As President Trump reaches the 100-day mark, the liberal and mainstream criticism is that he hasn’t accomplished much, but that baiting only makes Trump likely to wage more wars and push a more right-wing agenda, says Sam Husseini.
By Sam Husseini
A CNN headline blares before the end of President Trump’s “First 100 Days”: “Trump’s race against the clock to do something.” Similarly, “Democracy Now” headlines a segment: “‘It Has Not Gone Well’: 100 Days of President Trump and No Major Achievements.”
President Donald Trump delivering his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2017. (Screen shot from Whitehouse.gov)
It certainly hasn’t gone well, but Trump has in fact accomplished a great deal. For one, Neil Gorsuch was put on the Supreme Court using “pro-life” rhetoric and has already facilitated death. Gorsuch provided the deciding vote in denying convicted murderer Ledell Lee’s request for a DNA test to prove his innocence because Arkansas’ supply of the execution drug midazolam was nearing its expiration date. Gorsuch’s ascension to the high court basically consolidates rightwing control over all three branches of government.
Trump also has assembled an incredible cabinet of corporate bosses, Wall Street operators and pro-war apparatchiks. And he has adroitly broken the letter and spirit of virtually any positive promises he made to curtail U.S. interventionism and war-making around the world; to take on Wall Street; to up taxes on the wealthy; etc. He appears to be escalating Obama’s war on whistleblowers to a war on publishers by threatening WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
What are euphemistically called “flip flops” are actually betrayals of the interests of most of the people who actually voted for Trump. This is a phenomenal accomplishment for a politician to have managed in his first 100 days in office.
Like Obama before him, Trump has ensured the continued solidification of an oppressive pro-war and pro-Wall Street establishment that runs at odds to the aspirations and interests of much of the U.S. public, to say nothing of the global public. By putting forward the criticism that Trump has “no major achievements,” do alleged opponents of Trump pretend that they are helping prevent further damage by him?
Trump could be carrying out horrific policies but many media outlets would ignore the substance and focus on some dumb Trump comment, such as — stop the presses — the White House misidentified Steven Mnuchin as “commerce secretary” when he’s actually treasury secretary. They should identify Mnuchin as a Goldman Sach insider, foreclosure king, or someone whose net financial worth — estimated at $46 million — is only a fraction of that of Wilbur Ross, the actual commerce secretary, who has $2.5 billion.
This non-criticism of Trump will actually empower him to do more damage. The problem here is quite similar to how George H. W. Bush was depicted early in his administration by liberals: “A wimp.” The sensible media watch group FAIR even ran a piece scrutinizing the Bush administration’s attempts to refashion his public image as a “rough rider.” But this depiction of Bush as “a wimp” was even more consequential: it helped enable his use of military violence, with the invasion of Panama in 1989 and then the first attack on Iraq in 1990-91.
Carryn Owens, the widow of Special Forces soldier William “Ryan” Owens who died in a botched raid in Yemen and was praised by President Trump in his Feb. 28, 2017 speech to a joint session of Congress. Carryn Owens was in the gallery during the speech. (Screen shot from Whitehouse.gov)
It’s clear that when liberal commentator Van Jones calls Trump “presidential” because the President in an address to Congress exploited the widow of a Special Forces soldier who died in Trump’s first hastily authorized military violence (a botched and bloody raid in Yemen), that the praise increased the likelihood of more violence. (Since then, Trump won widespread media praise for his hasty decision to blame Syria for the chemical-weapons incident at Khan Sheikhoun and — without United Nations or Congressional approval — rain 59 Tomahawk missiles down on Syria, reportedly killing nine civilians, including four children.)
As Trump racks up more “accomplishments” — as he and his cabal of corporate bosses cut deals with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — the liberal criticism of Trump “not accomplishing anything” will deserve an assist on every one of those “accomplishments.” Mission accomplished?
Sam Husseini is communications director for the Institute for Public Accuracy, a consortium of policy analysts, and founder of VotePact.org, which encourages cooperation between principled progressives and conscientious conservatives.
Same leftist as new york times and many neoconservatives leftist who gave us iraq war, syria war ukraine war lies and proxy wars.
What a surprize the pushing trump by provoking to follow on clintton obama bush legacy. What a surprize Who would have thought.
Sadly, his “base” apparently thinks he’s doing just fine, cheering him blindly at his latest rally, held to show the middle finger to the press that was holding its own self-congratulatory, star-studded soiree a hundred miles away. Thanks to this same bunch of “presstitutes” these people have no clue of how Trump is screwing them – and the rest of us. Or maybe they just don’t care as long as he pretends to pay attention to them and keeps promising The Wall that will keep all the evil away.
The “liberal” (actually neo-liberal) critique of Trump is off-base and more than useless to those of us not in the top 20% of the hierarchy who profit directly from the neo-liberal arrangements. These critics are not just on the wrong-side of the interests of most of us but they are bloodthirsty to boot. These critics want war and misery for those not in their own class in practice but not in rhetoric.
Having said that, I think the general atmosphere of crisis and challenge to leadership is a good thing that will eventually catch up to crucify the elitists on the “left” in the next few years. We have crossed a line with Trump’s election that makes business as usual (the wet-dream of most Democrats) very hard to maintain for more than a year. The natives are restless and the people who are now fooled by the mainstream media may just increase their interest in alternatives, particularly those who voted for Sanders which are, in my view, the next faction within our population to wake up to the lies told them by the NY Times and NPR. Authority has lost its power and the future is one of either general rebellion or a sleep so deep that people will find it hard to even perform practical tasks which will bring its own kind of crisis that will be much worse than a general thumbs-down. It will take an economic downturn to bring this all to pass.
This are neoconservatives also democrats who are calling for wars who does not follow their international policies.
The best thing of all, since Trump has done only harmful acts since his ascension(!) is if he did absolutely nothing. To goad him to do more, and to praise him as presidential for killing and destroying just as his predecessors loved doing, adds to the dangers we all face in the world, as his reach is large.
Discovering where humankind, or at least the Western sections of it, went wrong will demand more time than the life of this thread, but we could consider where the United States took the wrong fork in the road. In 1776, leaders in what was to become the United States had a great idea: “[A]ll men are created equal with a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What a great idea. The problem attached to this was the hypocrisy of all the signatories and eventually the people insisting or accepting that slaves were excluded. A consequence was the acceptance of the hypocrisy and attendant capacity for barbarism that became part of American culture to this day and to the point that it has become routine and accepted as normal.
When Commodore Perry opened Japan to foreign access the Japanese referred to this as the coming of the barbarians. Apparently, Native Americans weren’t as astute when British and other colonists landed on their shores.
Bill I think a good thing to contemplate would be to what definition our Founding Fathers put to the title of ‘Men’. Certainly by all accounts of our past the African Slave, and the Native American indigenous, were not among this titled group. Why even immigrants such as the Irish were not thought to highly of either, and women were stuck to male domination in this country for over this nations first 130 years. Yes, a lot has been made of these original founders who while trying to capture the essence of ‘the Enlightenment’ these same male slave owners made sure to protect their property interest even more so.
I look upon our nations escapades abroad as an extension of what the white colonist started long ago when on this continent they ravished the indigenous off their age old land, and all done under the name of ‘Manafest Destiny’. This self described self righteousness is still with our country to this day. I recently saw poll numbers claiming that 62% of us Americans supported Donald Trump’s 59 Tomahawk Missile attack. Even more unnerving is how the U.S. treats N Korea as though this tightly sanctioned country were sitting right next door to Kansas.
America being a young country needs to come to it’s senses. A good way to begin, would be to self recognize our wrongs of the pass. Any admittance to pass crimes such as assassinations, or false flags, would be too much to ask for, but at the same time necessary to go forward with if there is any hope for our nations improvement. Sadly before one can get better, one has to dig down deep to reveal what’s the source of the problem, and there is where we have our hardest uphill climb.
This self described self righteousness is still with our country to this day. I recently saw poll numbers claiming that 62% of us Americans supported Donald Trump’s 59 Tomahawk Missile attack.
That figures, Joe. The percentage of Americans supporting the war on Iraq was in the upper 60s. Over half of Americans apparently believe in torture. The U.S. senate was unanimous is supporting the Israeli slaughter in Gaza during operation protective edge, and most senators who decided to run for re-election were returned to continue their cretinous conduct. The house of representatives had a similar sorry record. Not unanimous but not that short of if. At least, we have risen above the Saudis and their abominable practice of beheading people in public.
We live in a Matrix where our tools (of which reason is one) have taken over our lives. A world none of us consciously or individually chose to live in, but it has assumed a life of it’s own, and is enacting a program to dominate our thinking and behavior. As Thoreau asked his neighbors, “Do you own your barns, or do your barns own you?”
When driving my car at night on the interstate, I often feel I am a little ball in a vast pinball machine, constrained to obey it’s rules, and it’s twists and turns, its demands and rewards and penalties – my freedom constrained to obey this game and fulfill it’s intentions. The cars, refrigerators, electric lights, TV’s , computers – all these things are shaping and controlling my life in certain ways, and the overall resultant of all of these machines are things I might not have chosen – like war for example, or social inequalities. It all begs the question, how can we free ourselves from our tools, our machines? What would a life with much less dependence on them offer?
We are indeed on a path to extinction as a species. Unless we manage some really fundamental changes in our thinking and behavior, the terrible and remorseless logic of extinction will bring our brief stay on Earth to a tragic conclusion. The urge to dominate all others is a fatal course. Our misuse of science will accelerate our demise. Our refusal to change course will guarantee it.
Or was it when the squeaks and groans and howls and whistles developed such a rich inventory of meaningful signals that a vocabulary developed to teach the young of succeeding generations, and a powerful inner tool for thinking and planning and dominating other species and each other was born? Was that the step where we went terribly wrong? But it all happened so naturally…..
Seafaring accelerated the spread of the human cancer on the planet.
Long ago…
No one tore the ground with plowshares
Or parceled out the land
Or swept the sea with dipping oars —
The shore was the world’s end.
Clever human nature, victim of your inventions,
Disastrously creative,
Why cordon cities with towered walls?
Why arm for war?
Ovid, Amores, Book 3
Or was it when we got bored with eating a leaves and fruit diet, and developed a taste for lizard meat? Then we figured out that if you could catch and kill them a whole slew of living things made a tasty addition to an otherwise boring diet. And the hunt was on!
Who or what is behind the controls of Trump? How did he assemble his bizarre cabinet? He seems to have no center, only ego. But how is it that he completely abandoned his promises on foreign affairs? He allowed himself to be completely taken over by the war machine. But so was Hillary. And the Democrats certainly turned pro-war since their “first female president” didn’t win. Realist’s point about the Queen of Chaos is still key, there is a fear that she might re-emerge because Trump is such a disaster. We are still screwed with such a wretched system.
It is truly baffling what has happened to the thinking in America. The irrationality of it defies any sense at all, far worse than has ever occurred in my lifetime of 73 years. And as for the Supreme Court and Arkansas, that state, very influenced by Koch money, was hell-bent on executing those prisoners. I have a friend who lives in Arkansas but he is traveling out of state constantly and stays out of their politics. I would not live in Arkansas if you paid me. But I also don’t believe, as many do, that voting Democrat because of Supreme Court pick, is primary factor in voting. Those same people don’t seem to care that the US is blasting a good part of the world to smithereens as they live their comfortable consumer lives.
The first photo attached to the article shows Trump delivering his inaugural address. How things have changed since then. He has adhered to NONE of his promises to focus on America’s domestic problems while applying a live-and-let-live approach to international affairs. The reason for this is that he was assailed from all sides by the people who really run the government from the inside and who present the government’s face, values and objectives to the public. Those are the people who should be investigated and exposed by the so-called mainstream media, but don’t expect the NYT, the WaPo, CNN, MSNBC or the Wall Street Journal to take up the challenge because they are a major part of the problem. They have effectively trained Trump like a circus animal, using the stick of Russia-gate and impeachment for the first 80 days and the carrot of favorable editorials for raising incipient wars against Syria and North Korea for about the past 20. These same people criticise Trump for being simple-minded, vain and thin skinned, making him “dangerous,” yet they purposefully exploit those very characteristics they describe in him. They have used such tactics to take us to the brink of nuclear war with Russia and China. Who will be most responsible if Trump does flip out and pushes the button to please his critics? Or won’t they care? Will getting their way–though it means the end of civilisation–be all they care about? And they call Trump crazy?
Good points Realist. If you trace back to where we started going wrong, maybe it was when we came down from living in the trees, and picked up a stick, the first tool. It was handy to dig termites out of their mound, but you could also use it to hit somebody. Before long the first spear was invented, and we were off on a track to dominate the world. Too bad we didn’t use some of our new found smarts to restrain ourselves, and learn to get along with others. We still don’t know how to do that, and now sticks have become nuclear ICBM’s.
Way back when a few of our smarter relatives figured out the downside of fighting and killing each other, and suggested ways to chill out and help each other instead – ways that eventually earned the name “spiritual paths.” Unfortunately most of us enjoyed the short term gains accrued from beating up on each other too much to entertain developing the restraint that long term paths to peace involve. So this is where we are today, plotting some genormous final war to settle everybody’s hash once and for all.
I’m not qualified to answer why us apes started killing each other, but I picture a poor yield for winter provisions would drive a tribe to kill another tribe for man’s, I mean us apes need for our first natural resource food. Although I’m sure there were other reasons to dominate each other, like slaves for manual labor, and bodies to be sacrificed to our gods of plenty.
If our priority as human beings was to be centered around providing for everyone that lives upon this earth, instead of fighting for natural resources to hang a corporate logo on the only resources that still exist, then we could move further along as a species. We could outlaw manufacturing military weapons, but this would mean putting an end to profit based upon death, and for some this would never do.
“that baiting only makes Trump likely to wage more wars and push a more right-wing agenda”
That seems to be what the “liberal” Democrats and “mainstream” media want, no?
Their attitude seems to be if Queen Hillary can’t reign, then let’s just blow the world all to hell.
So now we have a Supreme Court Judge who sides too pharmaceutical drug expiration date against ‘reasonable doubt’, yeah I’m not okay with that. I called the 202-456-1111 number, but you win some lose some. Also somewhere even before Flynn was ever openly associated with Trump, I recall reading in a couple places about his being fired by Obama, and his having a World Security business with Turkey, and Russia being specifically mentioned. Flynn was on RT. this was always out there, but now Rachel Maddow is discovering all of this and making more nonsense out of all the other nonsense she’s spewing for ratings.
If I were president you would be wanting to impeach me by the end of the first 100 days. I got to tell you, the White House doors would be bar shut while my administration gets its ducks in a row. I mean when we get done, and throw open the White House doors America better be ready to get Great Again…then the whimper little BUT would come. Seriously, I don’t think it wise to paint Trump into any corner. Trump went in the White House with too much campaign in his head, Bannon & Sessions are proof of that.
Jesus, Mary & Ralph, then Trump gets his generals, and I don’t know WTF is going on with darling Nikki. Next John Bolton will be escorting Zbigniew & Ole Henry into the situation room…just because it’s the right thing to do. Hillary & Madeline will have their own video screens and Red Phones.
Trump will be eating chocolate cake with some friend of somebody we are bombing down at Mar-a-Lago, but not to worry it will be broadcasted into your living room. One hour and fifteen minutes of Brian Williams getting off on live tv while he watches bombs fly off the deck of a Navy Destroyer, then it will be Trump looking all cocky next to the chocolate cake, and about 15 minutes in Maddow and then America can hit the remote and there’s the Kardashians, or Dancing with the Stars, ESPN I don’t blame you America
…. we should all list the sponsor of tv and the advertisers in the established corporate press and video with our phones where Americans, and others who see fit to smash our tv’s, especially Samsung, Microsoft, Apple, GE, airlines travel the works and start a cut back boycott. Look at last months bill, subtract the corporate advertising budget they would save by not advertising, and then subtract 30% more…buy just what you need. No tv, no travel, no buying cars, cut back on utility bills….. do a Bill O’Reilly on them in our corporate system. Go after the source – Global Corporate Financial Interest.
The new Bastille is on Wall St. & London to give a short list, but Washington DC may just be where our focus is. These politicians are company owned, they only respond to what their donors request of them. Although, I think Sanders maybe the real deal with $27 dollar donations, but then with him there is still the F35. Listen I’d let him keep the F35 if everything else went in the direction of less war, and more humanitarian social thought was put in its priority number one as it should be with all policy domestic and foreign I’d be encouraged with hope and gladness. Sheldon S. Wolin called modern day America’s government a system of Inverted Fascism – a traditional fascist government controls business, in America Business controls government.
Gorsuch did not steal his Supreme Court seat. Mitch McConnell did.
Is anyone sane and rational here?
Sam Husseini relies on Marjorie Cohn for the proposition that “Gorsuch provided the deciding vote in denying convicted murderer Ledell Lee’s request for a DNA test to prove his innocence because Arkansas’ supply of the execution drug midazolam was nearing its expiration date.”
One cannot trust anything Prof. Cohn says concerning virtually anything, especially things of law and judicial process and court-decisions.
Professor Cohn’s assertion (Sam Husseini’s adopted assertion) is FALSE.
Five Justices (including Justice Gorsuch) refused to overturn or stay Arkansas’s determination that Ledell Lee’s execution would occur despite his request that his DNA be tested to show whether he could not have been guilty as charged.
But those five Justices did NOT express and explanation of their decision. Justice Gorsuch did not issue a separate written opinion. “The court’s majority — which included the newest justice, Neil M. Gorsuch — did not explain its decision, but in a dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer complained about how the state had established its execution schedule because of the approaching expiration date of Arkansas’s stock of midazolam.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/us/arkansas-death-penalty-ledell-lee-execution.html?_r=0
And Justice Breyer did NOT say assert that the Court refused to interfere because Arkansas’s execution drug supply would be expired soon. Justice Breyer complained only that the STATE had ESTABLISHED ITS EXECUTION SCHEDULE BECAUSE OF THE EXPIRATION DATE OF ITS EXECUTION DRUG.
Justice Gorsuch and the other four majority Justices did NOT hold that Arkansas could execute Ledell Lee because Arkansas’ supply of the execution drug midazolam was nearing its expiration date. That claim was rendered solely by Justice Breyer — the death penalty’s most adamant Supreme Court opponent, who insists the death penalty is NEVER constitutional.
I, too, oppose the death penalty and insist that it is NEVER constitutional. But I oppose also Prof. Cohn’s consistent, flagrant falsification of evidence, facts, and law — consistent falsification she commits to further her rabid crazy-left politics.
Two corrections:
(1) But those five Justices did NOT express AN explanation of their decision. (NOT But those five Justices did NOT express AND explanation of their decision.)
(2) And Justice Breyer did NOT assert that the Court refused to interfere because Arkansas’s execution drug supply would be expired soon. (NOT And Justice Breyer did NOT say assert that the Court refused to interfere because Arkansas’s execution drug supply would be expired soon.)
Sorry.
Good point – Trump filled a stolen seat with a rightwingnut monster. Even if he had done nothing else this was quite a feather in his cap. It would have happened anyway, but as I’ve said and will say again, my fake-Democrat Senator Donnelly didn’t have to stab me and the rest of the people who supported him in the back by voting for Gorsuch.
Back in late January a person had to hope that Trump would have a few decent features. So far, no luck. But for the rich bastards he has been a blazing success, and promises to get better.
Gorsuch’s ascension to the high court basically consolidates rightwing control over all three branches of government.
Gorsuch will also confirm that all three branches of government are dominated by barbarians.
The truth is this guy is bad news from way back, and he ain’t going to change. I would not seek to make his job as prez easier in any way. Getting him out is the priority #One for me. Again, I am in no position to cause anyone to treat Donald this way or that. My stance is pretty much for intended to keep my head straight. If I had power, I would use it to fire him pronto. Obviously my power is very minimal in that regard.
Psychopaths just love it if someone cuts them some slack. The better to hang you with dear!
There seems to be some idea that there is a way to handle this guy that is not too rough, like a diplomatic approach. I think this is nonsense. He is impervious to that kind of approach. Your charm offensive is only going to make him feel more powerful to do whatever he pleases. With a guy like Trump it is important to realize he is not ever going to change in a good way about anything. He is an enemy of humankind, and we must not dilute our understanding of that. We need to operate from an unrelenting hostility to everything he does until we somehow find a way to be rid of him as president. Forget the kid glove approach, it won’t work here.
Your charm offensive …
mike: You seem to be confusing a non-goading or non-aggressive approach as a charm offensive or something similar. Not so. First point. He has the power and powerful allies. It isn’t a smart idea to try to outshout someone with a louder voice. As I mentioned on another thread the Chinese have an old saying: He who strikes the first blow admits to having the weaker mind. The trick is to be smarter.
I’ll tell you an experience I had when I was a teenager. It isn’t exactly analogous but will demonstrate my point. I got in an argument with a friend and was thinking of hitting him, except he was smaller than I was. My temper was hot, but I still had enough sense not to hit him. Meanwhile, while I was ranting and raving he kept asking me questions that I paused to answer. His tactics and the right questions got the better of me and we settled our dispute amicably.
We need people in opposition to Trump with intelligence similar to what my friend had.
“There seems to be some idea that there is a way to handle this guy that is not too rough, like a diplomatic approach. I think this is nonsense. He is impervious to that kind of approach. Your charm offensive is only going to make him feel more powerful to do whatever he pleases. With a guy like Trump it is important to realize he is not ever going to change in a good way about anything. He is an enemy of humankind, and we must not dilute our understanding of that. We need to operate from an unrelenting hostility to everything he does until we somehow find a way to be rid of him as president. Forget the kid glove approach, it won’t work here.”
Bingo, you are most certainly correct. This is why the fury directed at Democratic party politicians who even THINK about compromise with the creature is the way to go. Many in the Senate privately wanted to vote for Gorsuch but for their constituents screaming at them not to. Without an uprising, things will only get worse.
Miranda, I got the point of the article, I just disagree with the point. My point is hit this guy with every legitimate complaint we can raise with no exceptions. You seem to be still afraid he might react adversely and do something dangerous. My point is that pulling our punches on him is the exact wrong thing to do. The truth is he hasn’t done a damn thing in 100 days that amounts to squat. He is a total failure at being our president, and I think we need to let him know that loud and clear. This man is a dangerous enemy of all people on our planet, and I think it is misguided to cut him any slack anytime anyhow period. The only way to prevent this idiot from endangering all of us more than he already has is to get him out of office pronto! Play nice with the bully, indeed…..
The truth is he hasn’t done a damn thing in 100 days that amounts to squat.
Unfortunately, Gorsuch and the consequences of his appointment will very likely amount to more than squat.
I meant he hasn’t done a single good thing since he has been president. O course you know that what you or I or Sam H. say about it will not determine how people handle the Donald. But just for myself, I don’t ever want to have the delusion that this man will turn out to do anything good as president regardless of what anyone does or says. It helps me keep my mind clear about it. There is a lot of fuzzy thinking out there that still hopes he might be amenable to this that or the other that will sway him to do something right. I don’t entertain any hope of that kind. None.
I agree, mike
Correct, and Gorsuch is likely to last perhaps forty years, and other appointments will consolidate the already excessive corporate powers the SCOTUS has approved. Political/partisan control of courts is another of the undemocratic aspects of US “justice”.
Right…We should be critisizing him for the things he has done, even shaming him…as compared to baiting him about what a do-nothing he is….
He is a nasty mafioso businessman…hes a shotgun strapped to a wagon wheel…he could go off anywhere if he gets kicked right…
We should talk to his base…make sure they know he outright lied about every position he took during the campaign…and then screwed them over…He may not be the sharpest peanut in the big Dark Turd…but he is dangerous enuff to not kick him in the face for no more reason than political petulance…
The risk of criticism goading Trump into injudicious or worse reactions is valid, but criticizing is not the problem. It is how people criticize that determines to some degree the response. Equally bad as the wrong type of criticism is the absurdity of praising Trump for being “presidential” for actions that should be deplored. Van Jones is not the only culprit in giving voice to such meretricious nonsense.
As Trump racks up more “accomplishments” — as he and his cabal of corporate bosses cut deals with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell —
the skids for the decline and fall of the American empire will be made more slick. Perhaps, the American people will eventually rise in revolution, but by then it will be too late.
So, we are supposed to mute our criticism of Trump because it might cause him to become violent in response? We should treat him like a nut case with a dynamite vest? Maybe we should accede to any demand he might make? Then we will be as crazy as he is. Without constant citizen and alternate media pressure, what have we got? Please don’t hurt us? Keep the critical pressure on this guy 24/7 – in my humble opinion.
Mike, I think you missed the point of the article.
It isn’t saying mute criticism. It’s saying our criticism shouldn’t be he hasn’t done anything but the criticism should be that he’s done a lot and it’s bad stuff. It’s saying as long as the criticism is he hasn’t done anything his response will be to escalate doing the few things the media seems to like- war monger stuff. You can expect the plutocratic propaganda puppet (the mainstream media) to do this, what else will they do? But why in the world are those on the Left joining in with this nonsense?
He’s done way too much and so far it’s horrible for the poor, the marginalized, the nation, the global community, and the biosphere. He’s given up two out of three things that seemed good (work with Russia and no regime change foreign interventions) and so we’re waiting for him to give up the third (opposing unfair trade deals.)
No, the writer is not saying that we shouldn’t criticize Trump at all, but that we should quit saying that he has not accomplished much, quit saying that he has “failed.” Husseini is saying that the things that Trump has accomplished are considerable and very, very damaging (just like Reagan’s were, by the way, another president who was mocked for seeming like a buffoon, yet we still have the mass homelessness Reagan created today). That’s what we should criticize Trump for, the damage done by his actual goals, which he is achieving, not inconsequential slips of the tongue that anyone could make and certainly not goad him into actually nuking North Korea by saying that he hasn’t even done that yet or that he sent his warships in the wrong direction or whatever. That is very different from saying don’t criticize Trump at all for fear that he’ll get mad.
I would add that we should not only be criticizing Trump but also effectively trying to stop him and the Republicans/Libertarians, with more than just marches and petitions and mocking jokes. People should also be engaging in the kind of direct action and more that was done en masse in the 1960s and early ’70s, the kind that made Nixon worry that if he went even further the country might convulse. We’re far from being there yet, partly because we have no oppositional movement within the military like we did in the 60s.
As for Gorsuch, any lower court having seen a case bucked up and reversed by the now tainted supreme court should declare that decision invalid, due to a thief having input to the case.