Whack Fuck Golf.... Part 2

I’ve said in previous articles, if Donald Trump had lived in the 1860’s, he’d have travelled the old West in a mule drawn wagon selling magic elixirs and dealing Three Card Monte, a con man adept at sizing up his audience and telling them exactly what they want to hear. Others say he’s The Manchurian Candidate, a KGB plant, Vladimir Putin’s puppet. He’s not, he doesn’t have the patience for “the long game”, the discipline to shut his mouth, control his temper and blend in. It’s nothing that complicated, he operates off the old Hollywood theory, “…bad publicity is better than no publicity …” and Trump needs to be the center of attention. He’s not overly intelligent in any classical sense, but he has a gutter level ability to sniff out weaknesses in others. Traditionally, we recognize three branches of the federal government, legislative, judicial and executive, but realistically, a fourth has been added, the American economy which has grown to the point it holds sway over every aspect of national and international decision making-- Trump thinks he understands this concept, but I have my doubts and I don’t believe history will be kind to him. His fascination with tariffs, a tool that’s lost favor in the integrated 2025 international economy, is his attempt to bend world leaders to his dominance. Cloaking it in babble about making every American filthy rich, he started playing bumper cars with the US economy, enacted tariffs on allies and trading partners and sent the stock market reeling. Middle class Americans took a nasty hit in their 401K’s, and investment accounts. If that wasn’t enough of a cold shower, they also realized that tariffs aren’t paid by governments or corporations, they’re paid for by the people who buy the groceries and consumer goods. Several days later, Trump shrugged his shoulders and said he was pausing the tariffs, the stock market rocketed up and Trump’s billionaire buddies bought a lot of stock at a bargain basement price. Eventually, an enterprising investigator will pick through the numbers and trades and conclude that certain friends of the Trump administration picked up a well-placed rumor that maybe those tariffs would be put on hold, and it might be a great time to buy some stock. If there was any sick humor in this mess, it was supplied by the Chinese. Trump dropped a huge tariff on China, the Chinese said “kiss my ass’, responded with tariffs on the US and showed no interest in negotiations. The Chinese did their first trade deal in the year 1271 with Marco Polo and established the Silk Route across Asia. They’ve been in commerce since, they’re masters of it and they’re patient, something that’s not Trump’s strength. Trump’s approval rating is sitting at 39%, he’s facing a midterm election in 2026, the swing voters who crossed over and elected him have buyer’s remorse and most have already “…taken the last train for the coast…” when it comes to Trump.  MAGA still idolizes Trump, they got conned and it’s only a matter of time until parts of MAGA get restless when they can’t pay the grocery bill, and those high paying factory jobs returning to the US aren’t anywhere on the horizon. If the 2026 midterm elections bring a democratic majority to the House of Representatives, it’s a whole new ball game for Trump and he has problems—an emboldened media, constant House investigative committees, impeachment bills, and a lot of the luster will have worn off  of Trump--if you like rowdy, picture a dirt road, Georgia juke joint on a Friday night….Part 3 will be up in a couple of days and it’ll be about Donald Trump the person, not the president….