When Life Imitates Art: Trump's Fascination with the World of Television
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
The President of the United States is extremely fascinated and enveloped in the world of television. The Trump Presidency seems to be controlled by television. If you believe the stories, the president spends a whole lot of time glued to his television set, listening to all the talking heads and acting, or reacting, to what he sees and hears.
This past Friday, the president ordered a drone strike against Iran's top military leader. The strike happened at Baghdad airport, killing Qasem Soleimani.
As a result of the drone strike, protests have popped up all over the Middle East. Chants of "Death to America" echo throughout Iran and Iraq as protestors gather to burn American flags.
Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, along with his military advisers have said they will very soon retaliate against American military targets. Many people believe all of this posturing and threatening is a prelude to war.
Social media has exploded with memes and posts addressing the impending "World War III." While some of these memes are humorous, they address a legitimate fear many are feeling as the United States and Iran creep closer towards armed conflict. Many have also began to protest the president's decision to order the drone strike in the first place, saying he is the one who is fanning the flames and beating the war drum.
All that said, I don't see how anybody can be surprised this is the president's answer to foreign policy and international diplomacy. He is following the advice of one of his presidential predecessors — President Josiah Edward Bartlet of New Hampshire.
Don't go running to Google to see when Bartlet was President of the United States. He was president from 1998 to 2006. He was the president from NBC's hit drama The West Wing. Martin Sheen played President Bartlet.
On the show, President Bartlet is presented with evidence that there was a terror plot to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge. The plot was hatched and financed by the Qumari Defense Minister, Abdul Shareef (the Sultanate of Qumar is a fictitious country in the Middle East). After wrestling with the moral dilemma of not being able to arrest Shareef because diplomatic immunity protects him, the president orders a special operations unit to assassinate him. On his way back to Qumar, Shareef's plane experiences a technical "malfunction," causing it to land on a remote airstrip in Bermuda. When Shareef steps off the plane, the special ops team kills him and his security detail.
Eventually, a terrorist organization retaliates by kidnapping the president's youngest daughter, sending the country into a Constitutional crisis.
The Shareef incident is also responsible for one of Trump's other famous statements. The president has said he could shoot someone in the middle of downtown Manhattan and not lose any support. On the show, when confronted by the Qumari ambassador, President Bartlet's Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry says in order for the president to sweep all 50 states in the upcoming election, all Predident Bartlet would have to do is "blow the Sultan's brains out in the middle of Times Square then walk across the street to Nathan's and have a hot dog."
Unfortunately, the president does not understand what almost every other person over the age of 10 knows — television isn't real. His actions have consequences — global consequences. As a result of the drone strike killing Soleimani, the United States has told all Americans to leave Iraq, the United States has mobilized the 82nd Airborne and is going to send them to Kuwait, the German government has raised its threat level, the United Kingdom has sent the Royal Navy to accompany British ships into the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States is on high alert anticipating a massive cyber-attack from Iranian hackers.
The president shouldn't let his decisions be influenced by the pundits and talking heads on television. It is entirely possible that Soleimani was a threat to the safety and security of the United States — he may have even presented a clear and present danger to the United States. However, ordering his assassination raises a very important question — was his assassination the right move? Was the drone strike the best decision moving forward? What indication, what evidence do we have that Soleimani was the threat the president says he was? Was the threat imminent or impending? Why was the drone strike ordered now? Was it done to distract from the president's domestic problems and his impeachment?
The Quds Force, the group Soleimani commanded, had been associated with acts of terrorism in the past. The United States government designated the Quds Force a terrorist organization in 2007. Why make them a priority now?
On The West Wing, when President Bartlet orders the assassination of Shareef, he sends his Chief of Staff to inform the Gang of Eight — a set of eight Congressional leaders who are supposed to be briefed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch. Under normal circumstances, the executive branch is required by law to, "ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity as required by the title."
Trump did not inform the Gang of Eight, nor did he consult with any other allies about the drone strike. Trump has proven time, and time again he is not interested in following the law or respecting the separation of powers doctrine; he does whatever he wants to do and wields his power however he likes, consequences be damned.
We also have to keep in mind Gerald Ford issued an executive order making political assassinations illegal.
I can only hope cooler heads will prevail. Trump criticized President Obama and said because of his inability to negotiate with Iran, Obama would lead the United States to war against Iran. I certainly don't think the United States needs to dig deeper into the sands of the Middle Eastern deserts. War is an expensive enterprise. We end up paying for the war in more ways than one, none more important than with the lives of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
I do not want the United States to go to war. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best:
Maybe we would all be better off if the White House decided to stop paying their cable bill.
The President of the United States is extremely fascinated and enveloped in the world of television. The Trump Presidency seems to be controlled by television. If you believe the stories, the president spends a whole lot of time glued to his television set, listening to all the talking heads and acting, or reacting, to what he sees and hears.
This past Friday, the president ordered a drone strike against Iran's top military leader. The strike happened at Baghdad airport, killing Qasem Soleimani.
As a result of the drone strike, protests have popped up all over the Middle East. Chants of "Death to America" echo throughout Iran and Iraq as protestors gather to burn American flags.
Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, along with his military advisers have said they will very soon retaliate against American military targets. Many people believe all of this posturing and threatening is a prelude to war.
Social media has exploded with memes and posts addressing the impending "World War III." While some of these memes are humorous, they address a legitimate fear many are feeling as the United States and Iran creep closer towards armed conflict. Many have also began to protest the president's decision to order the drone strike in the first place, saying he is the one who is fanning the flames and beating the war drum.
All that said, I don't see how anybody can be surprised this is the president's answer to foreign policy and international diplomacy. He is following the advice of one of his presidential predecessors — President Josiah Edward Bartlet of New Hampshire.
Don't go running to Google to see when Bartlet was President of the United States. He was president from 1998 to 2006. He was the president from NBC's hit drama The West Wing. Martin Sheen played President Bartlet.
On the show, President Bartlet is presented with evidence that there was a terror plot to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge. The plot was hatched and financed by the Qumari Defense Minister, Abdul Shareef (the Sultanate of Qumar is a fictitious country in the Middle East). After wrestling with the moral dilemma of not being able to arrest Shareef because diplomatic immunity protects him, the president orders a special operations unit to assassinate him. On his way back to Qumar, Shareef's plane experiences a technical "malfunction," causing it to land on a remote airstrip in Bermuda. When Shareef steps off the plane, the special ops team kills him and his security detail.
Eventually, a terrorist organization retaliates by kidnapping the president's youngest daughter, sending the country into a Constitutional crisis.
The Shareef incident is also responsible for one of Trump's other famous statements. The president has said he could shoot someone in the middle of downtown Manhattan and not lose any support. On the show, when confronted by the Qumari ambassador, President Bartlet's Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry says in order for the president to sweep all 50 states in the upcoming election, all Predident Bartlet would have to do is "blow the Sultan's brains out in the middle of Times Square then walk across the street to Nathan's and have a hot dog."
Unfortunately, the president does not understand what almost every other person over the age of 10 knows — television isn't real. His actions have consequences — global consequences. As a result of the drone strike killing Soleimani, the United States has told all Americans to leave Iraq, the United States has mobilized the 82nd Airborne and is going to send them to Kuwait, the German government has raised its threat level, the United Kingdom has sent the Royal Navy to accompany British ships into the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States is on high alert anticipating a massive cyber-attack from Iranian hackers.
The president shouldn't let his decisions be influenced by the pundits and talking heads on television. It is entirely possible that Soleimani was a threat to the safety and security of the United States — he may have even presented a clear and present danger to the United States. However, ordering his assassination raises a very important question — was his assassination the right move? Was the drone strike the best decision moving forward? What indication, what evidence do we have that Soleimani was the threat the president says he was? Was the threat imminent or impending? Why was the drone strike ordered now? Was it done to distract from the president's domestic problems and his impeachment?
The Quds Force, the group Soleimani commanded, had been associated with acts of terrorism in the past. The United States government designated the Quds Force a terrorist organization in 2007. Why make them a priority now?
On The West Wing, when President Bartlet orders the assassination of Shareef, he sends his Chief of Staff to inform the Gang of Eight — a set of eight Congressional leaders who are supposed to be briefed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch. Under normal circumstances, the executive branch is required by law to, "ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity as required by the title."
Trump did not inform the Gang of Eight, nor did he consult with any other allies about the drone strike. Trump has proven time, and time again he is not interested in following the law or respecting the separation of powers doctrine; he does whatever he wants to do and wields his power however he likes, consequences be damned.
We also have to keep in mind Gerald Ford issued an executive order making political assassinations illegal.
I can only hope cooler heads will prevail. Trump criticized President Obama and said because of his inability to negotiate with Iran, Obama would lead the United States to war against Iran. I certainly don't think the United States needs to dig deeper into the sands of the Middle Eastern deserts. War is an expensive enterprise. We end up paying for the war in more ways than one, none more important than with the lives of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
I do not want the United States to go to war. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best:
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Maybe we would all be better off if the White House decided to stop paying their cable bill.
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