Don Trump jumped on the birther crazy train around five years ago. Despite a multitude of theories, no one is quite sure why. I like to think the motive was nothing more than a crude ploy to boost the ratings of his TV show, "The Apprentice." Something so cruel and self serving certainly sounds like the narcissistic beast we've come to know and loathe.
What we do know for sure is he beat that dead horse relentlessly. And thanks to Twitter and the press, which even then was enthralled by his grotesque carnival side show barking, he took the myth out of ultra right wing chat rooms and the dark corners of You Tube. During the process he placed it--and more importantly, himself--squarely into prime time.
He claimed he had people in Hawaii and what they were finding, "was incredible." He posted on social media, "an extremely credible source," had called to tell his staff the president's birth certificate was, "a fraud."
It didn't matter he couldn't prove anything and ultimately never did. When it comes to the yokels he was preaching to, not being able to prove something is simply further proof the conspiracy is both vast and unrelenting. As for the rest of us, well, we have short memories.
Hey, time marches on, besides, terrible Mexican hordes were on the horizon, not to mention evil Muslim infiltrators.
Then a few weeks ago came the pivot republicans have been waiting so long for. Suddenly El Don calmed his act down. The off the cuff bombast abated and was replaced by teleprompter controlled speeches which focused not on personalities, but policies he would enact when elected. Of course he hasn't gone into any details about how he'd deliver mega tax cuts while pouring billions more into the military and balancing the federal budget. After all, such details would just dilute the presentation of the big picture.
He made a trip to Mexico in order to appear statesman like. It didn't seem to matter within in hours after leaving he and Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto were arguing over what they'd talked about. The whole purpose of the visit was the photo op taken after their meeting.
Yesterday he showed up on the syndicated television show hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz with his medical records. He brought along his daughter Ivanka to talk to the audience, made up of mostly women, about child care benefits. Both hinted they were the first and only people to ever propose expansive paid maternity leave for women. Neither were willing to admit democrats and Hillary Clinton have been pushing the same thing for years, but the republicans in congress have rejected every attempt.
Which leads us to earlier today. At the opening of his new hotel in Washington Trump told the press, "Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it, you know what I mean. President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period."
Indeed, if it wasn't for me the dark cloud brought about by Hillary Clinton would still be hanging over the presidency of Barack Obama. However, I was finally able to nail down his place of birth and clear his name.
No one should be surprised at this vile tact. For a couple of weeks now Trump's toadies have gone on cable news saying their man knows Obama was born here. Then, while pointedly ignoring all questions about his avid promotion of the birther insanity, to a person, they accused Secretary Clinton of starting it.
It's an abject lie. The Washington Post reported that various fact checking organizations have repeatedly disproven the allegation. In truth there is absolutely no evidence Ms. Clinton, or her campaign ever questioned Obama's birth certificate, or his citizenship.
Yes, it would seem the new Trump is pretty much the old Trump, only on Xanax. Or, as we like to say down here, "You can take them out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of them."
And with that ladies and gentlemen, as you can well guess, the bar is open.
sic vita est
9-16-16
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