Michelle Goldberg writes on how malignant narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump's incompetence, as tragically displayed in his bumbling of Hurricane Maria relief for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, will some day have an inescapable impact on millions more Americans:
Many Americans — maybe most Americans — have yet to experience the material consequences of having an unfit president. Trump inherited a growing economy, and it got a short-term boost thanks to tax cuts whose ultimate cost won’t be felt for some time. The majority of the crises Trump has faced have been self-inflicted. America’s reputation is collapsing abroad, but that doesn’t yet affect most Americans directly. The country is just starting to feel the effects of Trump’s trade skirmishes. The consequences of his assault on environmental protections have been serious but diffuse. The people whose families are being ripped apart by his immigration policies are largely noncitizens who cannot vote.
We’ve been at once lucky and unlucky. It’s a blessing that much of the country has escaped physical disaster, but eventually the bill for having a cruel, scatterbrained demagogue in the White House will come due. The longer it takes, the more he’ll be able to consolidate power and exploit his position for private gain. America has become like one of Trump’s casinos, surface glitz hiding corruption and rot that Trump will ultimately make others pay for. (our emphasis)Goldberg kicks off her article by noting that Rump attended a meeting on hurricane preparedness this past Wednesday at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Administration. The topics Rump covered?
According to The Post, Trump spoke about the coming North Korea summit meeting, polling on the midterms, the Taiwanese company Foxconn, his love of coal and his administration’s “great” popularity. He claimed that the government saved $1.6 billion on Air Force One after he got involved in negotiations. The Post reported, “Military officials have not been able to explain where Trump got such a figure.”But the victims, living and dead, of Hurricane Maria? Nada.
