While media exhausts itself fact-checking Trump on front pages and A-blocks, Paul Ryan’s Congress will be passing thousands of small laws, laser targeted at chipping away decades of progress.
There is a performer on Capitol Hill. More talented than the mere organ grinder, he’s playing a harmonica with his mouth, a drum with his knee, a banjo with one hand, and the leash of a dancing monkey with the other.
“Look at the monkey!” he shouts while picking the pocket of your grandmother.
“Watch him clang his shiny cymbals!” he cries while scanning the pin number of your debit card.
It’s an old show, but it’s a good one. People like to watch shiny things and cute animals; gold-plated penthouses and trophy wives.
Paul Ryan knows this.
…yes, President Trump’s executive orders and wild west approach to diplomacy are scary – but executive orders can be undone, and wars require at least two players. Congress passes laws and makes permanent changes to things like Medicare, the ACA, and Social Security. Paul Ryan can starve a hundred thousand children with the stroke of his budget pen.
Donald Trump Is A Dancing Monkey
One would assume that Paul Ryan was weary of a Trump Presidency. He clearly gave all the signals prior to the 2016 election. However, as the inauguration of Donald Trump drew ever nearer, Mr. Ryan began to understand the benefits of having a reality TV buffoon in the White House. Now he knows what POLITUSIC hopes Americans will quickly learn: Donald Trump is the perfect distraction so Paul Ryan can pick our pockets.
“Unified republican government” – that’s the phrase Paul Ryan used the day after Donald Trump was elected… the way he smiled still sends shivers down my spine.
Let’s assume for a moment that the Tea Party caucus behaves and allows Paul Ryan to push his conservative agenda: privatize Medicare, privatize Social Security, and voucherize education. He’d have a difficult time doing so with a traditional president like Jeb Bush, because Jeb isn’t entertaining. A boring president means we might actually pay attention to what Congress is doing.
But with Donald J. Trump as President of the United States… well, then – Paul Ryan has been blessed with his own Colosseum to distract the mob.
The Trump White House is a reality television show. It’s Real Housewives, The Lying Game, Big Brother, Celebrity Plastic Surgeons, and the Home Shopping Network all wrapped into one. It’s shiny and loud: a perfect sideshow to distract Americans from boring things like policymaking: cutting Medicare, eliminating the EPA, and privatizing Big Bird.
Keep Your Eyes On The Man, Not The Monkey
Paul Ryan didn’t suddenly embrace President Donald Trump because he won the election. Paul Ryan embraced Donald Trump because the media circus the Trump Administration brings to Washington will keep Americans distracted from Ryan’s hyper-conservative policymaking.
While media exhausts itself fact-checking Trump on front pages and A-blocks, Paul Ryan’s Congress will be passing thousands of small laws, laser targeted at chipping away decades of progress.
While elected democrats send endless email petitions whining about Trump’s behavior, Paul Ryan and his conservative colleagues will quietly implement the policies he’s been working on his entire career.
Paul Ryan said aloud that he’s “been dreaming” about this chance his entire career. Dreaming not just because the GOP is in total control of Washington, but because Donald Trump is a dream smokescreen: a man so outrageous that media and the opposition will focus almost entirely on the president, thusly allowing Paul Ryan to move whatever policy he wants in the background and below the fold.
Paul Ryan could very well eliminate Medicare, and most Americans wouldn’t even know because they’re wholly preoccupied with Trump’s latest tweet, Spitting Spicer’s latest accusation, and pining after Melania’s latest gown.
In History, the dancing monkey – the reality TV man – is always the distraction. If you want to stand up, be heard, and protect civil rights (rather than merely pretending you are with petitions and fringe candidates) you have keep your eyes on the man holding the leash.
Published: by | Updated: 01-29-2017 07:48:35
