It's a budget plan only the monstrous Donald Trump and his bestial followers could love.
A plan that would take money from the poor and the vulnerable, and hand it over to the police, the military, and the millionaires.
One that would attack the arts and the humanities as only fascists can.
And one that could only be the product of those who would describe the crippling of meals-on-wheels programs all over America as an act of "compassion."
As Trump's budget director Mick Mulvaney did yesterday while answering a question from CNN's Jim Acosta.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, here's what Mulvaney had to say about Trump's plan to cripple public broadcasting.
“When you start looking at places that we reduce spending, one of the questions we asked was can we really continue to ask a coal miner in West Virginia or a single mom in Detroit to pay for these programs? The answer was no,” Mulvaney said Thursday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“We can ask them to pay for defense, and we will, but we can’t ask them to continue to pay for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
As if culture was a luxury for poor people, and Trump was some kind of fascist dictator...
And yes, it is depressing to see a man as cruel and as crass as Donald Trump occupying the Oval Office.
I hate to think about the pain he is going to inflict on so many poor and elderly Americans.
I also shudder to imagine what the American TV landscape would look like without some of the great programming from PBS.
And Roger Cohen is right to describe Trump's bestial budget as a reflection of the man himself.
If a budget can be a portrait of a soul, then this president’s is arid and shriveled. It is filled with contempt for the needy. Here is a man dismissive of the arts, the environment, the humanities, diplomacy, peacekeeping, science, public education and civilian national service — in short, civilization itself. If he could defund goodness he would.
Charity is also ripe for the ax. Creativity needs skewering. Giving is weakness. All that counts are acquisitive instinct, walls and bans (of the kind that keep mother and son apart), displays of power, and the frisson of selective cruelty that lay behind his successful TV show. Everyone is now Donald Trump’s apprentice, at least as he sees it.
But the good news is that Trump is going to hurt a lot of his own furry followers...
Today they may find him irresistible, but eventually they will turn on him.
With every day that passes there are fewer of them.
And as Jimmy Kimmel points out, the orange ape should have learned something from Big Bird...
But he was too much of a psychopathic bully to feel the pain of others.
And in the end his shattered followers will help the decent destroy him...
21 comments:
Republicans will never turn on him, these people are lost. It is the independents we need to keep an eye on, and so far, they are running away from him.
Bah who cares about pbs? Nothing but leftist propaganda anyhow. Belongs in the dustbin of history like the cbc.
-MC
Il Duce. Except the trains WONT be running on time and the mob will be taking over.
I was wondering if Trump and crew were modeling the budget on the English Poor Laws but I am fairly sure the Poor Laws were much more sympathetic to the poor.
The really weird thing is that the budget betrays all too many Trump supporters, in some cases for little financial savings. There clearly some mad ideological approach here that defies reason or common sense or even a sense of political self-preservation.
Either that or a pathological hatred of the poor. Both?
The Intercept reports that the budget is just a model budget drafted by the Heritage Foundation last year with a new cover and title. I wonder if the Heritage Foundation were indulging their fancy of what one would do if they "were King" and did not actually intend for it to be taken literally?
Not that the Heritage Foundation might not have wanted to do these things but they just did not think any politician would be stupid enough to actually do them?
Trump wants PBS gone because they provide a good news cast which does in depth segments which inform the electorate. that needs to stop.
Trump doesn't understand that people of all income levels enjoy PBS, including those who live in poverty. if he is truly concerned about poverty he would cut the military budget and eliminate tax loop holes for the rich.
When PBS ran the Downton Abbey series millions of Americans watched and learnt some thing along the way. Trump doesn't understand that. He doesn't understand the wonderful music shows they develop, preserving a part of American history.
Then there the children shows, which are great, but Trump doesn't like anything which might inspire people to develop critical thinking.
Although Trump Tower America has yet to begin construction in earnest the mega suites are already being sold and the theme song "If you've got the money honey I've got the time" is blaring non stop. As for the rest if you are not a useful dedicated servant/employee better pack your bags or just FO&D.
The lower floors are already occupied by the usual crowd looking buy "friendly" legislation and contracts. These are the Big anything... financials, oil, pharma, Agri,chemicals, weapons etc. but the upper floors is where the real power and interest lies. The usual occupants are already there seeking to extend their favorable foreign policy or military enforcement leases but there are some new ones vying for a place to store wealth and or trade off some global real estate. Gone are the warm fuzzy days of throwing support behind a cause or picking up the club tab. Now its all about the money and especially the "commissions" which will be out of reach for many of the former club members as it is illegal to pay them.
Interesting times and as there is really no honor among thieves it will not end well in the longer term. In the short term North Korea is a pressing problem. Will it become the first concrete example of a mutually beneficial monetary transaction complete with commissions or a Trumped-up diversionary tactic with millions of lives at risk? Hope its Trump the huckster and not Trump the egotistical narcissist working on a response to the Jong-Un problem.
RT
Trump budget would eliminate much needed after school programs for kids
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kXzxg5X-pEw
Both PBS and CBC have many programs that both entertain and inform. I have high regard for both networks.
Stay classy, MC.
Trump's self-inflicted chaos
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/us/politics/trump-controversies-chaos.html
hi anon...I'm not sure I agree with you. The Trump hardliners may not be moved, but more moderate Republicans could turn against their Leader if he fails to deliver his extravagant promises, and punishes some of his most faithful supporters by stripping them of their health benefits....
hi MC...honestly do you think before you write something, or are you now too brainwashed to do that. PBS has many fine programs like Frontline, and Nova, and Nature, and many good programs for children. And killing it would leave us wallowing in the vulgarity of today's TV schedule. The right is going to die and it will die painfully...
hi anon...yes, of all the fascist dictators Trump most resembles Benito. A posturing blimp not as murderous as the others, but still rotten to the core...
hi jrkrideau.... as you say, Trump's budget seems to have been created by the same kind of people who drafted Britain's Poor Laws. And like you I can't believe anyone in America could be so callous or so cruel. I used to help my Mum when she was delivering meals for a program run by her church. And I know that many seniors not only depend on the food, but also enjoy the company. Depriving them of both will kill many, and those responsible for crippling such programs should be arrested....
hi e.a.f...yes you're right, Trump would like to have the power to shutdown all the media. And it would be a real tragedy if he manages to cripple PBS. I don't watch that much TV, but most of the programs I do watch (apart from soccer) are either on PBS or on Ontario's public broadcasting station TVO. Culture is not a class thing, it's a human thing, and in an ocean of vulgarity we can't get enough of it....
hi RT...I like the picture you paint as scary as it might be. I'm sure the Trump Inc presidency will end up resembling a tower of corruption and class privilege. Trump was raised in a privileged world and sees everything in life as a commercial challenge or a deal. To be a good leader one needs at the very least a streak of nobility, but alas he hasn't any. And as for North Korea, it would have challenged the patience of any U.S. president, but Trump is the last person to take on the Jong-Un problem. Insulting China doesn't help matters, and I fear that this story is not going to end well....
hi David...I can't bear to watch this kind of stuff anymore. CNN has run some reports on programs for poor children that are in the firing line. And the look of disappointment on the kid's faces wounds me deeply, and makes me wish that Trump would just drop dead. But he is a psychopath, he has absolutely no empathy, so what can we expect?
Simon you're quite correct, it won't end well. trump doesn't know what to do about North Korea and he wants China to do it for him. He hasn't done China any favours so they isn't going to do anything. China has "bought" him off anyhow by giving his son in law a $400M deal and o.k.ed his brand, Trump, which he has wanted for a decade in China. that will make him billions. He has copy writed it on just about anything and everything one could think of in china.
China doesn't care if N. Korea's N bomb hits Japan. there are still lingering bad feelings towards Japan on the part of China. They'd like to see Japan out of the picture. It might be in Japan's best interest to change their constitution, phone Israel and arm themselves and ramp up their military. No one will come to their aid if N. Korea sends a few bombs their way. Germany might want to do the same. france already has nuclear capacity and will defend itself, but I'm sure, no one else. The U.S.A. can not be depended upon to do anything should there be a disaster or war. Ms. Merkel is as good as it gets in terms of world leaders. We'd better hope she gets re elected. Ms. May and G.B. are a loss right off the bat and they have their own problems as their medical staff are either on strike or leaving the country.
The only country Communist China will not permit to be attacked is Australia because they have citizens living there and lots of investments.
We in Canada ought to be careful, because one mistake with an N. bomb and it could hit us.
chaos works for Trump. while there appears to be chaos and every one is running in all sorts of different directions and the media is distracted, Trump corporation will make billions and that is the aim of it all. Trump doesn't care what is going on anywhere, its about him making more money.
When they list the contributors at the end of shows names like the Koch's come up. Their money is good for most programming but do we want them sponsoring shows about political or the environment?
Donald Trump Finally Pays a Price for His False and Reckless Words
http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-finally-pays-a-price-for-his-false-and-reckless-words
Doomsday Clock
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/doctors-on-planes-the-end-of-the-world-poet-and-therapist-switch-roles-afghan-ambassador-shinkai-karokhail-1.4026266/how-close-are-we-to-the-end-of-the-world-1.4026272
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