It's a Love and Hate of State Thing

Dear America,

Is this what the founders had in mind?

Is this what the founders had in mind?

i have a serious love/hate relationship with this president; i mean, like, it's bad. it's bad.

it's like that commercial, when the actors say the same thing, but playing off a contrasting context -- like the girl walking out to her brand new car, saying, "is this is my car?!  this is ridiculous!" all excited -- while the guy walking out to find his car jacked up on cement blocks, with the tires missing, says "is this is my car?! what?  this is ridiculous!" and about to have a heart attack.  Thank you, State Farm.

is this is my president?!  this is ridiculous!!

is this is my president?!  this is ridiculous!!

is this is my country?!  this is ridiculous!!

is this is my country?!  this is ridiculous!!

thank you, state farm -- as in, this state of all states, with fifty in all--  and, including the back forty, making a farm the size of  300 million, plus farm animals, and then some; some days it feels like we are all being raised in a barn, while other days, we're all winning first prize at the State Fair.  And all the while, the pendulum keeps swinging, the markets keep freaking, the fat ladies keep singing, as the carnival of all carnivals, large and small, keeps attracting the crazies and the people who just love to watch the spectacle... 

there's something to be said for the this president -- 

of the guy who seems to wake up every single day with the confidence to keep shaking things up, to keep asking the tough questions -- like, is this my border? As in the very border marking the sovereignty of this nation,  the nation that he swore upon the Holy Bible to secure and protect.

And -- is this my market?  As in the very market place built upon the shoulders of Americans, using the resources and investments of Americans, for the express service and benefit of Americans...if not for all people from around the globe.

this is all about positioning
this is all about posturing
this is all about re-setting, as if with a little red button, a new approach.

For the most part -- every tactic this president takes is about salesmanship.... like, taking the audacity of hope, and kicking it up a notch or two... or make that a lot.  (like a lot.)

The art of the deal is not only about the deal, itself, it's also about setting precedence for the deal down the road that we don't even know about,  the one we can't see from the rocking chair, sitting on the porch, that surrounds the house, that sits on the farm, that we built (even if it's not a farm, but a remodeled mid-century condo with recessed lighting and all, somewhere, like, sex in the city style -- or perhaps like that of a prized homestead, in ranch style, with three bedrooms and two and a half bath, sitting in the middle of suburbia...).

And yet, for a guy who loves the free market so much -- his perspective sometimes reveals a few flaws... as in, questioning the free enterprising genius of Amazon, getting lost in the hay  with the Bezos/Washington Post association and the constant manure shoveling of fake news, and for simply picking and choosing when to follow the rule of law and when to just chuck it. 

The thing is, America is all about whatever the free market makes or breaks!  The marketplace is meant to be FREE flowing.  Which means, the commingling of supply and demand determines price, which ultimately creates profits and losses, and in the most enterprising way, leaves all possibility for success in the hands of the consumer.  The consumer is always at choice to buy it or not to buy it; the consumer has ultimate control of the winners and the losers.

Since election day,  the voters have expected Trump to be a president who DOES NOT pick winners and losers; his win was, in part, about draining the congressional swamp of crony capitalists; his win was, in part, all about bringing America back to all of its free market glory! Like, hello.... MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

Yes, we want trade to be fair.
And yes, we want Amazon.

We want the goods.
And yes, it is up to the consumer on what the consumer decides to read, too.

I do like this post from Politico, posted just today by Jack Shaffer, "Trump is Right. It is the Amazon Washington Post."

To save you time and money, let me just cut to the finish --

"Trump’s bullying works best against flawed or weak adversaries like Hillary Clinton and Mexico. But when rumbling against the strong and confident, his record ain’t so good. In Business Insider, Josh Barro predicts that Trump will lose his stupid fight with Amazon, which is far too popular with consumers for him to successfully demonize it. People delight too much in Amazon’s convenience, selection, low prices and cheap delivery. They willingly deserted the shopping malls Trump says he wants to “save,” and they don’t want to go back. If Trump can’t demonize Amazon, he won’t be able to demonize Bezos. And that means he will fail to demonize the Post, too."

and from Josh Marshall @ Talking Points Memo:

"But the bigger point is that it’s not really about McCabe or Amazon. Having a sitting President launching scathing personal attacks on a federal law enforcement officer and demanding his firing or imprisonment for personal and political motives is wildly outside the norms that govern the American system. Similarly, a President who routinely threatens prosecutorial or regulatory vengeance against private companies because they are not sufficiently politically subservient to him personally is entirely outside of our system of governance. At present, Donald Trump is an autocrat without an autocracy. The system mostly resists his demands because it’s not designed to operate that way and we have centuries worth of norms that are remarkably resilient. But systems change. And it’s clear that ours is already starting to change under his malign influence."

[and yes, I hear you, Always Trumpers thumping; don't hate -- just making my own talking points, k?]

SO about this thing Josh calls "malign influence;" seriously?

Josh -- just how would you characterize the last eight years under Obama...the president famous for the phrase, "we are five days away from fundamental transformation" and followed through with it.  Hello?...  Transformation R US, Inc.:  born and raised, grass fed, to fill the bellies of the masses anyone?  You didn't see the "autocrat without an autocracy" under Obama, now did you?  huh.

Big Influence of Big Government is winning...it's we the people who seem to be just taking turns loving and hating it...and that's surely not what our founders intended!

Is this what the founders had in mind?
Is this what the founders had in mind?

But like I said at the top.

There are good days and bad days for this girl under the influence of this president.
Some days there is just more to love than hate; other days, not so much.

It's enough to make a girl crazy.
But more than that, guessing Josh and I will just take turns on the tractor.

Make it a Good Day, G