that only serve to stifle growth. It doesn't matter how many recessions we have gone through. These are just "corrections."
Tell that to Joe the Plumber and any other everyman or everywoman who considers himself or herself an authority on the subject. I'm sure you will get the bum's rush just like Joe and Kamala got, and that's exactly what the Republicans will get if they don't bring prices down.
Unfortunately, Donald has a hard time keeping to the script, whether it is honoring the lifetime achievements of "Sly" Stalone and KISS, or reassuring MAGA faithful in Pennsylvania that he has their back. He flies off on silly rants and finds a way to alienate everyone around him. You could not script a more unruly president nor one so hopefully out of touch with what is going on around him, but still people love him, so much so that they give him fake peace prizes to assuage his battered ego, and compliment him on all the gold gilding he has added to the White House.
Unfortunately, this King Midas has a way of turning everything he touches into shit. Kennedy Center Honors case in point.
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