Public Comment

Our political leaders have an annoying habit of repeating failed survival strategies. They also feed the American public with mega doses of false information to mask embarrassing political blunders. Remember the New York Times story 1998 headlined “Impeachment Vote in House delayed as Clinton Launches Iraq Air Strike, Citing Military Need to Move Swiftly” started to circulate on social media. This picture was widely shared by those who argued that Trump, like Clinton, was attempting to “wag the dog,” a colloquialism that means to distract attention away from a political scandal (in this case impeachment), often through military action. 

Trump has told approximately 15,000 lies in his disastrous presidency. The sycophant Republicans and his advisors, most notably the morally challenged Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has stubbornly defended their sociopathic boss. Pompeo used the age old defense claiming actionable intelligence to justify the killing of General Qasem Soleimani. Trump and his aides seem to be very selective in relying on intelligence. They rejected claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election but lauds intelligence when it suits their political agendas. As Lau Tzu’s maxim reminds us, “all wars are based on deception, the first casualty is truth.” 

The erratic Trump, paralyzed with fear over his impeachment is distracting the public with a bogus national emergency. 

“When a man deceives me once, says the Italian proverb, it is his fault; when twice, it is mine.”".