Donald Trump is Mordecai Jones. If you are not familiar with the reference, we take you back to the mid 1960’s. George C. Scott played Jones in a film based on a novel, The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man, by Guy Owen.
Jones (Scott) is a self-styled “M.B.S., C.S., D.D. — Master of Back-Stabbing, Cork-Screwing and Dirty-Dealing!” He is a drifting confidence trickster who makes his living defrauding people in the southern United States using deception and taking advantage of their naivete. Sound familiar? Yes, the current president could have played Mordecai Jones in the movie. As we tell in our latest episode of As The Donald Turns, he is “The Flim Flam Man.”
Over the last week, Donald has been reaching into his bag of tricks more than Felix the Cat. As the administration sent more troops into the Persian Gulf to sabre rattle at Iran, Donald was getting advice from hawks like John Bolton, but his solution to the potential for war was simple. He told the assembled media on Thursday that “Iran should call me.” There it is. International diplomacy at its finest. Trump threatened them only two days early with military mayhem. But, if after being threatened with extinction, the Iranian leaders simply pick up a phone and call Donald, and praise him no doubt, all will be good.
We wonder if all the problems can be solved with people just calling Donald. I mean it doesn’t seem like he would have a lot of time to talk on the phone because he is too busy….not doing presidential things…but tweeting. The commander-in-smart-phone had 41 tweets from Monday through Thursday.
Some were very simple.
Our great Senator (and Star) from the State of Arkansas, @TomCottonAR, has just completed a wonderful book, “Sacred Duty,” about Arlington National Cemetery and the men and women who serve with such love and devotion. On sale today, make it big!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2019
When we say simple, yes, we know the tweet constitutes a violation of the Hatch Act for using the official communication of the presidency to promote the book. But he violates the law and presidential norms with such routine, that it really was effortless. And it’s not like any Republican is going to care. He has pulled the “Flim Flam” wool over their eyes.
Much of Donald’s twitter attention has been focused on trade talks with China. Of course, much of his messaging has also been an exercise in “Flim Flam.”
In one year Tariffs have rebuilt our Steel Industry – it is booming! We placed a 25% Tariff on “dumped” steel from China & other countries, and we now have a big and growing industry. We had to save Steel for our defense and auto industries, both of which are coming back strong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2019
Employment in the steel industry is actually down 4% from when Donald was elected nearly three years ago. Not all of it is his fault, but taking a victory lap for a systematic failure is doltish. What snake oil is this guy trying to sell anyway?
Now the tariffs and the trade war with China have taken away one of the biggest customers for US farmers. Soy bean crops are rotting, wheat exports are not being bought. But Donald says the farmers are the best among us all and will prosper through all of this. No, you did not mistake going bankrupt for “prosper.” But Donald did. He is going to try to save as many as possible with US government subsidies…..you know…what the Republicans call “Flim Flam” or financial socialism.
….This money will come from the massive Tariffs being paid to the United States for allowing China, and others, to do business with us. The Farmers have been “forgotten” for many years. Their time is now!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2019
Notice he said the money will come from the tariffs that the Chinese government will be paying to the United States. Yeah, uh…no. He still has not figured out there is not a bank account that Chinese, or NATO governments, put money in to for the US to use. Donald is truly at a first-grade level when it comes to understanding economics. One could think it doesn’t matter because he has economic advisers around him who handle the nuts and bolts of the policies. Except that Donald runs every policy through his Twitter account. They are the official musings of the president and when he has constipation of the brain but diarrhea of the mouth, US policy becomes imbecilic.
Take for instance his budget demands to help environmental needs.
My Administration will be fighting for $200 million for the Army Corps Everglades restoration work this year. Congress needs to help us complete the world’s largest intergovernmental watershed restoration project ASAP! Good for Florida and good for the environment.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
We must protect our Great Lakes, keeping them clean and beautiful for future generations. That’s why I am fighting for $300 million in my updated budget for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 13, 2019
Sounds good, right? Let’s put some money into these efforts. But it was the Trump administration who took that money out and more in the 2017-2018 federal budget proposal. This Flim Flam deception is like saying we cut $1,000 from your household budget last year, but hey, look at how awesome we are….we are demanding you get $300 added into your budget this year. How impressive are we? The “Flim Flam Man” is selling a bill of goods, having created the need for the bill in first place.
There are also the lies even when there is nothing to be gained from it.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. Our beautiful embassy stands as a proud reminder of our strong relationship with Israel and of the importance of keeping a promise and standing for the truth.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2019
We don’t get why Donald feels the need to stray so far from reality. There is no new embassy in Jerusalem. It was the already existing consulate building. They added some new security measures, sent the iRobot Vacuum around the floors, and slapped a new sign on the front wall, to call it an embassy. But the need to pat himself on the back created a need to run a “Flim Flam” card game.
It would be easy to accuse Donald of running a game of Three-card Monte on the American public, or at least the ones that actually can still find reason to believe in him. There is nothing that he displays that shows he has a basic comprehension of modern economics, or international diplomacy, or ally relations. Certainly, he has no basic comprehension when it comes to telling the truth. Three-card Monte? Like on the streets of New York City? That would imply Donald bears any resemblance to a real New Yorker. The staff knows plenty of New Yorkers. They are brutal in their honesty. They are direct in their assessments. Donald, though, couldn’t spell the right words in a game of Wheel of Fortune if someone spotted him the flim and the flam
FLIM FLAM _ _ _
VANNA WHITE
