That Was A Test - President Trump: Genius or Buffoonery? (Unabridged)
Folks, within 6 months you will have asked yourself whether President Trump is your savior, your messiah, or behaving dangerously and irresponsibly. Then, you’ll cast your vote. You’ll also be asking yourself by extension whether the Senator leading the effort to re-elect President Trump, Senator Mike Lee, is the kind of leadership you want – maybe, maybe, you want better?
It was just a few days ago President Trump publicly floated the notion that he was President and therefore he commanded the ultimate authority over all the States and all American citizens (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/some-republicans-join-backlash-over-trumps-claim-of-total-authority-over-coronavirus-response/ar-BB12Clfl?ocid=spartanntp). That, my folks, was a test. That, my folks, is dangerous. It wasn’t until NYs Governor Cuomo, and other governors, pushed back, took him to the woodshed, and challenged his outrageous blatantly unconstitutional assertions resulting in him firmly tucking his tail between his legs and walking the statement back after a good spanking – see minutes at 7:24: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OSwLSFow6k).
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban did the same thing and claimed complete authority of his nation a couple weeks ago. He now effectively is their dictator: (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/4/15/21193960/coronavirus-covid-19-hungary-orban-trump-populism). Prime Minister Orban seized the opportunity presented by the global pandemic, he pushed through legislation that suspended elections and permits him to now rule by decree indefinitely (Hmmm, wasn’t there a dude named Adolph who did something like that back in the 1930s?). Nice, right?! I wonder, why is President Trump so opposed to mail-in ballots. Why does President Trump inspire civil unrest in democratic States by encouraging “Liberate… pick you state” slogans?! Why does President Trump want to rush to reopening the economy before the science, statistics, and healthcare authorities advise? You of course know why.
I’ll say it again, folks, that was a test.
So I ask, was the President’s actions genius or buffoonery. President Trump has said he is a genius (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/07/11/trump-again-calls-himself-stable-genius/1703154001/). Is he? I get it, anyone could weave a person’s words out of context to bend intent and meaning of a single statement at a moment in time – we all get that – and hate it!
But that’s not the case here, is it. Either way, for a president to make such a claim, if he is indeed either a genius or buffoon, you must cringe, right? You see, if he’s a genius, then he knew exactly what he was saying and what waters he was testing when he floated his statement that the president has ultimate power over the states. In which case, you should be very scared about a president that wants and sees himself as having total power over you – like Prime Minster Orban of Hungary. On the other hand, if he is just clueless and lost in his malaise of buffoonery, then you should be equally alarmed since your captain at the controls does not know what he’s doing. Eh, slip of the tongue you say? Folks, not at that level.
Worse, your professional legal clerk, Senator Mike Lee from Utah, supports this leadership and seeks to re-elect it. But, you now you have a choice – a choice to hire a representative who takes Congress’s role of counterweight (Checks and Balances) to the Executive Branch seriously and keeps it from getting out of control. That is me, not Senator Lee.
So you ask, Mike, if you’re on target, why is no-one in government voicing concern?
Don’t assume the reason you hear very little criticism from the government agencies regarding President’s Trumps leadership (I say that biting my tongue) is because they think he’s doing a great job and good for America. It’s not!
The Pentagon, the CDC, the U.S. State Department - essentially the entire Executive Branch, and even members of the Republican Party, are afraid to say it: “The man is a dangerous buffoon and he must go.”
Yup, strong words, but someone must be blunt and say it for them. Why don’t they say it? Because they aren’t allowed to and continue to operate in their positions – the tyranny of the pocketbook. They otherwise lose their jobs – this is government policy. Their option is to quit or fall in line. Of course, you know why, the reasoning is self-evident and well established! The generals are gone – Mattis, Kelly, McMaster…. scores of Ambassadors, etc. But you may not know that our War Colleges deliberately teach, for good reason, not to give a voice to former generals in order to avoid politicizing our military – a kind of self-induced choke collar. I won’t go into the very legitimate rationale behind that philosophy here today. If you’re curious, read “Clausewitz.”
So, someone has to say it for them – That’s Me!
Folks, I’ll say it for the legions of folks who won’t, or believe they can’t. “The man is dangerous and he must go.” Genius or Buffoon, it does not matter.
Folks, I don’t make this stuff up. As a former senior leader in the both the Department of Defense and State Department, I have a unique window into the so called “Deep State,” whatever that is since it means different things to different people. But if there is a fiber of commonality that runs through all the Deep Stators, it is the belief that the infamous and ever illusive “they” are conspiring to undermine America and the needs / will of its people. Of course, some use the notion to achieve political gain. I just call it bad leadership. And, we must elect and demand good leadership, or we’ll keep getting the same thing until we run the nation off a cliff.
So what’s my main point here?
November is just over 190 days away. For the sake of American cohesion and strength, something our enemies don’t want, I encourage you to stay steady, and on election day, do whatever you must to get to the voting booth and vote against a second term for President Trump.
Folks, I urge you all to maintain cool clear heads as the clock counts down to November. The President of the United States is not commanding responsible leadership in any sense of the word. Now is time for America to have patience in not allowing his ever-increasing taunts and instigation’s to push us into a fractious country we cannot turn back from without severe pain.
Invoking the second amendment’s right of American’s to keep and bear arms while in the same sentence to liberate Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia’s shelter in place policies is completely irresponsible and off the rails – especially in the midst of a global pandemic where we need more than ever responsible elected representatives that are doing their best to balance public health, with the need to resume economic activity.
On April 17, 2020, ABC New’s Linda Cathey wrote: Coronavirus government response updates: 'LIBERATE': Trump backs protesters defying stay-at-home orders (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/coronavirus-government-response-updates-liberate-trump-tweets-support/story?id=70205442). The president is not helping to bring American’s together in a unified effort to emerge from our Pandemic crisis, he is inciting civil unrest and violence – there’s no mistake about it. Be very on-guard of his lack of healthy inspired leadership – he’s flailing around in his final hours on the ropes doing and saying ANYTHING he can to salvage a circumstance where he somehow can get himself re-elected – not through inspired leadership, but through chaos that permits him to point the finger of his failures at others and tell you it would be even worse but not for him being in office. This is not what America is or wants to hear in the middle of a crisis. This is not inspired leadership. This is thuggery and tomfoolery that is an embarrassment to our national values and traditions, and it is important for us all to stand up and call it what it is – horrible leadership.
America should not be in the place its in – led by a demagogue that will say and do anything – including lying to you, and inciting civil unrest to get his way - at any cost – at the expense of America - to get re-elected.
We are living in “our time” not Stalin’s or Hitler’s time.” The abstractions of history can seem opaque and unreal, distant, and even alarmist or extreme when invoked. But it is important that you always step back and demand leadership that does the right thing for America and not fuel irresponsible passions that lead us back down history’s dark roads.
Remember, it was a teenager, Gavrilo Princip, that sparked WWI and the MILLIONS of deaths that ensued in the horrors of trench warfare – when he assassinated Sir Franz Ferdinand – in the Balkans. A volatile situation just needs a spark – and our President continues to throw gas and fire on a partisan powder keg. 190 more days – hang in there folks. 190 days.
Those with the veils over their eyes that cloud their judgement will come around, but it is you clearheaded folks that need to step up and calmly exercise restraint and steely eyed resolve in the face of the president’s game to unravel America for the sake of his own self-interested ego and election fortunes. It’s you who must step up and stop voting for the two predominate parties that bicker back and forth and alternately offer you the same horse of a different color every election cycle and nothing gets done. Stop voting for them.
Vote for leadership in Congress in 2020, 2021, 2022, and beyond, not for cowards that will say and do ANYTHING to get re-elected. Vote Utah Bull Moose Party for Senate 2021 and replace Senator Mike Lee with the leadership you demand. And sustain that movement and vote out all republican and democratic candidates and replace them with leaders that will “do-the-right-thing, and who put America’s interests ahead of party or individual re-election fortunes.
Now is the time for clearheaded leadership to balance post-COVID-19 economic reopening with the diagnostic testing that can be used to tamp down hotspots while a vaccine is being sought. Because if we fail to do what legions of scientists and medical professionals are telling you ever day, and this virus mutates as the Spanish Flu mutated in 1918, then god help us all for failing to heed the warning signs and take intelligent leadership action and manage this problem when we had the chance. America’s success or failure now will draw either the world’s accolades, or ire. Now, instead of preparing for the potential of a second wave of Coronavirus that could prove more deadly, President Trump is touting his greatness in a bid for a second term November.
And so, what can you do? A few things. Insist on intelligent decisions based on science. Insist on getting leadership that inspires and unites all of America. And, insist on getting the parties in Congress replaced by regular well-informed American leaders who will do the right thing. That means getting rid of incumbents, like Senator Mike Lee, who are actively supporting the leadership we are all currently the victims of.
Folks, whether you like or don’t like the President, you would agree that supporting our American heritage and constitution and insisting that at least Congress should be populated with representatives that took their oaths and Constitutional mandate to be a check and balance to the Executive and Judicial branches seriously. Congress must be strong. Get strong representatives in there to serve as the counterweight should this President stray even farther from the rails in his remaining few days in office. Parties that blindly support a president for the sake of preserving their party and personal interests is unhealthy for America. Congress works for YOU. It is not a forum to lead interference to enable a president to do whatever he / she wishes. It’s a forum for YOU and is chartered to make certain a president’s policies do not tyrannize America.
Vote for leadership in Congress in 2021, not for cowards that will say and do ANYTHING to get re-elected. Vote Utah Bull Moose Party for Senate 2021 and replace Senator Mike Lee with the leadership you demand.
COL Michael “Mike” Seguin for Senate
Utah Bull Moose Party - 2022