Trump is so thirsty that he had to say military troops instead of the National Guard.
You would think all the "they're taking our guns" folks would perhaps be alarmed that federal troops were being dispatched South, but I guess posse comitatus isn't important to Trump supporters. Or maybe they just missed that day in class?
This whole "caravan" nonsense shows what Trump looks like unchained with unqualified advisers. They might just be outright unqualified, or they are in the wrong role (see new VA head, basically a physician who is now in charge of the second-largest bureaucracy after the Pentagon. Good luck dude,)
I think this "immigrant caravan" "issue" is quite a perfect illustration of trump's fundamental message, if you look at it in socioeconomic terms.
He has spent his entire "*political career" milking this one central theme; the anxiety of declining privilege.
Trump plays upon the idea that certain kinds of privilege (that which has been enjoyed by whites, by males, and by american citizens since the "glory days" of slavery) is somehow god-given, and importantly
under threat.
It may indeed be true that some people have seen a minuscule slip in their social standing as a result of the gradual - and hard fought - increase in social equality (racial, sexual, etc).
Trump apologist act like this is some great injustice, when in fact it's the absolute
opposite of injustice.
he encourages and feeds into the myth that a minor shift in privilege is
discrimination against the (slightly less) privileged - when in fact, again, the small decrease in privilege they've encountered is the
exact opposite of discrimination.
In all the confusion, they elect a guy with no experience, knowledge or integrity to the presidency, because he best panders to their fear, their insularity, and their resentment.
Trump thrives off victim mentality which has been constructed and encouraged - with the help of a few other billionaires (murdoch, koch brothers etc) - and whipped up into a sense of fear, envy and resentment and then directed at entirely the wrong people.
the people who support trump
have been cheated - but not by immigrants, black folk, trans folk, women folk, liberals, intellectuals, feminists, environmentalists, refugees, mexicans, anti-fascists or journalists.
They've been cheated by trump.
rather than direct their frustration at those who benefit from the (very real) economic hardships they're experiencing, the trump crowd have committed themselves to the myth they've been sold so wholeheartedly that they feel the need to tell everyone who will listen (and everyone else as well) about it.
I refer, of course, to trump's amazing new clothes.
the best clothes! all the brightest clothes! the brightest clothes ever, believe me!
A lot of those who voted for trump have been fucked over by an economic system that is rigged against them from birth by the very class of people trump governs for; the wealthy elite.
America's wealthy minority - the leaders of industry - have sold working people out by outsourcing their jobs and incrementally boosting their own obscenely inflated salaries, but the hostility trump has helped nurture is conveniently aimed away from corrupt billionaires and
the continual rise of executive salaries - contrasted with the stagnant wages of millions of working-poor americans - illustrates who is benefiting from the struggles of working people.
there are plenty of reasons for the working classes of the USA to be resentful, but the trump presidency is an brilliantly orchestrated (if exceptionally short-fingered) sleight-of-hand.
rather than directing their considerable and justifiable frustration at the people profiting from their hardship, the people who voted for trump effectively handed the reins to the very people who benefit from the hardships that created such disillusionment to begin with.
It's ironic, but conning people into voting against their best interests very often is.
and while trump's apologists praise the guy who is deconstructing the nation's institutions and pissing away their hard earned tax dollars on his golfing vacations, he keeps feeding them easy targets, to indulge their resentment, their fear and their prejudice.
This whole "army on the border" nonsense is such an unbelievably cheap stunt, but he knows his fans will lap it up.
the hostility he fosters - hyping racial tensions, religious paranoia, suspicion of immigrants and anyone that can be labelled transgressive benefits him but hurts the people he is supposed to work for and represent.
trump feeds their fear and then feeds off it.
by stoking the tribalism, hostility and paranoia that already exists, he enables and encourages people worst instincts for his own benefit.
by giving voice to the nastiness - the bigotry and hate - which people have learned to keep hidden away, he's effectively re-normalised a whole bunch of anti-social behaviours which were best left in the past.
i guess that's what "making america great again" is all about?
all politicians know the power of appealing to base prejudice, but few are heartless or reckless enough to tear communities apart for their own benefit.
this is the exceptional thing about trump - he doesn't give a fuck who gets burned.
immigrants have been a huge obsession of trump's because they're the easiest target for a man like him.
it's not poor people putting the pinch on american workers - it's not immigrants or refugees or muslims or trans kids. It's the greedy, corrupt rich bastards like him.
he doesn't trade on leadership, unity or reasoned debate - he's a trash talker. that's his image, that's his skill.
the only threat to his trash-talk and his con-artistry is litigation.
when trump targets the 'very bad people' of the press, he's magnifying the disconnect between his bullshit and those that expose it. It's just another battleground and social division that he can agitate for his own benefit.
when he targets refugees, mexican "rapists" and "murderers", immigrants from "shithole countries", the women who have accused him of sexual abuse - and everybody else he publicly slanders (it's a long list), he knows full well that the resources at their disposal cannot match his, and that he can silence potential litigants with counter-litigation.
it's how donald trump operates. he's a greedy, nasty, bully who compensates for his obvious shortcomings with put-downs, lies and personal attacks.
All of this is why a military response to a bunch of dirt-poor would-be immigrants is
classic trump.
it's an unnecessary and absurd political spectacle which is tailor-made for TV and panders to nationalistic insecurities, racist resentments and trump's trademark vindictive xenophobia.
It's just another example of the ever-perpetuated myth that economic hardships are to be blamed on the poor people fighting over crumbs - rather than corporate elite who actively protect the economic status quo that leaves so many people with so very little.
*(i put that in quotes because it seems far too generous, despite technically being true)
