Tell Donald To Shut Up!

As Black Entertainment Television famously tweeted when they saw Madonna disembowel two Prince songs at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards after Prince died . . . regarding Trump's speech to the United Nations . . . yes, I saw that!

Trump gave a speech at the United Nations this past Tuesday that was a slew of braggadocio, personal grievances, and an incoherent lecture to other countries the only way to run a country is the American way - though evidence to the contrary has mounted not just over the past eight months but over the past eight decades.  Had his TelePrompTer not malfunctioned (courtesy of a screwup made by Trump's advance team, through Trump blamed it on anti-American sabotage by UN staffers), his speech most likely would have been merely appalling.  His decision to forge ahead and improvise an address resembled a kid telling a joke that he's making up as he goes.

Trump had a few basic ideas of what he wanted to say in his address - he had a concept of a plan of what he wanted to say - and he ended up spewing more hot words out of his mouth than he would have if he'd been throwing up alphabet soup.  He talked about how wonderful the United States has been doing since he regained power and bitched about what a total loser Joe Biden was. Concentrating on his domestic agenda more than on anything else, Trump appeared to be making a State of the Union address without realizing that he was delivering his remarks to the wrong audience.  Then he insulted the rest of the world by talking about how good he was at restoring greatness to his country while "your countries are going to hell."

And why were these countries going to hell?  Because they were embracing renewable energy.  Trump - famous for pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord twice - exalted the magic of fossil fuels and needled other countries for putting up and relying on ugly windmills without considering how to produce and generate energy on calm days (actually, they did . . . two words: "battery storage").  He did make one cogent statement - that all nations have to protect and maintain their borders.  Then he reverted to form and chastised other countries for letting in too many people from other cultures, other religions, with their own traditions . . . does that remind you of one country in particular?   He also lamented how each country on the planet was becoming less unique.  Well, of course, seeing as you can't go anywhere in the world without seeing a McDonald's, which is Trump's favorite restaurant to dine at whenever he's abroad.

Trump didn't have to work hard (he never does) to make clear his disdain for the United Nations.  In addition to blaming the UN for the TelePrompTer debacle and also a defective escalator leading to the podium (the malfunctioning of which was caused by a Trump videographer), he talked about how the UN turned down his bid to remodel its headquarters (too bad, he could have given the UN a discount on gold leaf!), and he once again bragged about how he ended seven wars without getting any credit from the UN (the actual number of wars he ended is seven fewer), leading to his hope that, yes, he gets the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Not even if he offers to remodel the Nobel Academy headquarters.

This speech was an embarrassment to the United States and was abominable even by the standards of crazy dictators.  Even Adolf Hitler wouldn't have given a speech as self-absorbed and as incoherent at the League of Nations, though he wouldn't given a speech at the League of Nations, as he withdrew Germany from the League as soon as he got into power (though not as fast as Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accord).  But at least Trump didn't give a speech before the United Nations as bad as the one he gave at Charlie Kirk's memorial event this past Sunday, in which he declared his loathing for his opponents even as he praised Kirk as a bulwark of Christian values.  And turning the other cheek was not what Stephen Miller had in mind when he assailed Trump's political opponents as having done nothing and having been nothing in the American continuum and vowed that opponents of Trump would be punished severely for their sins. 

The fire next time.

And yet, in spite of everything, Trump still holds a great deal of power.  Gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia that were considered easy wins for the Democrats are tightening, and one poll in New Jersey shows that campaign tightening so much there's no daylight between the opposing candidates (and I'll have more to say about that later, if Trump can only stop making news long enough for me to turn my attention to it).  And in Washington, the Democrats are trying to save subsidized health insurance from Republican cuts to avoid a government shutdown next week but don't have any leaders with the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Trump about it.

Trump has successfully dismantled the government to the point where he holds all the cards.  When he talks, people listen.  Even when they have no idea what he's talking about.

Trump's comments at both the United Nations and the Kirk memorial have convinced me even more that its' time for the U.S. to break up into separate countries.  There is no need for foreign nations to take America seriously anymore, and there's no reason for Americans to expect anything serious from their own government.  Because Trump is the government.  Democratic officeholders in Washington simply haven't noticed that yet.  When they do, I hope the cries for secession among Democratic states will get louder.