Virtually every time I force myself to listen to Donald Trump speak the word “pontification” comes to my mind. Today, I decided to look up the meaning so I “googled” the word and the “Urban Dictionary” says this:
Pontification: “The act of speaking out for the purpose of hearing oneself speak.
Posturing…speaking to people that don’t really care what you say one way or another since you’re speaking solely to front yourself as “someone in charge”.
Speech or written communication that is generally pointless except to cast favorable light upon the speaker or author as if the message were a pronouncement from on high.
Usually full of shit.” Generally, I don’t use that kind of language (the final sentence although, I have to admit, there have been times after hearing Trump speak I’ve thought it) but after reading the definition I understood why that word (pontification) keeps coming to mind.
Yesterday, I heard excerpts of Trump speaking at the commencement of the Coast Guard Academy and, true to form, he was “pontificating” about how he’s the most attacked president, by the media, in the “history of the United States.” Actually, I’m the same age as Trump so I have had access to the same period of history regarding the “contemporary” part of that comment – and, very probably, have at least as much understanding of American history as Trump. My first thought coincides with the last sentence in the definition referred to above. At this point in time, I think for Trump the best way to state it is “you haven’t seen ‘nothin’ yet.'”
For those of us who witnessed the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of Richard Nixon I believe it’s fairly easy to say that the negative reporting (from Trump’s perspective) is in the infant stages. Yesterday, a “special counsel” was appointed by Rob Rosenstein, he of the now infamous “memo” leading to the firing of James Comey, and from my experience in following politics that appointment did a couple serious “things.” First, I believe it will give Trump more time in the White House – if, as many believe, he’s legally vulnerable. The counsel, Robert Mueller, will need time to get a staff, get sufficient funding, and, basically, review all the evidence that is already in the “pipeline” regarding the alleged “Russian collusion” by members of the Trump campaign before he can “start.” Also, Mueller, most believe, is expert at “keeping the lid” on his work and “we the people” very might have no idea what the result of his investigation will be until it is completed. One way or the other, this will give Trump time and it means lots of media “drama.”
Now, Trump has repeatedly shown that he’s expert at “shooting himself in the foot” with his random tweeting and foolish comments to the press along with a clear demonstration to all who are paying attention of his incompetence when it comes to governing. One of my main concerns since the day Trump was elected was how much DAMAGE he would be able to inflict on “we the people” before republicans say “enough already” and remove him from office. With the special counsel that day very likely has moved farther along on the calendar. Personally, (I’m just a retired school teacher) I don’t know how the “special counsel” affects the Congressional committees (that have very low “approval” regarding their ability to act fairly) which quite possibly could be the source of information that would lead to an impeachment inquiry. I believe it’s possible, for example, that Mueller’s investigation could prevent James Comey from testifying in open session before either of the Congressional Intelligence committees (or the other committees who would like to “grill” him) and it could prevent the “so-called” memos Comey was writing each time he encountered conversations with Trump from becoming public.
For example, the alleged memo that states Trump attempted to get Comey to stop the investigation into Michael Flynn, if it’s actually true, could be enough to get Trump impeached. Most people would consider that “obstruction of justice.” And, who do you think will be believed, Trump or Comey? Trump, himself, admitted to asking Comey on three different occasions if he was under investigation – once in a setting where Trump said Comey was attempting to keep his job (whatever that meant – if you’ve read many of my posts you know I don’t believe a single word coming from Trump’s mouth). The reality is that Trump is in pretty deep whether he participated in any collusion or not. As Richard Nixon found out “the cover up is usually worse than the crime.” In this instance, if there was a crime, it’s REALLY a bad one, because I believe colluding with the Russians to swing an election would be TREASON. And, that’s BAD!
Curiously, (and, in my mind, stupidly) Trump continues to support Flynn publicly and today it was reported that a few days ago Trump contacted Flynn to encourage him to “stay strong.” So far, I haven’t heard anyone having the same reaction I’ve had to that little “tidbit” – but, to me Trump talking to Flynn at all is a HUGE RED FLAG. Why would he be encouraging Flynn to “stay strong?” If Flynn is innocent of any wrongdoing (well, we know that’s not true) he should just tell the truth – no problem, right? I’m guessing there’s some kind of “arrangement” with Flynn to assure him if he gets to the point where anyone’s chanting “lock him up” (as he famously did against Hillary Clinton at the Republican Convention last year) Trump has the authority to “pardon” him. If you remember the Bush/Cheney administration we had a good example of how the executive can protect those who “take one for the team.”
Scooter Libby was convicted of lying to prosecutors in the case where Valerie Plame, a CIA operative, was “outed” as retribution for her husband telling the truth about uranium and the country of Niger. To me, there was no way Libby should have been the one “prosecuted” for an offense that could possibly have put many lives of CIA operatives at risk (we’ll likely never know). I believed then and I still believe the person responsible for “outing” Plame was none other than Vice President Dick Cheney himself. Of course, Cheney is as sly as they come and, again, Libby “took one for the team.” GW Bush “commuted” his sentence (instead of pardoning him – which would have been too obvious) and Libby went down as the “good soldier.” I’m suspecting there’s some kind of arrangement for Flynn via Trump and we’ll never hear the full story from Mr. Flynn – especially if he’s facing the “lock him up” ending to the story. And, mark my words, if Flynn is found guilty of any crime, Trump will pardon him. Trump isn’t nearly as subtle as Bush/Cheney – so, I believe it will be a full pardon. (I mean, why else would they still be having “stay strong” conversations?)
Today, I forced myself to listen to a couple minutes of Trump’s (pontificating) comments after meeting with the President of Colombia. True to form he was referring to all the “wonderful” things that have been accomplished already in his administration. “All the jobs with Ford and GM” (as if they actually exist or they’re the result of something he did?), and all the “wonderful” things we’re going to get done. Massive tax cuts, health care, and massively building up our military. Essentially, even though I believe democrats can block almost all of his intentions, just listening to him makes my stomach queezy. Like, “We’re going to enact the greatest tax cut in the history of America.” Yikes! (of course, that would include his “health care” bill, which is really one YUGE – in the words of Bernie Sanders _ tax cut) If he would get his way, the deficit hawks in the republican party would have another $10 TRILLION or more to blame on the next democratic president – and, more than likely a disastrous economic meltdown to blame on President Obama – trust me, they’ll find a way)
Most people are realizing, at this point, that the Russians succeeded beyond – very probably – their wildest dreams in undermining our democratic institutions. I don’t for a minute believe they thought they’d actually succeed in getting Trump elected – I believe their vision was to drive the divisions in this nation in a way to make another Clinton presidency a failure. Obviously the Russians have a clear understanding of how insecure Americans are right now. Republicans have played to the fears of Americans after 9/11 to cause “we the people” to allow government intrusion past the previous boundaries – “in order to keep us safe” – Trump has adopted the “strategies” of the Russian “oligarchs” – attack the media on one hand and claim the media is putting out “Fake news” – and, then, on the other hand, participate in putting out “fake news.” The end justifies the means – and, the “end” is POWER.
Every time I hear Trump speak I have to wonder how so many Americans could have been fooled into voting him into office (history will likely say the reason was Hillary Clinton). I’ve said many times I believe Trump to be the epitome of a narcissist – here’s the meaning: Narcissism is the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one’s own attributes. Trump doesn’t need anyone else “patting him on the back” because he’s too busy doing it to himself. So, it shouldn’t have surprised me when I read the definition of pontification – a word I’d heard used over the years but had never given much thought to – why I think of that word virtually every time I listen to Trump. It’s like his “point” is ALWAYS to draw favoritism to himself. There’s an old biblical proverb: “The FOOL is the one who thinks he knows, the WISE man is one who knows he doesn’t know.” I’ll let you decide how this applies to Trump. (OK, it could – and does – apply to all of us – very much including me, but we’re not president)