| Back to... |
Share Our Stories! - Click Here |
 |
Trump on His First Hundred Days |
| By
Stephen Lendman |
| He took credit for what demands condemnation in a ghost-written Washington
Post op-ed, addressing supporters in Harrisburg, PA, and Sunday on CBS News
Face the Nation. Virtually nothing about his tenure warrants praise. His performance as president and commander-in-chief of America’s military has been dismal and hugely dangerous - world peace threatened on his watch. The nation’s most vulnerable have an Enemy-in-Chief heading US governance in Washington. So do all sovereign independent nations - especially Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia, along with Palestinians and Donbass freedom fighters. Trump on CBS: “The relationship I have with China, it’s been already acclaimed as being something very special, something very different than we’ve ever had.” Fact: His administration wants China used to serve US interests - on the North Korea issue and a futile attempt to split rock-solid Sino/Russian relations. Fact: America has interests, not allies, an agenda to further its quest for unchallenged global dominance. Russia and China above all other nations stand in the way. Eventual confrontation with both ahead is likely. Trump: “(W)e can’t allow” North Korea to have nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Fact: Given Trump’s rage for war, and his obsession with wanting America’s military to be more powerful than ever, US-instigated conflict on the Korean peninsula remains an ominous possibility. Trump: “I have…no comment on” DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. “He’s dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular the generals and others…(W)e cannot let what’s been going on for a long period of years continue.” Fact: Kim and other Pyongyang officials want nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities as a deterrent against possible US aggression, not for preemptive war against any nation. Trump: “I think we’ve done very well with foreign policy. I think we’ve done very, very well with relationships with other leaders. I think we’re doing great on trade deals.” Fact: He escalated war in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, sent hundreds of US marines to Afghanistan, special forces to Somalia, soured relations with Russia, put Iran “on notice,” wants regime change in Venezuela, and threatens nuclear war on the Korean peninsula - abandoning his campaign pledge to be non-interventionist. Fact: He reneged on his promise to make trade deals worker friendly. Instead of draining the swamp, he filled it to overflowing with neocon generals, billionaires, Wall Street officials, and other right-wing extremists. Fact: He supports terrorism instead of combating it. He’s pro-war, pro-Wall Street, pro-Big Oil, pro-other corporate favorites, anti-beneficial social change, and anti-protection of constitutional rights. He’s polar opposite what responsible leadership should be. He called Obamacare “dead,” claims his far worse alternative plan will “help (his) supporters,” privileged ones and predatory industry giants only, not the vast majority of Americans paying more and getting less under Trumpcare if it’s enacted in a form still being debated by Republicans alone. On changes to Medicare, he equivocated before, after being pressed, saying “I’m not going to touch it” - then saying “(t)here are certain provisions in Medicare that are horrible and abusive…So that kind of stuff, I will absolutely touch,” referring to unexplained “waste, fraud and abuse.” Whatever waste et al exists in Medicare and most other government programs is pocket change compared to trillions of dollars of wasted, fraudulent, abusive Pentagon funding and spending. Trump wants tens of billions more dollars wasted on militarism and warmaking instead of responsibly slashing so-called defense spending. In interviews, speeches and other remarks, he lathers praise on his deplorable domestic and foreign policies - benefitting privileged Americans exclusively, harming countless others worldwide. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |