If He Only Had a Heart

 

There is only one thing worse than a narcissistic racist occupying the oval office.  It is a narcissistic racist who is not even good at it.  This assessment is based on two recent seemingly unrelated news stories.

CNN reports:

 The House appropriations committee released its homeland security bill on Tuesday and it includes the full $1.6 billion requested by the Office of Management and Budget to begin construction on a southern border wall.

In response to the deteriorating situation in Puerto Rico, Politico.com reports:

 As Puerto Rico slips deeper into what many call a humanitarian crisis following Hurricane Maria, the island is primed for a mass exodus of what could be 1 million people — a sizable number of whom are expected to settle in Florida, the nation’s biggest swing state.

That could well prove to be a boon to Democrats in a state which the past four top-of-the-ticket races have been decided by about a percentage point.

Even if you believe a physical barrier on the U.S.-Mexico boarder is needed to stem unauthorized immigration, let’s be honest.  According to a recent Pew Report, Mexicans may no longer be the majority of U.S. unauthorized immigrants.  And the number of undocumented Mexican immigrants currently living in the United States declined from a high of 6.4 million in 2009 to 5.6 million in 2016.  The only other explanation for the wall is to keep out a certain racial category of potential immigrants considered by Comrade Trump from the day he announced his candidacy to be “undesirables.”

Unlike Trump, I know residents of Puerto Rico are American citizens and deserve the same consideration in times of need as residents of New Orleans, Sandy Hook, Houston or the Florida Keys. But put yourself in Trump’s shoes.  Here was a golden opportunity.  Instead of using the $1.6 billion to address a non-existent problem, he could ask Congress to dedicate those funds to rebuild Puerto Rico AND (implicitly) keep over a million brown-skinned individuals from relocating inside the continental U.S.  Additionally, despite all the evidence to the contrary Trump could argue, by giving up his beloved wall to help rebuild Puerto Rico, there is a living, breathing human being inside that orange peanut shell.

Bottom line?  When a half million relocated Puerto Rican citizens register as Democrats in Florida shifting the balance of power from red to blue, Comrade Trump will have no one to blame but himself.

Postscript: The Price of Arrogance

Today, the PRICE of Arrogance is none other than HHS Secretary TOM.  After railing against Washington’s waste of taxpayers’ money while a member of the House of Representatives, Price demonstrated he is still in the race for hypocrite-in-chief among Republicans.  As has been well reported, he spent more than $400,000 on private jets for questionable domestic travel and an additional $600,000 on trips to international events.  But his effort to get past this “lack of sensitivity” is much more telling.

Yesterday, Price announced he would repay $51,887.31 to cover the cost of his seat on chartered flights.  Here’s the problem.  Giving Price the benefit of the doubt these trips were official business, the amount he has offered to repay is what HHS would have legitimately covered.  It is the difference between this sum and the $400,000 which is excessive.  Therefore, Mr. Secretary we anxiously await your reimbursing the U.S. Treasury for $348.122.69.

This kind of thinking explains Price’s support of Republicans’ efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.  Only when you examine his logic vis-a-vis the travel fiasco, can you see how he might believe taking affordable health insurance away from 32,000,000 Americans will improve their health care.

UPDATE:  The Washington Post just reported Price has resigned.  I’ve lost count.  How many of Trump’s “best people” have resigned or been fired?

Post-Postscript/The King’s Hand

Game of Thrones fans know the sovereign’s adviser is referred to as “the hand of the king (or queen).” In season one it was Ned Stark serving Robert Barratheon.  The series focus is now on the diminutive Tyrion Lannister who stands beside Mother of Dragons Daenyris Targaryen.

Which made me think what it would mean if Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III had a similar title in the current administration.  Would that mean Comrade Trump had not one, not two, but THREE tiny hands?

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

 

One thought on “If He Only Had a Heart

  1. What irony if the devastating tragedy of beleaguered Puerto Ricans resulted in a just tragedy for the Republican party.

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