America in Trump Land

English: The Mad Hatter, illustration by John Tenniel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States almost a week ago.  It came on a cloudy, rainy day in Washington in front of a sea of mostly white faces.  His Inauguration speech was also gloomy, dissing both Republicans and Democrats for their corruption, the "carnage" that's been inflicted on America over the past few years, and other tidbits from his campaign speeches.  All but his adoring fans cringed at the results by the time the new President danced the night away with his wife Melania.

As one circus folds its tent (Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey), a new one is just getting started in the nation's capitol with President Trump as its ringmaster.  He will attempt to tame Congress and his critics by turning the country into a military and economic colossus not seen since the Roman Empire.  Or so he says.

And that's just the beginning of our story.

• Disputes with the media over the size of the crowd and the TV ratings at the Inaugural led to a rough start for press secretary Scott Spicer, leading one to believe he's in over his head.
• Kellyanne Conway, a Trump aide who also happens to be the High Priestess of Misinformation, is on nearly every TV show trying her best to explain herself and the administration.  And struggling.
• Most of the President's Billionaire Cabinet have yet to be sworn in, pending congressional approval.  
• The President is not releasing his tax returns, even when the audits are finished.  Is it going to take somebody like WikiLeaks to do that for him?
• Signing executive orders reversing parts of former president Barack Obama's legacy, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (which nobody liked anyway). parts of the Affordable Care Act (while promising us a new and improved one), and resuming work on the controversial oil pipelines going through North Dakota.  And, of course, there's that wall Trump keeps talking about (and keeps insisting Mexico will pay for) along with new restrictions for immigrants.
• The President's use (and abuse) of a certain social media outlet has earned him the nickname of "The Mad Tweeter".  As such, he's been using the platform to mock and vilify anyone who disagrees with him.  For example:  After an anti-Trump women's march drew millions of protesters around the world, he asked why those people didn't vote.  Also, being the Tweeter-In -Chief, Trump has shown a willingness to shut down government employees' use of social and other media if they don't toe his line.  See:  the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks Service because they disagree with him on climate change.
• Trump still has problems with letting things go.  Now he's complaining that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton because of voter fraud, and is launching an investigation.  There's no evidence of fraud, but that doesn't seem to matter to Trump.  Dude, you won the election.  Now chill.
• There are lingering concerns over how much the Russians had to do with getting Trump elected President.  But it doesn't seem to bother him, so long as relations between the two countries are about to be normalized.  Or so he says.

Trump is going to be President for the next four to eight years, to the disappointment of those of us who did not vote for him.  He's not going to be impeached no matter how far the investigations into alleged Russian election meddling go, because the Republican-led Congress is not going to convict one of its own.  Neither will he be forced to resign because of some obscure Constitutional procedure detailing the removal of a President.  You have one chance, and it's in 2020.  Unless Trump declares himself emperor, or something.

Welcome to a world where, not unlike "Alice In Wonderland" (apologies to Lewis Carroll), reality isn't what it should be.  Real facts don't matter.  Instead, we have "alternative facts", where the truth is spun to such a degree that no one recognizes them any more.  Wrong is right.  Science is disputed.  Figures do lie.  We're going to be staring down the looking glass for the next few years.  It's only going to get curiouser and curiouser in Trump Land.