THE AMERICAN POSEIDON ADVENTURE

Sometimes liars, in their effort to obfuscate and redirect, reveal what they are actually thinking and doing. Trump’s tweet yesterday did just that.

Until the Trump Republican war, “old bone spurs” was touting low gas prices. And it was true: low gas prices were good for the average American who lives paycheck to paycheck. They left people with a little more money to cover basic living expenses. Lower prices helped offset things like the sharp increase in health insurance costs triggered by Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Some people may have been able to buy medication they needed but could not otherwise afford. Others could go to the grocery store, where prices have spiked since the last election, and maybe even splurge on coffee they had given up. Someone else might finally have been able to replace dangerously worn brake pads they had postponed because tariffs had driven prices up and made repairs unaffordable.

But now, as gas prices have surged since the Trump Republican war began, suddenly high gas prices are good? So, which is it? Is up down and down up?

What happened is simple: Trump says whatever serves him in the moment, regardless of reality, the facts, or the well-being of ordinary Americans. He actually said, “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

This is one of those moments when two things can be true at the same time, but not in ways that benefit everyone equally. The statement may be true for some Americans, but not for most. What it really exposes is Trump’s definition of the “United States,” and that explains almost everything he does.

The “United States” making money is the wealthy oil barons, those with stock portfolios loaded with energy holdings, those who live on investment income rather than a weekly paycheck, those who received the excessive tax breaks in Trump’s tax bill, those who donate heavily to his campaigns, those who party at Mar-a-Lago-style clubs, and those who do not drive, but have a driver who fills the tank for them. They are the people in the top ten percent, the ones who cannot spend all they make, who never worry about making ends meet because, for them, there are no ends. They do not worry about health care. They do not have to skimp on groceries. They go to sleep every night with a secure roof over their heads. Their children will get not only what they want, but, more importantly, what they need, while other families will struggle to afford even the basics.

The Trump Republican war will bring grief, loss, and suffering to many paycheck families who lose a loved one or see one come home wounded or maimed. Meanwhile, many of those “Trump Americans” will smile as oil and munitions profits soar, fueled by war, while the taxes and cost of living borne by paycheck families continue to rise.

So yes, the “United States of Trump” may make money. But the United States of most families, the paycheck citizens, will be left struggling under policies crafted by and for the ten percent, even as those same families are expected to send their children to fight, struggle to access health care, choose between medication and gasoline, and settle for food they can barely afford.

What a deal.

VOTE!!!

RESIST!!! & EDUCATE!!!