Keeping It 100 Hasn’t Happened in 100 Days

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” – Albert Einstein

Truth. Honesty. Integrity. Transparency. Righteousness. Justice. Meritocracy. All words and concepts that historically have been held as barometers of what constitutes good leadership. Well, they were. 2016 put paid to that and introduced us to a world where rank hypocrisy and blatant lies became the preferred modus operandi of the political elites in the Western World. To be fair, it has always been like this to a greater or lesser extent. If you live in any ghetto in the world then you know that politicians don’t represent you or your best interests unless doing so casts them in a better light. Or of course unless they’re lying to you, exploiting your fears and insecurities in order to support a false and hateful narrative that they create which usually manifests as anti-immigrant rhetoric. Whether it’s Farage, Trump, Le Pen, Duterte or any of the right-wing populists - and the greatest (or is that worst?) exponent of this is Donald J Trump - apart from the divisive intent of their manifestos there is one core fact that binds them. They lie and lie repeatedly. They lie about policy. They lie about people. They lie about the past. They lie in the present. They lie about what they’ve said, when they said it and whom they said it to if they even admit that they said it at all. And most incredibly, they lie about what you have seen with your own eyes and tell you that you haven’t seen it. Fact has become a dirty, four-letter word.

Anyway, I’m not here to state the obvious. I’m sure that even the most die hard Trumpsters would recognise that he hasn’t exactly been keeping it 100 as the millenials say. Although as the phrase keeping it 100 actually means “to keep yourself real and true, to be honest and stick to the way you are, no matter what any one else thinks”, maybe Hair Hitler has been keeping it 100. After all, he’s always been a narcissistic braggart with no attention span and an unhealthy lust for one of his children. But in real terms they know they’ve been lied to and he has failed by his own metrics. But don’t take my word for it. Let’s look at his “Contract With The American Voter”, a two-page document released in October bearing Mr Trump’s signature, which was described as his “100-day action plan to Make America Great Again”. Forget the fact that he makes Presidential decrees by Twitter. Forget the selective interpretation of facts, such as seeing an inauguration crowd where there isn’t one. Forget his judgement in appointing an Attorney General who lied under oath and a National Security advisor who was a foreign agent for Russia and Turkey. Forget his inability to actually spell or speak in coherent sentences. Just measure his success against his own 100-day metric, where he outlines 10 legislative goals he promises to introduce and pass through the Congress with the first 100 days:

1. Stop Companies From Going Offshore: Plan discussed but not passed.

2. Tax `Cuts: Plan unveiled but not passed

3. More School Choice: Not passed

4. $1 Trillion In Infrastructure Investment: Not passed

5. Repeal And Replace Obamacare: Introduced but not passed

6. Tax Deductible Childcare And Aged Care: Not passed

7. End Illegal Immigration: Discussed but not passed

8. Boost Military: Discussed but not passed

9. Stop Violent Crime: Not passed

10. Drain The Swamp: Not passed

Keeping it 100? Trump hasn’t even kept it 10. We could revisit each lie that Trump and his acolytes have told over the past 100 days but you haven’t got the time and I haven’t got the will. Whether it’s claims about millions of illegal voters, Obama wiretapping Trump Tower, alternative facts, fake news, First Daughters who are actually First Ladies – the chaos, ineptitude, nepotism, personal enrichment – every day this POTUS has demonstrated that he is uniquely unequipped to run a bath, let alone a country and certainly not one as powerful as America. But at least his golf handicap is improving (please disregard the fact that he constantly criticised his predecessor for playing golf and said he’d never have time to play if he became President).

To coin another phrase from the youngsters (aren’t I hip?) it’s time America got woke. The fact is if someone is careless with the truth in small matters they cannot be trusted with important matters. When a child lies about stealing the cake when he has chocolate all over his face, it’s hard to believe him when he’s licking his lips and feigning ignorance. Our values shouldn’t be accessories to fit in to this season’s fashions. And POTUS 45 has values that change by the end of a sentence. This 100 days metric isn’t important to me and if you’ve listened to Sunburnt Stalin over the past week you’d think the 100 day milestone is meaningless and arbitrary to him as well. But remember, HE was the one who felt it necessary to make this commitment and use this measure of success on the campaign trail. But hey, who cares, that’s only a fact. And since so much of the past 100 days has been completely abnormal, with constant complaints by Trump supporters that a biased media are misrepresenting the achievements of the administration, it seems fair to measure Trump by his own standards. And by his own standards, he has failed.

Like many people, Trump is rearranging his prejudices and thinks that this is thinking. We cannot, me must not allow the acceptance of promises wrapped in golden wrapping paper, because in the final analysis, they’re lies. Humility is nothing but truth and pride is nothing but lying. Trump has no humility and by any measure, is highly prideful. Apparently he thought being president would be easier and he really enjoyed his life before he was President. WHAT? WHAT? Seriously, this guy can’t be that stupid but apparently, enough people are to accept his idiocy.

100 days. There’s 93% of his presidency left. He’s failed so far and there’s no hope he’ll succeed in the future but maybe that’s a good thing because if he succeeds then it’ll mean his plutocratic agenda (does he actually have one anymore?) is enshrined in law.

Hair Hitler is beginning to understand that if you promise the moon then you’d better deliver it.