In Trump’s little speech on Wednesday night justifying the Iran War he started, he could have borrowed his rhetoric from Winston Churchill. In May, 1940, shortly after assuming office, the newly-minted Prime Minister was accused of drift and vagueness in the war against Germany. Churchill took to his feet before a skeptical House of Commons, and explained himself this way: “You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be…”.
The famous speech stunned Parliament. All opposition melted away. Churchill was supported overwhelmingly, and went on, as we all know, to win World War II, alongside his international partners Franklin D. Roosevelt and Josef Stalin.
But Churchill’s inspirational rhetoric utterly failed to be captured by Trump, and for a good reason. Trump instead typically delivered one of his whiney, self-congratulatory pats on the back, along with typically false promises of lower gas prices coming “soon” and an end to the war within “weeks.” His spiel amounted to little more than another infomercial from a huckster with a track record of fraud.
Trump’s problem was that he has zero credibility, after having lied so frequently to the American people. The entrepreneur who gave us Trump Steaks, Trump University, the Trump Casinos and (let us not forget) the Trump Bible, is just another cheap, hustling self-promoter who depends on the credulity of unintelligent people to keep getting away with his grifts. Now, he expects us to believe that “the greatest America of all time” is just around the corner. Stick with him, he exhorts us, and a Golden Age will soon be here.
If you believe that, then when you plan your next vacation, do it through GoTrump.com, his luxury online travel site that went out of business after one year.
There is no Golden Age under Trump, never has been, and never will be. He’s simply playing for time, to avoid getting impeached—again—and convicted this time, and to avoid a criminal trial (or three) in which he’s found guilty and sent to prison. Meanwhile, his reptilian sons, Eric and Don, Jr., and his smarmy son-in-law, Jared, continue their own scam of extorting billions from Middle Eastern potentates, in a get-rich scheme that ought to put to shame everyone who voted for this racketeer.
Yes, my Trump-admiring friends (and I do love you all), you’ve been had. I know it’s embarrassing to admit. Actually, you don’t have to admit it: you can just know, silently, that you fell for his con, ask yourself why, and vow never to let it happen again. I’ll never point the finger at you. We’ve all made mistakes. You made a big one, but you can move on, and I’ll be right there with you.
Steve Heimoff