A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Here we are, several days after President Donald J. Trump's infuriatingly underwhelming "first 100 days," with a Chief Executive who hasn't matured into his job and his popularity still at world record lows. Unlike President Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous first 100-day period in 1933, Mr. Trump's first months in the White House will be remembered for his crass behavior toward Mexico and other countries, his insistence on building a $21 billion dollar wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, his constant use of Twitter to spout bits of Orwellian nonsense, the mean-spirited assault on President Obama's legacy, his bumbling attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and, of course, Russiagate. As hard as it is for Mr. Trump's devoted followers to accept, the 45th President of the United States has been an abject failure since his Inauguration nearly five months ago. His popularity, which was at record lows even before he took the Oath of Offic

Last Thursday's cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airfield - in which two U.S. warships launched 59 Tomahawk land attack missiles (TLAM) allegedly in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack that killed "dozens of civilians" may have been aimed at Syrian dictator Bashir Assad's military forces. But the real target was the credulity of the American public and the mainstream media as the unpopular President tries to deflect attention from investigations into Russia's alleged interference with the 2016 election - and his campaign's possible collusion with Moscow. According to CNN.com, the April 6 missile strike against " the airbase that was home to the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks" was ordered by the President to, as Mr. Trump said, " to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons." Per the official version of why Mr. Trump ordered the TLAM strikes last week, the President was shocked by media f

"When you are given immunity, that means you have probably committed a crime." - Michael Flynn to Chuck Todd, Meet the Press, September 25, 2016 With the news that former national security adviser Michael "Mike" Flynn is offering testimony before the Congressional hearing about alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials prior to Donald J. Trump's election in exchange for immunity, cracks are beginning to open in the President's wall of denial and obfuscation. According to an Associated Press report published in MSN News, it looks like the disgraced Flynn - who was either fired or forced to resign after the revelation that he had talked about existing sanctions on Russian government figures with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak last December - is willing to talk...but only if he is granted full immunity.  "General Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances pe

Remember last week's failure of Donald J. Trump's much-touted American Health Care Act ("Trumpcare") to pass through the Republican-controlled Congress? You know, the President's ballyhooed and long-promised project to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act of 2010? Well, guess who Mr. Trump is pinning the blame on? Can you give me three guesses? Ready? Go! If you said that he, like all good leaders tend to do, took responsibility for Trumpcare's big failure last Friday, you'd be wrong. According to ABC News , Mr. Trump once again logged on to Twitter to accuse the GOP, especially the uber-conservative House Freedom Caucus. This influential group of  Republican members of the House of Representatives refused to sign off on the AHCA in part because it would leave millions of Americans without medical insurance. In a sarcastic tweet from his  @realDonaldTrump Twitter account, Mr. Trump said: The Republican House Freedom Caucus was abl