Blast #334

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                                       Happy Trumpsgiving
                                                            A Quick Look
 
         Happy Thanksgiving.  “President” Trump has been in office 307 days and this is his first Thanksgiving as Chief Executive so let’s take a look at what Thanksgiving Week has been like under the Tweeter-in-Chief.

1. The Turkey Pardon

       Never one to miss a chance to point out that he’s really our first white president (see Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, “The First White President”)  Trump is doing his best to undo the legacy of America’s only African-American President.  While pardoning his second and third turkeys of the year (Sheriff Joe Arpaio being the first, of course), Trump said:

“As many of you know, I have been very active in overturning a number of executive actions by my predecessor. However, I have been informed by the White House Counsel’s Office that Tater and Tot’s pardons cannot, under any circumstances, be revoked.”
 
        There is still legitimate concern, of course, that Trump will use his pardon power to exonerate all those who might be convicted in Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.  We’ll see. (And remember, you can’t “Self-Pardon)
 

2. Thanksgiving Message to the Troops             

          Trump couldn’t stay on script during his message to the troops.   The “President” said: "You’re very, very special people.  You’re fighting for something real, you’re fighting for something good.”  Doesn’t that imply that, prior to his presidency they had, somehow, not been fighting for something “real” or “good?”  He also “told the troops he’s working on ‘big, fat, beautiful tax cuts,’” failing to mention that most of those cuts would never apply to them.

3.  Haitians are probably not having a great Thanksgiving

          When campaigning for the presidency in Miami’s “Little Haiti” on September 16, 2016, Trump promised the Haitian audience “I will be your champion.” They may have been a little more than disappointed when Thanksgiving week started out with this:  (Miami Herald, November 20, 2017)

The special deportation protection known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, will be revoked for as many as 59,000 Haitians living and working in Miami and across the U.S., Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke announced Monday The protection will permanently terminate July 22, 2019, allowing Haitians living in the U.S. under TPS an 18-month window to return to their struggling homeland.
 
            So, Happy Thanksgiving, Haitians, from your “champion.”
 

4.  Twitter Attacks         

          While we know Trump loves to attack Black athletes and/or their family members (Colin Kaepernick, Marshawn Lynch, LaVar Ball,  Jemele Hill, Steph Curry) as well as Black congresspeople (Frederica Wilson & John Lewis) or Muslim Gold Star parents (the Khans), it’s interesting that he has no reaction to  attacks against him by the White NBA coaches Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr.  Popovich said:

"I'm still sick to my stomach, and not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenor and tone and all the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic.  And I live in that country where half the people ignored all that to elect someone. That's the scariest part of the whole thing to me. All the things he said during [the campaign], if our children would have said it, we would have grounded them for six months. Without a doubt."  (ESPN September 25, 2017)
 
                  Kerr, the coach of the championship Golden State Warriors , in an interview for the September 24, 2017, Sports Illustrated  talked about why the team balked at visiting the White House (with Trump then Tweeting a “withdrawal” of their invitation):

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet President Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, and Obama. I didn’t agree with all of them, but it was easy to set politics aside because each possessed an inherent respect for the office, as well as the humility that comes with being a public servant in an incredible position of power, representing 300 million people. And that’s the problem now. In his tweet to Steph, Trump talked about honoring the White House but, really, isn’t it you who must honor the White House, Mr. President? And the way to do that is through compassion and dignity and being above the fray. Not causing the fray.
 
Kerr also said:
 
Remember, the president works for us, not vice versa. We elected him. He doesn’t just work for his constituents and his base. He works for every citizen. Once you take that office, you have to do what’s best for the entire country. Sure, you’re going to have policies that align with your party, but that’s not the point. Respectfully, Mr. Trump, the point is this: You’re the president. You represent all of us. Don’t divide us.
Bring us together. 
 
           Trump had no response and no attack to either White coach, but continues to go after the Black athletes, knowing it’s red meat for his base.

5.  Golf

          The “President” is spending the Thanksgiving Holiday at Mar-a-Lago and NBC and Politifact are keeping track of how many days he spends at a “Trump property” and how many times he plays golf, respectively.  Remember Trump’s incessant criticism of Obama’s “constant” golfing?   “The problem with the president, he’s played more than people on the PGA Tour.” (Sept. 15, 2017) He continued to use that accusation throughout the election campaign, to the cheers of his base.  Just as a factual check: “as of November 13 in the first year of each man's presidency, the score is Trump 35, Obama 24.” (Politifact).  The President has spent 100 days at Trump properties, out of 307 days in office, with 77 of those at Trump Golf properties.  According to Politifact:

It’s not as easy to track Trump’s game as you might think. His staff has on several occasions declined to confirm he played golf while spending the day at his golf club. So in some cases, we have to rely on reporters’ observations and those of private citizens who spotted Trump on the course and posted pictures on social media.
 
         Whatever the case, we’ll see if he plays any golf over this Thanksgiving weekend, keeping his pace ahead of PGA Tour Obama.

             Happy Thanksgiving.