trump 100 day plan

This post has serious beef with both America’s left-wingers and America’s right-wingers.

As we approach President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, the hashtag #100daysofshame is trending harder than Kendrick Lamar. But there’s a big problem: conservatives use the hashtag to laugh at liberal crybabies, and liberals use it to express their frustration with all of Trump’s follies and foibles.

I’ve written this post because I don’t agree with either approach. When liberals lump in every one of Trump’s decisions with his wackadoo ideas, they encourage conservatives to reject their entire argument, and thus to normalize the nuttier behavior. If there’s one message I want conservatives and everyone else to get from this post, it’s:

THIS IS NOT NORMAL. THIS IS NOT A NORMAL PRESIDENCY.

The only proper way to support that sentence is to separate out what any Republican President would likely have done in his (uh, I’m afraid that’s yes, his) first 100 days. So you’re not going to read about the Obamacare repeal failure here. Marco Rubio would have done that. You’re not going to hear about how Neil Gorsuch being a bad Supreme Court Justice. Jeb Bush would have nominated someone like him. Appointing Scott Pruitt to decimate the EPA and Obama’s climate protections? Ted Cruz would have done that too.

Here are other things that you’ll be reading about in other liberals’ #100daysofshame posts, but not this one: Planned Parenthood, Keystone, DAPL, the TPP, the LGBT, the NEA, the NRA (and permitting gun sales to mentally ill), the ongoing crisis in Flint, removing worker protections, attacking the Voting Rights Act, selling Internet privacy, bombing Syria and Afghanistan, cutting education, blaming Democrats for everything, and signing the “for every regulation, two must be removed” bill. Trump’s actions regarding all of these fall under the heading of “normal Republican presidency” (at least in this decade). Not going to complain about Trump’s “beachhead teams” at agencies, nor about one single word of Trump’s inaugural address. None of that should be considered surprising.

None of that explains why this presidency isn’t like the previous 44, and won’t be like the 46th. (Memo to liberals who claim Mike Pence would be just as bad as Trump: you’re wrong. And…) Want to know why? Ever heard of 13 Reasons Why?

I’ll give you 100 Reasons Why.

Look, sometimes disruption is good. I realize Trump voters sent him to Washington to shake things up. And I’ll admit that not everything abnormal is dangerous. For example, unlike every modern President, Trump hasn’t gotten a dog; who cares? Let’s be clear: this list recognizes 100 things about Trump’s first 100 days (no cheating and going back to before Inauguration Day) where Trump’s behavior (or that of his staff in their official capacities) wasn’t only abnormal, but set precedents that have hurt America.

All 100 of the following were actions that I like to think Democrats would have opposed from any president; these are actions that conservative Republicans need to recognize as something other than “creative destruction” or “3-D chess.” Or put it this way: the Koch brothers (and the Wal-Mart leaders) are conservative and extremely wealthy businessmen, but if one of them became president, NONE of the following 100 things would have happened in the first 100 days. Get it yet?

THIS IS NOT A NORMAL PRESIDENCY. THESE ARE NEW AND DANGEROUS PRECEDENTS:

 

STAFFING

  1. Fired Attorney General Sally Yates because she “betrayed” DOJ, no replacement
  2. Appointed a spy/Turkish agent as National Security Advisor, fired him
  3. Appointed deeply unqualified Rex Tillerson to State “I didn’t want this job”
  4. Appointed deeply unqualified Betsy Devos to Education “Protecting grizzlies?”
  5. Appointed deeply unqualified Rick Perry to Energy, agency Perry forgot in debate
  6. Appointed deeply unqualified Ben Carson to Housing “I have no gov’t experience”
  7. Appointed lobbyists with major conflicts of interest to their industries; conservatives call it a “war on ethics”
  8. Fired most US Attorneys General, offered no replacements for months
  9. Gutted/froze State Department with no apparent plan
  10. Spicer told State Department officials to quit if they disagree with President
  11. Fired most US ambassadors, offered few replacements for months
  12. In 3 months, of 549 Senate-approval-level positions, nominated less than 20%
  13. In 3 months, of 2000 non-Senate-approved positions, filled only 4% (lied, blamed Dems for delays)
  14. Left White House visitors office vacant without word for weeks
  15. Turned Supreme Court announcement into reality show with contestants (15a. Obscene amount of “ball-spiking” on Gorsuch considering GOP arranged it)
  16. Appointed daughter to West Wing, with top-level security clearance
  17. Kellyanne Conway broke law by publicly pitching Ivanka’s products, no penalty
  18. AG Jeff Sessions committed perjury (or at least lied to Congress), no penalty
  19. Nominated Andrew Puzder for Labor Secretary, wife-abuser (later withdrawn)
  20. Vetting of Cabinet appeared at odds with “extreme vetting” rhetoric

ETHNICITY AND IMMIGRATION

  1. Unveiled horribly conceived and written “Muslim Ban” aka “Travel Ban” (21a. Lied that Kuwait adopted similar ban.)
  2. Second Ban also stopped by federal judges, no sign of third one; two bans depressed tourism in the $billions
  3. Separate E.O. targeted high-skilled H-1B visas but not H2A or H2B (Trump employees)
  4. Tweeted “If something happens blame [judge] and the court system. People pouring in. Bad!”
  5. Deported many law-abiding citizens, including DREAMers; ICE arrests up 33%
  6. Excluded mention of Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day, implied Jews defaced Jewish cemeteries as false flag
  7. Spicer said Hitler didn’t gas “own people” in “Holocaust centers” as Assad did
  8. Silence emanated from White House as hate crimes vastly increased
  9. AG Sessions moved to shut down all internal police investigations
  10. Assumed black reporter April Ryan can set up Congressional Black Caucus meeting

FALSEHOODS/MISDIRECTS

  1. Repeatedly discussed “drugs and gangs” and “inner city crime” as though it’s the 1980s; crime is at record lows, not record highs
  2. Repeatedly claimed millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally against him
  3. Promised coal miners job reinstatements with no plan
  4. Claimed to save 20,000 jobs at Charter Comm; jobs were announced in October
  5. Donated his $78,333 paycheck to Park Service while calling for $1.5bn cut
  6. Hid White House visitors log
  7. Repeatedly, repeatedly lied about inauguration attendance
  8. Tweeted “The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process.”
  9. Regularly lied/deflected about electoral college and Hillary (campaign is over!)
  10. Deflected Russia allegations by bringing up “Hillary’s” deal for “20% of US uranium”
  11. Spicer distanced administration from Carter Page, Paul Manafort (over Russia)
  12. Claimed no contact with Russia during time including Trump’s 2013 visit, pageant
  13. Called Russia story “ruse” and “fake” despite recusals and proven falsehoods
  14. Administration deleted scientific data collected by agencies
  15. Repeatedly accused Obama of wiretapping with zero evidence; FBI director Comey refuted
  16. Accused Susan Rice of illegal spying; bi-partisan refutation, no official apology
  17. Practiced gaslighting, e.g. after healthcare debacle “this was best thing that could have happened”
  18. Criminal leaks, Bannon vs. Priebus, yet said “administration running like fine-tuned machine”
  19. (Still) offered no true medical evaluation (Jan 2016 version patently forged)
  20. Spicer said Trump said jobs data “may have been phony in the past, but it’s very real now”

THE MEDIA

  1. Bannon on 1/26: “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while…The media is the opposition party.”
  2. Called media “the enemy of the state”
  3. On 2/6, said agenda-driven media does not report terrorist attacks in Europe
  4. On 2/23, banned accredited news groups from press briefings
  5. Declined to attend White House Correspondents Dinner
  6. In 1-on-1 interview, AP for first time had to use “(unintelligible)” (actually 16 times)
  7. Repeated accusations of “FAKE NEWS,” undermining democratic accountability

REVERSALS

  1. Moved goalposts on border wall, claimed we must start building it without Mexico $ (58a. Lied about Mexican President “agreeing” to cancel their meeting.)
  2. Dropped much-touted plan to investigate Hillary Clinton
  3. After berating Clinton over Goldman Sachs, appointed 7 Goldman Sachs-ers to Cabinet
  4. After berating Clinton for being under FBI investigation, is under FBI investigation
  5. Ignored infrastructure, offshoring, despite pledges
  6. Ignored tax reform, term limits, despite pledges
  7. Promised Medicare direct negotiations for cheaper drugs, never delivered
  8. Promised shredding of Iran nuclear deal on Day One, never delivered
  9. Promised 30-day delivery of plan on ISIS, never delivered
  10. Promised NAFTA rejection, never delivered
  11. Has golfed/vacationed at 10x Obama’s rate, after slamming Obama over it
  12. Despite pledge, failed to release of tax info; could explain conflicts of interest
  13. Despite pledge, preserved ability to pull $ from businesses at any time without disclosure

BUSINESS, AS USUAL

  1. DT registered for 2020 campaign, received “pay-for-play” funds for it
  2. WSJ reported that Trump campaign paid $500m in 2017 1Q to Trump businesses; product-placement everywhere
  3. Secured new Trump trademarks in China after trying for 10 years
  4. Housed wife, son in Trump Tower at considerable taxpayer expense
  5. Made emoluments clause a joke, lawyers noting direct harm to Trump competitors
  6. Served (serves) as executive producer of “The Apprentice”
  7. In interview about Russia, responded “You think our country’s so innocent?”
  8. As a general rule, turned American values transactional, anti-democratic

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

  1. Appointed rookie son-in-law to jobs that normally need four Kissingers each
  2. Put neophyte (Bannon) on National Security Council, politicized intelligence
  3. After botched raid in Yemen, blamed everyone but self
  4. Struck Iraq (Mosul) and killed 200 civilians, worst since 2003; disregard for life
  5. Hung up on Australian prime minister
  6. Called Turkey’s Erdogan to congratulate him on consolidating dictatorship
  7. Allowed waiters, civilian friends to snap pix of nuclear football during response to NK
  8. Said “We are sending an armada” – both untrue and unnecessarily provocative of NK
  9. Tweeted in support of Paris attack’s influence, encouraged other terrorists
  10. Repeatedly blamed NATO for not paying up, called it obsolete
  11. Insisted (ten times, per Merkel) on negotiating with Germany and not EU
  12. Refused to shake hand of German Chancellor

“NO ONE HAS MORE RESPECT FOR WOMEN THAN ME”?

  1. Left behind wife on formal occasions when other POTUSs did not
  2. Issued guidelines to female staffers to “dress like a woman”
  3. Executive order removed specific protection for women workers
  4. Defunded UNFPA, which helps maternal/reproductive health
  5. Defended Bill O’Reilly

FIVE OTHER THINGS MODERN PRESIDENTS NEVER DID…

  1. Threatened anti-repeal GOP “allies” with “I’m gonna come after you.”
  2. Ignored Democrats, never tried to work with opposition party
  3. Never attended church in 100 days, including Easter week
  4. Basically conducted Presidency by twitter
  5. Essentially turned America into a joke around the world

101…I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

America, left, center, and right, I ask you: are upper-income tax cuts and entertainment value really worth all of this?