Heading into the 2016 election, at least among the independent media community, there was a fervor behind Donald Trump and his nationalistic promises for America. Notions of making America great again and "locking her up" were hanging in the air, and the suspense was palpable. Then, of course, the climactic moment of Trump winning the election by a comfortable margin in the electoral college came along and swept the nation. This was an election unlike any other throughout the political history of the United States, and now upon reflection it could be argued that this was another case of choosing between the "lesser of two evils."
One on side we had the corrupt, largely unlikable, war criminal career politician in Hillary Clinton, and on the other was the narcissistic, slick business man who supposedly just wanted to help America get back on her feet. The thing about Trump though, was that his lack of any meaningful criminal history or political corruption made him the obvious preference against a woman who has a past so full of criminality that it would take several books to unpack it all. Trump also promised cooperation and peace with Russia, compared to Clinton's insistence that the United States would need to impose a no-fly zone in Syria, which would certainly lead to open war with the east.
So, when it came time to choose between these candidates, it is not really surprising that Americans fell back on their more pragmatic instincts and chose Trump for the highest executive office in the federal government. What has happened in this first almost half year that we have lived under the reign of Trump? What have the actual fruits and actions of his leadership proven to be? Frankly, it is my position that many of us in the "truth" community who have a strict adherence to facts would be remiss if we did not call Trump out for all of his falterings, capitulation, platitudes, and outright failures to date. This is the disillusionment of Trump.
• Disclaimer: I Had High Hopes For Trump!
Despite the critical tone of this article, and the general expression of Trump-disapproval herein, I was actually a Trump supporter leading up to the election and inauguration. It is only the fact that he has betrayed so many promises and core tenets of his candidacy, that is motivating this critique of our 45th U.S. President.
• Obamacare Repeal? Nope, Just A Good Old Bait And Switch
During Trump's campaigning, one of his favorite dead horses to beat upon was his daring plan to do a full repeal of Obamacare! This was one of his primary rallying cries, and one that was met with much support by his main supporter base. With the vast majority of Obamacare co-op's already facing abject failure, Trump's rallying cry to eviscerate Obamacare made total sense and was almost completely embraced on the center and right side of the aisle.
Now that we are nearly six months into this Trump presidency, we have to ask ourselves the tough questions. Did he actually succeed in any real capacity in repealing Obamacare? Well, no, unfortunately he did not. In fact, the paltry "replacement" for Obamacare fielded by Trump is little more than a sad bait and switch, as many of the provisions from Obamacare will still remain in effect with what we might begrudingly refer to as "Trumpcare." The American Health Care Act, as it has come to be called, is a disillusioning example of how Trump is clearly not committed, or perhaps not capable of delivering on his brand name bold promises.
• Unauthorized Missile Attack On Syrian Airbase
For our next debacle along the tour of Trump disillusionment, we focus our attention upon the Trump Administration's unauthorized missile attack upon a Syrian airbase. This was done under the guise of combatting against the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syria's President Assad. It was done however, without any actual congressional authorization or otherwise, raising the question if Trump has intentions to develop into a dictatorial type of ruler in the United States.
No matter what any individual might feel about the actual missile strike, if we have any commitment to the constitution and to the rule of law we cannot accept any instance where our president uses significant military force largely on his/her own accord and without approval. After Trump's lofty campaign rhetoric assuring us that he would foster peace and diplomacy with many countries, to see him lash out with military force in such an impulsive and belligerent way is quite absurd. This whole affair becomes especially disillusioning though, when you realize that Trump actually tweeted about the folly and ill-advised nature of going into Syria only a few years ago, thus revealing hubris, hypocrisy, and bluster on his part.
• Blatantly Failed Promises On Hillary Clinton Prosecution And "Swamp Draining"
When we reflect on Trump's many storied rallying cries from the campaign, it is imperative to consider the chants of "lock her up!" being heard all over the country in reference to known criminal politician, Hillary Clinton. Highlighting and exposing the criminality of the Clintons was certainly a key aspect of Trump's campaign for president, and he did so gratuitously. From her email scandal, to the Benghazi scandal, to a host of other corruption and failures, it certainly would not be hard to prosecute Hillary Clinton in a court of law today.
Especially considering that then FBI head James Comey actually admitted she was guilty of certain infractions when he was giving testimony about her email scandal. It is basically the definition of disillusioning to now see Trump capitulating on this central issue, now suggesting that the Clintons are actually "good people!" This is an astounding revision of Trump's earlier position, and unfortunately it does reveal that Trump has no sense of being bound by the facts, the truth, or his earlier statements. If Trump's capitulation to the Clintons is to continue in this way, then we know all the promises of locking her up were empty campaign rhetoric and we are actually in deep trouble as a nation if the rule of law will not be applied.
• Goldman Sachs Gang Invades Trump's Advisory Staff
Finally, we must consider the fact that in spite of promising Americans that he would Drain The Swamp, it has become painfully clear that Trump is actually doing the opposite of that, especially with his advisory staff. We can prove this in a fairly simple way, by highlighting Trump's advisory positions being stuffed with commercial banking and finance professionals, like Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn.
This hardly amounts to draining the swamp, and is actually setting the United States up to be looted once again by the gang of central bankers who have held this nation hostage for over a century. This is perhaps the cornerstone of Trump disillusionment, the idea that he would stuff his advisory roles full of investment bankers and more money-men. It does not speak of his campaign themes of moral values, nationalism, and sovereignty in any respect, but rather speaks of Trump and his buddies getting a little bit more wealth piled up in their proverbial bank vaults.