by Mumia Abu-Jamal
It has been exceedingly difficult to write about the Trump presidency, seemingly crumbling before our eyes. In part that’s because of the sheer pace of new revelations, scandals superseded by new scandals, the inane utterances – and tweets – of the president, a daily cascade of craziness.
Part of this is the news media, which rushes at us on a 24-hour clock, with no sense of cessation. Part of it is Trump’s sheer obsession with social media and his unique ability to undermine his own spokespersons with a tweet.
We are in the midst of the latest reality show – The Trump Show! – featuring Donald J. Trump, a manic superstar who hasn’t decided whether to host a comedy or a tragedy, but has seemingly settled for farce. One recent New York Times editorial mused about being a nation ruled by a child, a petulant, ill-mannered, tantrum-prone 6-year-old playing emperor of the world.
In the space of a quarter of a year, Trump has led his administration into the morass of the Russia trap.
His country, by the way, suffers from Trump-induced exhaustion. His party (The Trump Party) appears to be a union of maniacs.
Their central program? To defend a president who seems unable or unwilling to defend himself.
The corporate media, which fed from the Trump trough during the campaign, has acquired the taste for Trump flesh and now competes for the biggest bombshell to down the USS Trump. Not since Watergate have we seen such a fevered fury for the hide of a president.
When I was a young college student at Goddard, in Vermont, I bought a copy of the New York Times in the local General Store. There was a tiny article on the first page on the failed burglary at the Watergate Hotel. Who knew that such a small thing would topple a president?
It looks quaint compared to the things we see now. This is bigger, bolder, uglier and more crass.
This smells of corruption, of capitalist greed and excess, and of imperial arrogance on a grand, global scale.
This feels like the beginning of the End.
© Copyright 2017 Mumia Abu-Jamal. Keep updated at www.freemumia.com. His new book is “Writing on the Wall,” edited by Joanna Hernandez. For Mumia’s commentaries, visit www.prisonradio.org. Encourage the media to publish and broadcast Mumia’s commentaries. Send our brother some love and light: Mumia Abu-Jamal, AM 8335, SCI-Mahanoy, 301 Morea Road, Frackville, PA 17932.