I was taking stock of my feelings about the current president recently, and I realized there is an unmistakable pattern:
This pattern goes back to George H. W. Bush, and has been the pattern with every president with the exception of one.
For the first six months in office, I have defended each president; their words, their policies... My general stance has always been give them time, don't believe the slanted take the media presents.
Shortly after the six month mark I stop defending them. My perspective changes from patience and cautious optimism to annoyance, frustration.
I have done that with every single president - except Bill Clinton, I didn't like him from day one. from the very start he felt sleazy to me. But the rest; George Bush I & II, Obama, Trump, Biden... (Okay, I was a little iffy on Biden, after seeing him in the role of Vice President, but I still tried).
And now Trump again, and the pattern has repeated. Why?
Is it the actions taken?
Immigration - I am completely whelmed regarding this. Trump is doing the exact same thing every president has done. Obama still holds the record for deportations, and the "Kids in cages" started with him. In fact, it was under his tenure that I personally witnessed deportation activity, in tiny Cache Valley, Utah. Haven't personally felt it under any other president. I'm more annoyed that legislators haven't done anything. During every presidency, one side is appalled and the other side is silent, from politician to populace. The United States is using an entire class of people as political currency. So in this I am annoyed at the nation, not the president.
DOGE and budget cuts - I don't quite know what to think of this. We absolutely need to trim the budget. That will absolutely be painful. I remember my parents talking about rations on gas, sugar, nylon, etc... associated with WWII. We have overspent, and sooner or later will have to pay the tab. Better our generation than the next. Is He doing it the way I'd like? Probably not. To be fair, I don't know. The media is so flooded with speculation and half-truths, I can't begin to sort out what is or is not real at this point. My irritation here is with the media and social media for the utter failure to do proper journalism.
Policies which appear to enrich the 1% - Again, this is so status quo, I don't think it even factors in. It is a steady hum of irritation in the background, which again, is an issue which needs to be addressed by the legislative body, who won't because they are prime beneficiaries.
Tariffs - Again, mixed feelings. I'm not convinced they will do what he thinks they will do, nor am I convinced he is using them for the correct reasons necessarily (personally, I'd like to see punitive tariffs against the countries at the top of the slavery list - India, China,...). I don't know enough about the big picture however - what tariffs are levied against the US, for instance, compared to what we already had in place, and what we have added. Again, I am swamped with conjecture, spin, and opinion, not facts.
The Big Beautiful Bill - Definitely annoys me, for the same reasons as the Affordable Care Act. A behemoth hiding all kinds of preferential perks, written by the advocates of the 1%. But, this is legislature, not the president.
Are there specific things each president has done I can point to to account for my shift?
W. Bush drastically expanded the surveillance state. That annoyed me.
Obama was horrifically divisive, but in a very high-brow way. In that regard He and Trump are just as abusive, it's just Trump is Bronx-style abusive, Obama is Hamptons-style abusive. I despise that behavior in either form.
I don't know that I can pick out anything specifically about Biden, he was mostly absent.
I don't recall anything specific from H. W. Bush either. But that was long enough ago, perhaps I have forgotten.
As I try to focus on Trump, there is one thing which does absolutely annoy me. In both of his terms, he promised to "Drain the Swamp."
Why hasn't a single political figure been prosecuted? Surely there is sufficient evidence to bring insider trading charges against a number of legislators. Where is the Epstein list? What about Hunter Biden? Joe Biden's activities in Ukraine? Nothing? Not one?
But in each of those cases, is that sufficient to explain my shift?
That last one, maybe, but I'm not convinced on the others.
Is it the media? I know it's garbage, but is the repetition of that garbage getting to me? "A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth." It it getting to me - in spite of my knowing it's propaganda - through pure repetition?
Maybe the problem isn't the president at all.
I keep coming back to this video essay on "The BBCs expose of the Deep State":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH2aeha_UgU&list=WL&index=326
Maybe my annoyance with the president is misplaced. Maybe I am crediting him with authority he doesn't actually possess. Maybe the swamp is beyond the power of the president to drain.
No comments:
Post a Comment