Have met three admitted and proud Trump voters,
one an American doctor from Minnesota met again now in Honduras, someone I
worked with last year at a medical brigade, another a former Cuban political
prisoner hoping for sterner tactics against the Castro government, and a fellow
Spanish interpreter from a South American country who says that he and his
family came here “legally” and he resents those who have not. They all say let’s
give Donald Trump a chance. I think we’ve given him enough chances already and the
result is not a nation that I and many others can be proud of or that we even
want to continue belonging to. Trump is not making American great. Rather, it’s
sickening to be identified with a government that intends to take away health
insurance, cut Peace Corps, abolish school lunches, make it OK to disparage and
harm foreigners, and separate refugee mothers from their kids. At the same
time, a big tax cut is proposed for the wealthiest among us, while cruelty is
praised and lies are dispensed daily. Trump has had enough chances!!
Donald Trump’s speech to Congress did stick to the script for a change,
no more wild ad-libs; it was pretty straightforward in delivery, though skimpy
on details. Trump sounded dead-pan, but better that than shouting and gesturing
and making blatantly false and contradictory statements. (Saturday Night Live wasn’t
given much to work with there.) Can he keep up this tone? Massive protests at
town halls and from Republican constituents may have tempered his delivery.
Rhetoric about
“illegals” has softened in the Republican Party, especially in regard to DACA
young people, as the public, even in red states, is not so anti-immigration after
all. Trump’s abysmal popularity polls, plus Republican lawmakers’ fears of
being defeated themselves in the mid-term elections, has moved them and Trump more
toward the center, at least rhetorically. About the only red meat to his base in
his Congressional speech was Trump’s mention of building “the wall.” He’s got to come up with some sort of symbolic
wall—not just the high fence that’s already on so much of the border. As for
health care reform, by identifying himself as a Republican, Trump may get Congressional
Republicans to go along with changes they would have automatically blocked for
a Democrat. However, Peace Corps is apparently on the chopping block, along
with foreign aid, something very short-sighted. Build up the military, but cut
peaceful outreach.
Vladimir Putin, with the help of Julian Assange (continuing to live in the
prison of
his own choice at the UK Ecuadorian Embassy), may have not only tried to
manipulate the victory of Donald Trump, a more malleable candidate, but to
undermine the international
standing and influence of the United States by promoting someone obviously
unfit to assume
the presidency. Trump’s accusation of wiretapping by Obama was calculated
to move the news cycle away from Russian election interference claims.
Read detailed and
convincing article in the New Yorker, March 6, with Putin staring through his
monocle at a tiny,
fluttering Donald Trump on the cover.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/20/there-is-no-deep-state?
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Too bad Ivanka Trump’s clothing and jewelry
lines are tanking; can she imagine that people are still going to want to pay
big bucks for stuff associated with her father’s name? Hope the same happens
with hotels, apartment buildings, and golf courses all over the US.
Unfortunately, enterprises associated with the Trump name abroad are likely to
see an uptick, as foreign entities will try to curry favor with the
administration. No doubt that happened with the Clinton Foundation as well when
Hillary was Secretary of State.
OK, Republican Party, if you really want
our country to be great (and to win re-election yourselves), please step up to
the plate, and promote fact-based policy development and prevent government by
clichés, tweets, and whims. If every government or other entity opposed to
Trump is wrong or untrustworthy, what do we have left? Donald Trump is not a
king or dictator. Act governmental, Republicans, and be open to the press.
OAS Secretary General Almagro’s proposed
visit to Cuba, to
receive an award in honor of the late human rights activist Oswaldo Paya (whom
I once met), was blocked by the Cuban government, along with blocking entry by other
Latin American leaders planning to attend. That was a big mistake by the Cuban
regime, rejecting an initiative coming from fellow leaders in the region, not
from the US. The Cuban public, except for dissidents, would not have known
about it, but apparently the regime did not want to have the precedent or to
show itself yielding, even to other regional players.
Brazen
Cuban street artist El Sexto talks
about his work, prison, and activism.
Read more here:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article130632799.html#storylink=cpy
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