By Joseph Warkreh T-Toe
Much hoopla has been made recently about President Donald J. Trump’s infamous photo-op at the St. John’s Church Parish House in Washington D.C. After three and a half years, we should all know who our 45th president is and how Republican leaders are having buyer’s remorse. Certainly, an impromptu visit to the church was vintage Trump trying to steal the spotlight from the thousands of protesters throughout the country and around the world who are fighting racism and police brutality. That the peaceful demonstrators in his path were moved with teargas and manhandled was the least of his worries!
I remember when Trump was elected in 2016 and he started knocking down guardrails and norms of our body politic, some Republicans were saying privately, “they were not electing a pope” or trying to create a theocracy but rather, someone who would do their bidding – sign their legislations and facilitate the appointments of more federal and supreme court judges.What Republicans were hoping was that #45’s intellectual deficiency would be used as a leverage to advance their political agenda. But what they failed to factor in was his street smarts – characteristics he acquired under the tutorage of his father, who saw him as worthy of carrying on the family’s legacy. #45 used his smarts covertly, and overtly to make the likes of Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Nancy Graham and others to toe the line by politically decapitating them.
Right before our eyes, we are all witnessing the making of Trump, the autocrat, who is consolidating his powers by first weaponizing his base and then pulling the carpet from under each one of his perceived enemies in the Republican Party – especially people who dare question his authority. Small wonder his affinity for authoritarian tendencies has raised its ugly head in a country once sacrosanct and considered the essence and symbol of democracy in the world.
#45 has given credence to the saying, “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.” Perhaps you recognize these names: Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jon-Un of North Korea, Xi Jinping of China and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. These are all strong men that #45 has admired for years and is in lockstep with. He has exhibited repeatedly an inclination of being a dictator; that is, if he is not already one.
Joseph Warkreh T-Toe is the Associate Editor of FunTimes Magazine. He is the author of “The Voice of my Silence”, an anthology of poems and short stories. He is also author of “Fatu and Lake Piso”, a children’s book and “The Adventure of Little Chief, Dakhena” soon to go to print.
