Focus on Congress – Trump is Just a Distraction

By Mildred Robertson

Are Trump’s tweets perplexing, infuriating, deceitful, hurtful, destabilizing and just plain ignorant? Absolutely. But we must not be duped by his seemingly adolescent predisposition to tweet nonsensical fabrications in the wee hours of the morning. There is, I believe, a method to his madness.

His intent is to distract us from the truly diabolical activities of his administration and the Republican Party as they destroy healthcare, education and the environment, all while chipping away at our civil liberties and covering up collusion with a foreign power to impact the inner workings of our government.  

I understand the news media’s proclivity to focus on his outrageous tweets, but by so doing they are helping Trump lay cover for his much more dangerous pursuits. It is easier to talk about the ridiculousness of his allegations against President Obama than it is to explain how House Bill 610 will eliminate the Elementary Education Act of 1965, which provides for equal opportunity in education, or that it will strip programs designed to help struggling learners and abolish the Nutritional Act of 2012 that provides breakfast and lunch for needy children.

Focusing on the tweets is easier than discussing how immigrant parents of American citizens are being snatched away from their children on their way to drop them off at school, or how the new immigration order continues to be a dressed up version of his previous Muslim ban. The media’s attention to his tweets gives less time to discuss the ramifications of the GOP’s plan to replace Obamacare, which is predicted to cause millions to lose coverage and millions more to pay a higher price for healthcare, or how it will defund Planned Parenthood and effectively shut down private health insurance coverage for abortions.

There is not much talk about the Russian steel being used to build the Dakota Pipeline.  There is not much time to discuss the exorbitant cost of Trump’s weekend get-a-ways to Mar-a-Largo, or the cost to house his wife in New York, or to protect his sons as they globetrot; pandering favor to foreign businesses. No in-depth reporting seems to be occurring regarding the unprecedented access to government officials given to those who can pay to stay at Trump’s properties or why that is a problem. Only fleeting mention has been given to ethical challenges associated with this administration and its unorthodox method of governing.

Little time is left to discuss the inadequacies of the cabinet members who have been confirmed, or to discuss all the vital vacant positions in our government which are going unfilled. Little attention is being paid to the mad-man in North Korea, the chill between the U.S. and China, or the overall break-down in our foreign relations.

So his tweets may seem ignorant and juvenile…and they are. But they are also crafty. Trump is determining what will be discussed in the news cycle. He is setting the agenda for the media. He is deciding what will be the national discussion.

Will he get himself in trouble with some of his tweets? Probably. But the fact is, the GOP is quietly instituting legislation that will harm the American public with little or no scrutiny, while Trump draws our attention elsewhere.

Ultimately his lack of understanding of the process of governing, his arrogance and his instability will take its toll. But who knows what will be the state of the country by the time that comes to fruition?

Don’t fall for his distractions. Our very way of life is under assault, and we do not have time to entertain his nightly temper tantrums and juvenile distractions while our nation burns.