For the past 3 weeks the big story on the national media networks has been the government shutdown.
It’s affected a lot of people, but not the majority of Americans.
I haven’t felt it’s impact at all.
Despite that, we’re told by the rich man’s media companies that this shutdown does matter, and that we should care.
These rich men have paid top dollar to their pretty-faced anchors and talking heads to tell us that Trump is bad (or good) and that the shutdown is bad (or good).
So Trump took to the airwaves himself tonight to give us his take.
Here’s my take on what he said, and didn’t say.
#1 The Humanitarian Crisis
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t on this one.
Trump admitted we have a humanitarian crisis, and the fact that two kids have died in the government’s detention camps is a sign of that.
Many Democrats would agree.
Trump mentioned the 20,000 migrant kids that were brought into America illegally.
Who knows where they end up.
I don't see either side much caring about kids as much as their own chances to advance their political careers.
#2 The Drug Problem
Trump mentioned the $500 billion in illegal drugs crossing the border each year.
He didn’t talk about why there’s such a demand in America for those drugs.
This would point to problems in society, and people wanting to escape society’s problems via drugs.
This wasn’t talked about, so instead of tackling the reasons why people do drugs, we’ll continue to spend money to fight drugs coming in.
This is business as usual, and it’s a very profitable business for many different groups...none of whom benefit you or your family.
It’s affected a lot of people, but not the majority of Americans.
I haven’t felt it’s impact at all.
Despite that, we’re told by the rich man’s media companies that this shutdown does matter, and that we should care.
These rich men have paid top dollar to their pretty-faced anchors and talking heads to tell us that Trump is bad (or good) and that the shutdown is bad (or good).
So Trump took to the airwaves himself tonight to give us his take.
Here’s my take on what he said, and didn’t say.
#1 The Humanitarian Crisis
Damned if you do and damned if you don’t on this one.
Trump admitted we have a humanitarian crisis, and the fact that two kids have died in the government’s detention camps is a sign of that.
Many Democrats would agree.
Trump mentioned the 20,000 migrant kids that were brought into America illegally.
Who knows where they end up.
I don't see either side much caring about kids as much as their own chances to advance their political careers.
#2 The Drug Problem
Trump mentioned the $500 billion in illegal drugs crossing the border each year.
He didn’t talk about why there’s such a demand in America for those drugs.
This would point to problems in society, and people wanting to escape society’s problems via drugs.
This wasn’t talked about, so instead of tackling the reasons why people do drugs, we’ll continue to spend money to fight drugs coming in.
This is business as usual, and it’s a very profitable business for many different groups...none of whom benefit you or your family.
#3 Economic Inequality
He didn’t spend much time discussing the dire financial situation many of the furloughed workers are in, or more importantly, how they got there.
It’s not about missing a paycheck, or even a couple of them.
It’s the fact that these workers - with typically higher hourly wages than private sector workers - can’t come up with the money to get them through a month.
They have no savings, or if they do, it’s inadequate to the task.
They have mortgages, car payments, kids’ tuition, bills, and debt.
Most Americans are just like these federal workers - one paycheck away from economic ruin.
Very little was spoken about that dilemma, how we got there, or how we can get out of it.
For to do so might draw too much attention to the massive amounts of income inequality in this country.
The rich men and the media they own do not want the masses thinking about that.
#4 What We Waste Money on Now
$5.7 Billion Ain’t That Much
That’s the number Trump wants for his border wall,
Back in 2007, the Iraq War was costing us $8.4 billion a month.
I don’t know what we spend today, but if you add up all the costs for Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria for December 2018, I bet it’d be several billion dollars.
It’s all about priorities.
We’d rather spend money overseas fighting groups that make videos on social media threatening us than tackling a problem on our own border that’s been a problem for years.
#5 Now What?
I didn’t see a real rallying cry that’ll end this government shutdown.
I doubt Democrats will be swayed by the 9 minutes or so of comments that Trump made.
I don’t think Trump will move much from his stance.
So things will probably continue as they are.
Instead of bashing the president all the time, I’d love it if the media networks in this country spent some time discussing the humanitarian crisis in this country and other countries, the huge demand for drugs in this country and why it exists, as well as the massive income inequality in this country and what we spend people’s taxes on.
But I know this won’t happen.
The rich men that own the media and pay the pretty-faced anchors to say what they want them to say simply won’t allow it.
Like I said, I don’t see much changing.
It’s a messed up country, and despite everyone knowing that, we never do anything to change it.
