Donald Trump claimed on the campaign trail that he’d bring the U.S. into a new golden age. If only more voters remembered that all that glitters is not a precious metal.
The next four years are looking more like a reboot of the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, when greed, corruption and exploitation of workers brought breathtaking wealth and privilege to robber barons. Mark Twain, who co-authored a novel set in that era, likened it to the practice of covering objects with a thin layer of gold to make them look prettier and more valuable than they are.
Today, it’s Trump and his cronies trying to use pie-in-the-sky promises and empty gestures to keep enough Americans from thinking about — never mind worrying about – his real to-do list.
To be fair, he didn’t try to hide his intention to pardon the Jan. 6 terrorists whom he’d prodded four years ago into invading the Capitol to overturn Joe Biden’s legitimate victory, but he sometimes indicated he’d draw the line at the violent ones.
He told Time magazine in late November that he’d take a “case-by-case” approach and “look if there’s some that really were out of control.”
But combing through all those cases, including some involving militant groups and attacks on police, apparently proved too much work for him. So he instructed staffers to “(bleep) it; release ‘em all,” Axios reported.
His executive order to pardon about 1,500 defendants and prisoners plus commute the sentences of the 14 worst offenders sent a loud message: Assault and destroy all you want as long as you’re doing it in Trump’s name.
So much for his promise to “make America safe again.” (“Dark MAGA” megadonor Elon Musk didn’t help matters at the inauguration rally when he made a gesture that bears more than a passing resemblance to a Nazi salute.)
Polls showed most voters were never crazy about letting the insurrectionists off the hook. Trump’s promise that probably resonated most — reducing the cost of living – was one he walked one back several weeks after the election because it’s “very hard” for the government to accomplish. Did he suddenly remember that our economy is market-based?
He did make a show of giving it the old college try by ordering federal agencies to come up with some “emergency price relief,” but his plans and other actions so far show he’s unlikely to make America more affordable again.
A climate change denier, he’s pulling back on clean energy and pushing for drilling more fossil fuels, which play a major role in costly natural disasters like the California wildfires. Those tariffs he keeps talking about would certainly drive up prices for the numerous products we import. And on Day 1, he revoked Joe Biden’s executive order for Medicare and Medicaid to work on ways to reduce prescription drug costs for patients in those programs.
From a fake charity to contracts he never intended to honor, Trump has been a master at persuading people to pour their money into his con games.
It’s hard to understand why 49.8% of the voters fell for his pledge that all Americans, including groups he tried to marginalize, would share in the bounty of his “golden age.”
Don’t they know that Trump lives by four rules?
1) Forget promises of anything that doesn’t benefit him directly.
2) Wreak vengeance on whoever won’t kiss his ring.
3) Baselessly scapegoat and persecute vulnerable populations, currently immigrants and transgender people.
4) Above all, shower quids on those who can reciprocate with a quo.
Late-night TV host Seth Meyers and others have pointed out how Trump devotees found themselves shut out of the inauguration after they’d scored tickets and laid out money for travel expenses.
“MAGA supporters were left out in the cold,” Meyers said, “while Trump gave toasty indoor VIP seats to the wealthy tech oligarchs, which brings us to a segment called ‘Do I Really Have to Explain the Metaphor Here?'”
Hopefully not. Our country will be in terrible trouble if enough voters aren’t willing to see the moral rot and cruelty that no veneer of gilding can hide.
Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.
Coal Region Canary will always be an open forum for opinions from all sides. Want to be a columnist with Coal Region Canary? Contact us at newscanary@gmail.com.
Image made with Grok
Subscribe to Coal Region Canary
Get email updates from Coal Region Canary by becoming a subscriber today. Just enter your email address below to get started!Support Coal Region Canary
Like our reporting and want to support truly local news in Schuylkill County? Your small donations help. For as little as $5, your contribution will allow us to cover more news that directly affects you. Consider donating today by hitting the big yellow button below ...
Josephine Kwiatkowski
January 27, 2025 at 11:07 am
Great Article. The four rules are certainly apt.