Dangerous Mindless Militarism

Don’t look now America but the new “sheriff” in town appears to be riding the wrong end of his horse, which might help explain why he can’t find America’s Asian “Armada,” hasn’t gotten any of what he’s identified as meaningful legislation passed, left innumerable government posts unfilled, seemingly deserted the hard working folks who got him elected and filled many of his cabinet posts with shameless ideologues whose sole purpose seems to be blowing up their respective bailiwicks. In short, even without tongue firmly planted in cheek, Trump’s first three months in office have clearly been mired in a swamp of unequaled presidential ineptitude.

While, on a certain level, his first hundred days have been mindlessly “Keystone Copish” the potential for a “John Wayneish” tough guy disaster feels unsettlingly imminent. And it’s not as if his supporters don’t have some experience with the negative repercussions of a “this is America’s world and any deviation from this party line will be met with America’s full military might” mindset. One need look no further than the conservative’s last presidential poster boy, George Bush light, and his underhanded mishandling of Iraq and the resultant bill that America will never stop repaying, in terms of lives lost and maimed, energy invested and resources squandered as irrefutable evidence that thoughtful diplomacy, with rare exceptions, trumps the costs of bullish braying and warmongering as strategies for maintaining peace.

The stakes in America’s current political drama are high and this, contrary to what some of Trump’s most ardent and vocal supporters would have us believe, isn’t a soap opera or a cage match. Our new “sheriff” needs to read the manual on riding a horse and begin behaving like a thoughtful, compassionate, responsible leader instead of a bullying, mindless, reckless, narcissistic dolt.

Other than that I don’t have an opinion.