Trump Taketh Away, and Then Giveth Back

In 2017 and 2018, Donald Trump, by executive order, cancelled three programs intended to aid individuals seeking or already experiencing safe haven in the United States.  Those programs, the first of which we've already covered, are:

• CAM
• DACA
• TPS

CAM, short for Central American Minors, is a program established during the Obama administration.  It seeks to allow those its name suggests - Central American minors - to apply for asylum in the U. S. not by having to travel here, but by visiting a consulate in their home country.  Since such countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) are among the most violent in the world, the program made sense.  But Donald Trump cancelled it in August 2017.

DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was created by Barack Obama in 2014.  The program allowed some brought to this country as children by their parents to receive two years' protection from deportation, as well as a work permit., Donald Trump allowed DACA to lapse in March 2018.

TPS Temporary Protected Status, allows folks from these countries:

• El Salvador
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Nepal
• Nicaragua
• Somalia
• Sudan
• South Sudan
• Syria
• Yemen

to remain in the United States as long as certain conditions, such as civil war or environmental disasters,  pertain in their home country.  People who accept TPS protection can't be removed from the United States, can be employed here, and can be granted travel authorization.  Established in 1990, TPS was halted in October 2018.

Today, with his usual surfeited belief in himself, Mr. Trump played at being kindhearted.  He offered Congress a compromise way to end the government shutdown.  Translating from TrumpSpeak, he said if you give me my wall, I'll put CAM, DACA, and TPS back.  For three years. 


About two hours ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump's proposal a non-starter ...

Let's Hope Ted's Wrong

A couple of days ago, Ted Koppel speculated, in a column originally published in the Washington Post, that Donald Trump will not give up the Oval Office, or the trappings of the Presidency, willingly.  Koppel goes even further: untethered from any political responsibility whatsoever, [Trump] can be expected to capitalize fully on his new status as political martyr and leader of a new "resistance" that will make today's look supine.

Hospodi pomilu, mon dieu, and Buddha on a bicycle.  If Koppel is at all accurate, we are in a world of trouble ...

The Incredible Shrinking Trump

In 1957, in the heart of what some term the Golden Age of Science Fiction, a film allegory called The Incredible Shrinking Man was released.

The protagonist of the film, a businessman named Robert Scott Carey, is exposed to that most favored of plot devices of 1950s movies, radioactivity.  As a result of too many roentgens, he begins steadily to shrink, becoming so small as to be able to fit through the tiny openings in a window screen.  But by the end of the film, Carey has accepted his fate with dignity, concluding that he still matters, because to God, there is no zero.

Given the most recent example of solipsistic behavior from Donald Trump, it's hard to imagine Trump arriving at the same degree of enlightenment.  Today, undoubtedly in petulant response to the skilled politics of an intelligent, powerful woman, Mr. Trump rescinded the ability of the Speaker and her associates to use military aircraft to fly to areas of the Middle East in order to visit troops.

I agree with Robert Carey - to God, there is no zero.  Or, as some of the Buddhist teachers whose work I so admire have put it, everything is important.  But even an enlightened approach has trouble discerning redeeming value in Donald Trump.

Why Do These Not Surprise Me?

On the same day that U. S. servicemen were killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Syria, Vice President Pence claimed ISIS has been completely defeated.

On December 29, during his surprise visit to Iraq, Donald Trump was warned that in spite of his beliefs to the contrary, ISIS had not been completely defeated in Syria.

Still vying for the Today of the Year award, today Senator Lindsay Graham (R - SC) suggested that Mr. Trump needs to take a closer look at Syria policy.

Exiting BREXIT

Let's face it.  The current Administration has a distinct anti-NATO, anti-Western Europe, anti-everybody-but-us bent.  As a result, there's almost certainly consternation over today's decision in the House of Commons at least to postpone leaving the European Union.

My take?  Smart move, UK.

Who Cares?

The American public cares, Mr. Trump.  While many folks may not agree with every position taken by newly-elected Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D - NY), I'm sure they feel that language like that used recently (and on more than one occasion over the years) by Rep. Steve King (R - NY) is not what this country is supposed to be about.

Put another way, you should know, Mr. Trump, that your insensitivity cum racism cum xenophobia is catching up with you.  Despite your still having a few toadies like Senators Lindsay Graham (R - SC) and John  Kennedy (R - LA), when folks like Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R. - CA) take a stand against you, you should recognize that you've burned about every bridge that's available.

Letting Him Have It With Both Barrels

Evidence that indicates the possibility of criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice on Donald Trump's part continues to grow.

On Friday evening, the New York Times published a piece that detailed the FBI's opening a counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Trump.  This morning, the Washington Post went further, reporting on Trump's having met with Vladimir Putin five times, and having refused to inform his (Trump's) advisors of the meetings, or the topics discussed therein.