Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Freak Show at the Capitol


President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening.

It was a more formal version of speeches he has given before.  Multiple times he displayed his basic economic ignorance of trade. "Dying industries will come back to life," he said. He hinted at more in the way of U.S. military combat actions. And brought up a recent new theme, that there are "criminal cartels across our nation" that must be stopped.

He told Congress that he wants a "new program of national rebuilding." That he is going to do more to promote "paid family leave." That "education is the civil rights issue of our time."

It displayed him as a serious statist. Hopefully, more libertarians will catch on.

The normally clueless Jack Tapper at CNN got it. After the speech, Tapper said, "Limited government conservatives are not going to be happy with the speech."

But what struck me most was Donald Trump's freak show.

I believe it was Ronald Reagan who started with just one person at the joint sessions that we all stared at. Someone who had found themselves in a situation, that proved a point that Reagan wanted to make, was trotted out and strategically positioned, like some freak, in the chamber for Reagan to point to at just the right time. A bleeding-heart moment, if you will.

Trump, of course, had to outdo Reagan and all other past presidents and seemingly had placed in the audience more freaks than all the cumulative past freaks of Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, and Obama combined.

There were so many that the cameramen couldn't even correctly pinpoint them all.

And it was quite a group. There was the wife of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens who appears to be one skipped meal away from being anorexic.

Owens, of course, was killed in a Trump ordered mission into Yemen. Yemen! Trump clapped and clapped after he introduced her as the poor woman shook and shook, cried and cried, and appeared on the verge of a nervous breakdown as she looked to the heavens. If there ever was an object lesson in why you shouldn't join the military, there it was. You never ever want your spouse to end up in a politician's freak show after you have been killed in some foreign land for Deep State reasons not publicly known.

Ivanka, with professionally done makeup from an entire team of makeup artists, stood next to the woman and looked on stoically.  According to Reuters, Ivanka "opted for a fuchsia, asymmetrical sheath" in dress.

Then there was the student freak who Trump told us had flunked third grade twice but was somehow saved by some government program and is about to get her masters degree in, drum roll, social work.

After he profiled this one, I realized that Trump probably doesn't even realize his freak show is a caricature of itself and his shallow political views.

Just remember, though, whenever the freak show is in town, watch your wallet and that is truly the case with Trump as national ringmaster.

This guy is a big spender that will talk cuts in spending, And, worse, he is an authoritarian the likes of which we haven't seen in America in a very long time. Though he did talk of peace and prosperity in 9 years at the 250th anniversary of the birth of the nation.

But for the most part, it was a freak show and horror show, combined, on Capitol Hill Tuesday evening. The screaming, I'm sure, will come eventually.

Ron Paul got it right:


-- RW

11 comments:

  1. Ron Paul had some seriously on point and awesome tweets all night long.

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  2. The MIC gets its licks, while a widow grieves and a father stews.

    http://veteransforpeaceindianapolis.blogspot.com/2017/02/means-or-ends.html?m=1

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  3. "Freak Show"

    In other words, status quo.

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  4. Not to be an SJW, but the anorexia comment adds nothing to your analysis and seemed very out of place. Not to mention incorrect. Consider the following:

    http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/58b648cf01fe58bd3c8b6a51-1845/rts10vu1%201.jpg

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    1. Agreed. I wanted to share this otherwise great analysis with sympathic conservstives but with that line in there I simply can't

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  5. We can all admit that Mr. Wenzel had every aspect of Mr. Trump pegged from the very beginning. He also understood and feared the totally idiocy of the average Trump supporter. Isn't it great being surrounded by Trump and Bernie supporters?

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    1. 'idiocy of average Trump supporter' ? Compared to what .. The average American Leftist and Obama supporter? Ever seen any Mark Dice videos? I'v been to Trump rallies and have been generally impressed - a broad mix of blue and white collar and many very well read Liberty-minded type. So maybe you are some ivory tower intellectual elite? If so, then how are you any better than the Globalist pedophile tyrants who are working to destroy Trump?

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    2. How about "the average Trump voter, rightfully fearful of the 'progressives' during the period leading up to the election" will nevertheless stay loyal to him as Trump goes off the rails while in power.

      At this point, what do you call someone who cheers $56 billion in new military spending, sends U.S. troops into Yemen, likes ZIRP and supports protectionism? And who wants the Feds to invade Colorado to confiscate the evil weed? And who wants to raise the price the gangbangers get for meth, crack and heroin via another crackdown on the "cartels".

      And when things really do off the rails, it will all be blamed on deregulation, tax cuts and right wing racism. A teaching moment.

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  6. My wife laughed while we were watching and said to RW's point, " he has so many people up there the camera doesn't know which one to go to anymore!"
    This was an troubling speech. Paid leave? Education is a civil right? Under financed military? Cartels? Cartels?? Has he been watching the "Daredevil" series thinking it's Fox News?
    This guy worries me more than Obama ever did, because some of my associates, who would have scorned at some of the things Trump said if it were Obama saying it, will spend the day defending Trump's speech.

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  7. The real libertarians (whom which I agree with on matters of policy) are as frustrating and demoralizing to the cause of Liberty than the Leftist/Globalists. How can any of you realistically expect our nation's people and the government to near instantly become libertarian ? We have been in a 150+ year slide and just survived 8 years of a insanely criminal administration.. and look at what you expect ! You really put yourselves in the 'correct but not helpful' category. You all are like the woodworking book full of pictures and detailed descriptions of beautiful furniture. It is excellent at showing what a well crafted finished product should be, but does zero to help you actually create the piece.

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  8. Traditional, are you saying Trump is a step towards Libertarianism? If you are, how do you come to this conclusion?! I always am suspicious about people who think we have just survived one criminal president, or who emphasize that Obama was somehow worse than others. Are you a libertarian or republican?
    Libertarians don't, or should not, bend. Not on Liberty. Not ever. And saying niceties about Trump, who less than just a few days into his administration he committed murder, numerous murders, nice things and benefit of the doubt should not be given murderers.

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