presidency

The President’s Crude

Now we know

“The Donroe

Doctrine”:

Mucho dinero

in exchange 

of Madero

for American oil

on Venezuelan

soil.

Putting

in custody

another

bad guy

can’t justify

“We’ll run

the country”

now.

Trump’s 

surprise

invasion

required

no persuasion

of the American

people

or 

of Congress,

no less.

But 

oil stocks

grew,

so why 

renew

energy

when we

can invade

another

country?

(Just 

a week

prior

the national 

ire

was affordability.)

Not everyone

is a Beverly

Hillbilly.

And what

about 

the instability

in that 

petro-country

without 

democracy?

We know

he loves

the oil

industry,

(his BFF

is the

head Saudi).

The military

action

may have 

been

perfection

(although

almost

100 people 

were killed),

but

the ramifications

for such invasions

are not

sympathetically

viewed.

Insatiability,

not stability,

or responsibility

drives

the probability

of more

of Trump’s

crude

presidency.

Let’s not

forget,

that at 

Trump’s 

direction,

the January 6th

insurrection

made possible

not just 

the attack

on

The Capitol,

but his ability

to ignore

democracy,

and implement

crude

policy

seemingly

for free,

or for

the deals

he 

gets

when he makes

such bets

with the 

oily

captains

of industry.

Trump’s crude

presidency

has cleverly

worked

around 

democracy.

But this

is the year

to renew

energy;

new energy

to mitigate

the worst

effects

of this 

climate crisis

Trump’s crude

presidency

has imposed

upon us.

After the Mourning After

The mourning

after

the disaster

from

the Supreme

Court’s decision

based on the 

division

between

the so-called

conservative

and liberal

justices,

is disbelief

and profound

grief

at what 

has happened

and where

we are 

headed.

Wedded

to The Constitution,

yet 

with bizarrely

cynical

interpretation,

the judicial

wing

is sanctioning

unlimited acts

perhaps

illegal

for which

a POTUS

is not 

accountable.

To the tune:

Immune.

Immune.

Immune.

From 

Delay.

Delay.

Delay,

to 

the striptease

of expertise,

including

the last

resort

to abort,

The Supreme

Court

is sort

of 

an untouchables

in this

sequel

to the no- longer

co-equal 

branch of government

term.

I fear

what we 

see

in Trump

and Biden

is actually

us:

One side

bloated,

greedy,

aging

and needy,

impulsively

and compulsively

grifting.

The other,

honest,

decent,

with legislative

skill,

understanding

and displaying

what is 

still

required

and admired

in democracy.

But aging

happens,

despite

staging

and stance,

and the way

to advance

is with

improvement.

Our aging

democracy

has hit

a new low

although

each time

it feels

like

the bottom.

Now

the Presidency

is the real

fantasy

for criminality.

The clarity

of the disparity

has never

been

easier

to see.

Eventually,

our democracy

could become

more democratic.

But that will

mean

we must 

lean in

actively

to the only

party 

for democracy

left. 

Convenience Stores

Wait…What??? Hillary took to the world stage yesterday to tell us that while on the world stage as Secretary of State, she found it more convenient to store her emails on a private server at her Chappaqua home, than having 2 email accounts on one device.

Her well crafted explanation, which included everything people would like to like about her–her work on behalf of women, her being a mother (of the bride), a loving daughter, a yogi–as well as a fierce comment calling out the 47 senators whose chutzpah is far beyond Clintonian as they penned an open letter to Iran, openly undermining our President and arduous diplomatic efforts–did not excuse (or even really explain) why she opted for convenience and waited to respond to revelations about her emails. All this waiting when it was really just a matter of convenience?

Even if there’s no there there, we know what’s in store with Hillary. She assumes that we get how virtuous she is, but her actions (and inactions) call her virtuosity into question time and time again. How inconvenient for her that questions about where and why she stored her emails the way she did as Secretary of State are cropping up now as she is about to announce her candidacy for the presidency.

Even if she broke no laws, and put forth the same quantity of emails as other Secretaries of State and other candidates, her silence until yesterday was deafening. The “he did it too” argument is ridiculous. Her talents are consistently undermined by these sorts of choices, even if they are legal. Those who were hoping that her strengths would manifest not only in winning the Presidency, but in good governance, fear that the Presidency is lost without her, and they justify her choices. It’s too scary to think that it’s more than inconvenient for a Hillary presidency to blow up before she officially runs.

Sorry for the inconvenience, Hillary. But maybe we need someone else to mind the store.