14 September 2020

Total Toadie

In the early days of Donald Trump's time in office, the so-called "adults in the room" restrained him from his worse impulses. With time, however, he fired most of them or browbeat the rest into resignation.

Many feared that those who remained would be nothing but yes-men and toadies who were undyingly loyal to Trump and groveling flatterers. They would not tell him what he needed to hear but, instead, what he wanted to hear.

One of the worst of that crowd is fringe economist Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, a position created for him by Trump. Navarro fawning cheerleading stint for Trump yesterday on the State of the Union television program is a perfect case in point.

James Downie at the Washington Post wrote an excellent summary piece yesterday (link here) so you don't have to watch the program. In short, Navarro just parrots back Trump's lies and bullshit.

The biggest laugh came at the beginning of the interview when Navarro says, before answering the first question, "I would really like to congratulate President Trump on being nominated for the peace prize, the Nobel Peace Prize."

Trump's "nomination" is a complete joke. Hundreds of people are nominated every year, most of them completely unworthy. Any elected legislator or history professor anywhere in the world can nominate anyone. As a result, professors and politicians, often in totalitarian countries, frequently nominate dictators who are the antithesis of previous Peace Prize winners.

For his part, Trump was nominated by a far-right white supremacist legislator in Norway. His most obsequious Republican fanboys in Congress must be envious they didn't think of this first.

The election is in fifty days. Have you registered to vote? If not, time is running out. In many states, registration closes 30 days before election day.

Learn more about registering to vote and check your status if you've already registered by clicking here.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Speak up!