Every so often, I’ll get a customer who does this: “I’d like a 24 ounce Hawaiian salted caramel latte with a dash of French vanilla, three shots of caffeinated and one shot of decaf, no foam, extra, extra hot.” 🥤
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Piece o’ cake. So I’ll schmooze with the customer while he watches me make it, then as I set it on the counter and say; “That’ll be $5.75,” he says “Is it possible to get that with almond milk? I’m lacto-intolerant.”
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That’s what Trump pulled last night, only on an astronomical scale. He’s had since last spring to put his 2¢ worth in on the second round of stimulus, but he waited until the latte was brewed and steaming on the countertop before mentioning a milk alternative.
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But with Trump, it’s never as simple as it seems. This wasn’t forgetfulness. His veto threat and subsequent demand for $2,000.00 per person against Congress’ $600.00 figure was conceived from multiple angles—NONE of which was over any actual concern he has for you and me.
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1) First and foremost, it was a shiv between Mitch McConnell’s ribs. How DARE you congratulate Joe Biden as the president elect while I’m saying the election was rigged? I may be forced to leave next month, but if you’re not gonna support me all the way, I’m gonna leave a little puddle of pee on the Senate floor for you to wade through... just to remember me by.
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2) Ever the populist, ever the manipulator, ever the narcissist, he tried to make *us* Mitch’s problem. ‘Mitch wants to give you $600.00, I want to give you more than three times that. Whose side are you on?’ As my dearly departed lawyer friend used to say; the turd is now in McConnell’s pocket, and it’s starting to stink.
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In defense of my occasional forgetful customers, hey, it happens. Some of it is even my own fault for being such a chatty barista. And at six bucks down the drain, it’s not the end of the world (but that Maui salted caramel costs a fortune 😫 !
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But in the case of Donald Trump vs Mitch McConnell, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. He knew it would play right into Speaker Pelosi’s hands—a common tactic of the narcissist—divide and conquer (or perhaps more accurately in Trump’s case: chaos by division). You may THINK you’ve reached an agreement! But I’m not done with you yet.
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He knew it would make every Republican who isn’t onboard the conspiracy crazytrain rue the day they first heard of Donald Trump. And he knew by dangling an additional $1,400.00 over McConnell’s figure, he was throwing a ginormous wrench into the machinery, just three days before Christmas, twenty-eight days before he exits the stage, during a pandemic that he’s exacerbated with his indifference—a day after Congress has left town for the holidays.
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Captain Chaos strikes again.
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This one’s all yours, Mitch.
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In the end, it’s always, always, ALWAYS about him. Don’t get your hopes up about that $2,000.00 check America, he’s just pandering to your needs to punish McConnell for his “disloyalty.” Unless you can offer him some way of short-circuiting his date with destiny, he couldn’t care less about you, your kids, your mortgage, or whether you live or die.