He’s pushing all the buttons, turning all of the faucets off and on.  He’s shouting the most inane, incomprehensible things.  He’s blaming everyone for his mistakes.  He’s crying that it’s all unfair.  No, I’m not talking about the 4 year boy who lives down the street (although he’s doing the exact same things).  I’m referring to the preschooler-in chief (PIC) Donald Trump, doing his best impression of a child trying to test boundaries in the loudest most outrageous way possible.

After releasing hundreds of convicted criminals into the streets (like this woman subsequently convicted of killing a mother of 2, or this man wanted for soliciting a minor online, or this man killed by a sheriff deputy while resisting arrest), the PIC signed an executive order turning off all grants and canceling all grants in process.  Cancer funding – frozen.  Grants to North Carolina for flood victims and recovery – frozen.  The funding portal for Medicaid – shut off.  The ostensible reason – DEI, woke policy review.  Mind you this matters little to the recipients who relied on the Congressionally authorized funds to pay bills, people, vendors, hospitals.  They were simply pawns in an illegal showboating exercise of someone for whom limits have no meaning.  Illegal on its face, as a federal judge stayed the executive order by the end of the day.  And another day passed before the White House rescinded the grant freeze altogether.  But the damage is done – the reliability of the federal government to pay for the things it “commits” to pay for is in question.  In the real world, when a payor’s reliability is in doubt, the amount charged for the contract is increased – no question that this will be the case here as well.

After this eventful series of events, a tragic event occurred over the Potomac River – a collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger airplane, killing all on board of the two aircraft.  The worst US plane crash in over 20 years would ordinarily bring a solemnity with it, a grieving period for the lives lost and a determination to understand its cause (as plane collisions are exceedingly rare).  But the PIC chose to blame others – even before anyone could be blamed.  It was DEI programs at fault (despite the fact that all pilots involved were white).  It was mismanagement under the Biden administration (although PIC’s first administration repeatedly refused to increase the investment in airport safety programs, and actually recommended gutting them each year, followed by GOP Congresses who would rather freeze funding than make good policy).   The most non-sensical stuff you could imagine – POTUS must not have gotten enough sleep the prior night and woke up cranky – just like the 4 year old down the street.  But the worst was blaming the Army pilots – without any idea about what caused their decisions.  No sense of whether the helicopter gauges were reading properly, no sense whether sudden changes from the air traffic controller contributed to the collision.  It didn’t matter to him.  But it matters to the families of those soldiers – the families of the fallen who must bear the burden that the President of the United States placed on their soldiers, calling their competence into question.

In the first week, people who assaulted police officers are excused and pardoned for their behavior.  In the second week, the men of our armed services are scapegoated for a horrific tragedy.  The disgrace continues…