What ever happened to the Epstein scandal? Gone. Out of sight. Hey presto, vanished by the wave of a magic wand. It seems that Master Illusionist Donald Trump has dodged this lethal bullet – at least for the time being.
Trump’s Invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping its president Maduro, a former bus driver, removed Epstein from the news. Now Trump and his henchmen are beating the drums over his claim to world greatness launched at Davos, Switzerland. This rather ugly alpine resort – which is not great for reliable skiing – was the perfect venue for showman Trump. The annual Davos jamboree is the world stage for big egos, conmen and show-offs.
Chief among them was former British prime minister, Tony Blair, a politician of unparallel slipperiness and the ability to sugar-coat lies and half-truths. Blair has just agreed to join Trump’s so-called Board of Peace, a collection of louche politicians. The entry fee is $1 billion, a typical Trump fund-raiser.
Blair acted as a US mouthpiece during the invasion of Iraq, standing in for the inarticulate George W. Bush to sell the US invasion to the world that may have resulted in close to one million casualties. Today, oil-rich Iraq remains a US occupied state.
Europe, except for two members, refused to play along with the so-called Board of Peace charade. Canada, normally obedient to Washington’s demands, refused to join marking an important step forward in its independence from US tutelage. Mark Carney, Canada’s new prime minister, stood firm against Trump’s blandishments and threats to invade while many other US allies shivered in their boots or longed for the placid says of dotty old President Joe Biden. We applaud Carney’s courage.
But this is all so crazy. Trump’s claims that armadas of Red Chinese and Russian warships threaten the high Arctic are either outrageous lies formulated by the neocon propagandists at Fox News or else fever dreams by an aging brain. One must ask if Trump really believes any of this Arctic nonsense or if he is using manufactured crises to enlarge and intensify the scope of his power. Will Canada be next?
At the same time, each day brings increased influence over Washington by Israel’s far right government. At this time, it’s hard to figure out whether it’s Israel’s Netanyahu or Trump who is calling the shots. The whole Board of Peace is a ruse created to fatally undermine the UN, which is hated by both Trump and Netanyahu, because it helps defend the marginalized Palestinian people.
Trump clearly seems himself as chairman of the Board of Peace and the world’s premier political leader or monarch. This is certainly ambitious for a former habitue of New York’s Studio 54 and seller of run-down hotels. Many Americans enjoy Trump because he has brought entertainment to politics. Comedian Paul Begala put it well when he quipped that `politics is Hollywood for ugly people.’
Trump also gained prominence by figuring out how to monopolize the TV news at a time when print news was dying out. Every night, every morning there was Trump, creating a new daily crisis, hogging the screen. Trump’s alarms over foreign invasions, Chinese threats, black criminals, liberal communists, and drugs worked like magic with poorly educated older voters. He was right about some things but dead wrong about many others.
Over the fake Arctic crisis and Venezuela, he has often appeared like a schoolboy thrilled by Christmas gift time. For the man who said he hoped to be a war leader (after evading the military draft) what more exciting a gift than the Pentagon, loaded with military toys.
Reprinted with permission from EricMargolis.com.
