The eye surgery was most interesting. I was awake during the whole 1 ½ hours except for a brief period at the beginning when they knocked me out long enough to put shots into the area around my eye to deaden it. It was quite bizarre to see instruments moving around inside my eye as the doc did his thing. The doctor said all went well. I had to lie on my left side for three straight days when I got home which was definitely the hardest part. The vision in my right eye is still not useful but theoretically it will slowly improve over the next few weeks as the gas bubble in my eye dissipates and the swelling goes down. It won’t be fully functional apparently until after I have cataract surgery in about 6 months. So, given all of that, I just figured I’d better get used to operating on one eye for a while so here I am again.
I haven’t been able to read too much the last few days but I have seen what has been going via and it seems like nothing much has changed. Trump continues to refuse to concede in spite of virtually no evidence of widespread voter fraud. His lawsuits have been thrown out of court right and left and his continued childish behavior is seriously endangering our national security. If anyone had any doubts about what Trump’s priorities are, this should dispel any notion to any rational person. If Trump really cared about putting ‘American first’ he would shut up, stop promoting these baseless charges of voter fraud and a rigged election and graciously concede and begin to provide transition help to Biden. The fact is, as has been so obvious over the last four years, he doesn’t give a crap about America – it’s all about Trump first.
If any are under the delusion that this election is in any way like the Bush-Gore election of 2000, let’s just quickly review that. First of all, Gore won the popular vote. The Supreme Court stepped in to stop the vote counting in one state, Florida, and the Bush ‘victory’ came down to about 500 votes in that one state. In this case, Biden has won the popular vote by more than 5,000,000 votes and has a substantial advantage in the electoral college. This election is absolutely nothing like the 2000 election and there is zero reason for the Supreme Court to get involved. Gore had a much, much stronger case to contest the election and he finally conceded because he saw it was in the best interest of the country. It will, obviously, be a cold day in hell when Trump does anything remotely similar.
As Trump sulks in his quarters at the White House, it appears that he has virtually abdicated his job. The pandemic rages out of control and, again, if Trump gave one damn about this country rather than his fragile ego, he would be working with the Biden administration to ensure that the transition is seamless in an effort to save American lives and to try to get this pandemic under some semblance of control. The simple fact is, Trump doesn’t give a damn about American lives and views people as just pawns to be manipulated to his supposed advantage. If there is a large amount of ‘collateral damage’, that’s just the way it is.
I think I ended the last post I wrote stating that the damage caused by Trump to this country is likely irreparable. He has actively sought to undermine the fundamental foundations of our democracy. He has grossly mishandled the nation’s response to this pandemic. He has sown division, hatred and partisanship rather than trying in any way shape or form to unite this country. He has ceded America’s position on the world stage and has done huge damage to long time alliances.
Along those lines, it was announced that the largest trade deal in history was signed by 15 nations in the Pacific. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is led by China and, although it will no doubt have its bumps, it is an economic and political win for China. If you recall, Trump pulled the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal which would have provided a huge political economic and political win for the US in the Asia region and now that vacuum has been filled by China. It was 100 percent predictable and yet, Trump, ‘Mr. Deal Maker’, let his ego and his lack of strategic vision get in the way.
While Trump was pulling out of the TPP and engaging in a trade war with China, the Chinese were busy outmaneuvering the US in the Pacific for political and economic gain. The trade war did little for the US except cost American consumers money. In the future, when American farmers and businessman complain that places like Australia have better access to Chinese markets for commodities like beef, perhaps they should look towards Donald J. Trump for his short-sighted, ego-driven policies.
I have no doubt that President Trump will go down as one of the worst presidents in American history. His legacy will not be one of accomplishments. His legacy will be one of destruction, division and damage to America’s standing around the world. I think the scars left by Trump’s presidency are so deep, that a full recovery is almost impossible. And the longer and louder Trump and his supporters refuse to concede and allow the country to move ahead, the higher the probability that this country will never heal and once again become the beacon of democracy around the world.