By Melissa Martin, Ph.D.
President Trump announced an end to the government shutdown on January 25. Is it a real deal to reopen the federal government or another tactic of the power-grabbing politician? Is Trump backing down or bamboozling Congress again? Is this a permanent or temporary solution? The elephant and donkey games continue.
Trump is using his demand for a $5.7 billion border wall to justify his irrational reactions. Our forefathers and former presidents would be appalled at the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. I hope the ghost of Benjamin Franklin visits him next Christmas. Would Trump follow in the footsteps of Ebenezer Scrooge and change his wicked ways?
What Do Americans Think?
“A strong majority of Americans blame President Donald Trump for the record-long government shutdown and reject his primary rationale for a border wall, according to a new poll that shows the turmoil in Washington is dragging his approval rating to its lowest level in more than a year,” according to a recent article in The Philadelphia Tribune.
And just who are the people that Trump is holding hostage? You, me, us. We are a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
According to a 2019 article in USA Today, “The president has threatened for weeks to declare a national emergency to redirect money to free up the $5.7 billion he wants for constructing a border wall. The move would curtail Congress, which under the Constitution directs appropriating funding to federal agencies.”
Per a 2019 report from the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of those surveyed disapprove of Trump’s job performance. www.pewresearch.org/.
Trump the Toddler
President Trump reacts just like a toddler when he doesn’t get his way. “I want what I want when I want it and how I want it and where I want it!” He’s throwing an adult temper tantrum in the Oval Office. And Americans are paying the price. Will someone put Trump in a timeout chair? Or make him take a nap. He’s a pouting president in need of emotional regulation.
Per a 2018 report from the Pew Research Center, 24 percent of Americans say Trump is even-tempered, while 70 percent say that description does not apply to him. www.pewresearch.org/.
What’s wrong with the White House picture? “There’s something of an industry devoted to the psyche of President Trump. He’s an executive-in-chief like no other. He doesn’t read, appears to be ignorant of history (American, European, Middle-Eastern, Asian, whatever) and cannot control his Twitter finger,” penned Professor Madelon Sprengnether in a 2017 article for Psychology Today.
Immigration Irony
The irony of Donald Trump’s stance on immigration. Melanija Knavs (Melania Trump) was born in Novo Mesto, and grew up in Sevnica, in the Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. The First Lady of the United States was not born in America. She obtained U.S. citizenship in 2006.
The irony of Donald Trump’s stance on “chain immigration.” Reported in USA Today, First lady Melania Trump’s immigrant parents were sworn in as U.S. citizens in 2018. “The Knavses were eligible for green cards and to apply for citizenship because their daughter is a citizen, having taken the oath herself in 2006, shortly after she married Donald Trump in 2005.”
More irony. Donald Trump’s first wife and mother to his three oldest children, Ivana, is an immigrant from Czechoslovakia.
Both Republicans and Democrats need to read the book, Tantrums!: Managing Meltdowns in Public and Private (1-2-3 Magic Parenting). And apply to Trump.
How is it that an American president can hold the government captive when he doesn’t get his way and throw adult temper tantrums? I’m baffled. Are you?
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in Ohio. www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com.
