The Other Ring Of The Circus

Much of the media seems to have embraced the notion that Donald Trump is one of those malign clowns of urban myth, dangerous but disorganized. In this scenario President Nero tweets while America declines.

But what if there’s another ring to the circus that no one notices because they are fixated on the clown show? What if our insult-comedian-in-chief won by playing a crude populist on TV, but is actually conniving behind the act, like Lonesome Rhodes in “A Face in the Crowd?’ What if he is actually intent on an agenda 180 degrees from the persona, plotting so to rob entitlements and security from the white working class he got to vote for him in order to give people like him what they want — less regulation and bigger tax breaks.

This would seem a bit byzantine and far-fetched, except the Trump administration seems to be doing just that while he distracts the press by insulting the press. He has installed foes of the social safety net and environmental protections as heads of the departments responsible for those duties. Enemies of the people, to use a Trump phrase, are now in charge at HHS, EPA, HUD, Justice and in other posts that give government help to the poor, working class, and minorities.

We may laugh at Trump’s self-serving fake news that millions voted illegally for Hillary, but the panel he has set up to investigate is no joke. It has set out to collect data on every vote cast in 2016 (Social Security numbers, addresses, voting history). Data which can be useful in designing ways to suppress the vote for the other party in 2020. Thus, his voter fraud investigation is a Trojan Horse concealing plans to disenfranchise voters. A fake scandal concealing a real scandal in the making.

It is also worth noting that Trump critics have sneered at his inability to staff government, but maybe he doesn’t want to — the better to gum up the works. He has had no trouble staffing the White House with anti-government zealots whose aim is to dismantle the services and protections we take for granted and minions who aid Trump in creating a smokescreen to hid it.

Your tax dollars are at work paying Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Sean Spicer, Kellyanne Conway and many more top aides $179,000 a year to act as a wrecking crew of the average American’s future.

A few multimillionaire and billionaire appointees have taken only a token salary to avoid image problems. So, Goldman Sachs billionaire and head of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn is taking only $30,000, just enough, he says, to pay for his healthcare. But isn’t that an image problem in itself? How many people who will be on Trumpcare will be able to afford $30,000 a year to buy insurance? Zero?

And in another object lesson in how to favor the billionaire class over the hoi polloi, Steve Bannon’s personal assistant is being aid $40,000 while Jared Kushner’s is taking home a cool $115,000. All pigs are created equal, but some pigs are more equal.

Similarly, Obama had a body man, a fellow like Gary on “Veep” who constantly travels with the president to tend to his personal needs like phone, schedule, luggage and all the other daily requirements of a busy executive. Trump has a thuggish personal bodyguard! Apparent;y the Secret Service is inadequate to his needs. Your taxes are paying this muscle $60,000 more a year than Obama’s amanuensis got.

This sort of thing is small potatoes alongside the real action in the other ring. Quietly, well-paid Trump acolytes are contriving ways to cut government programs that help the average citizen while simultaneously gutting any government programs, regulations or oversight functions that impede efforts by the superwealthy to operate with impunity.

And the June 28 issue of “The Atlantic” offers “Donald Trump’s Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet.” This is getting down to the real nitty gritty, as they used to say. It details 50 ways in the first 150 days the Trump family has used his position to enrich themselves — condo sales in exchange for visas, favorable treatment for Trump businesses by foreign governments (such as Russia, China, Argentina), and many more instances of self-dealing, emolument accepting and rule bending. All profitable.

We know far less about this than we should because both press and pubic are hypnotized by Trump’s attention-getting attacks on the press, politicians, critics and the public. Maybe he’s just a buffoon surrounded by other government hating rich boys, but on the other hand we may be witnessing (or failing to witness) the greatest feat of political sleight of hand on history.

While the clown amuses us with by CNN-wrestling and TV anchor face lift dissing tweets, ill-gotten gains are pouring into his pockets and his appointees are playing “Now you see it, now you don’t,” with our social safety net, homeland’s security and democracy. Poof, they’re gone!

Nice trick, unless you’re on the receiving end.

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