"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!" - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Hmmmmm... the "man behind the curtain"....   Now, is that Steve Bannon?  Vladimir Putin?  Jared Kushner?  Donald Junior?  Or, King Trump himself? Who has the bigger button?

Are we witnessing the devolution of the world's most powerful - and potentially destructive - leader?  Can we tolerate or survive yet another year of this lunacy?  Will Trump continue to lose touch with reality.... and get fixated on Fox and Friends and Breitbart and other alt. right sites with their notions of conspiracy against America and, in particular, Donald J. Trump?  Will the attacks on our international allies around the globe continue or will someone like Rex Tillerson or General Kelly pull him back from the brinkmanship of insulting tweets, statements, and policy positions that have shocked and disappointed some of our most loyal allies?  Are the Republicans in Congress prepared to permanently damage our democratic republic and system of government and sacrifice their own reputations and dignity along with our freedoms and well-being on the altar of Trump?  Or, when will we - men and women of good will - both in office and average citizens - who know the risks and dangers that we are facing, stand up for the traditions that have nurtured our nation and brought us to the 20th century's as global champions of democratic and individual freedom, human rights, free political process and elections, and the rule of law - stand up and say "ENOUGH?"

In the famed "Wizard of Oz", an ordinary elderly man from Omaha who accidentally landed in Oz years earlier and couldn't find the way home - in other words, a befuddled old guy who was lost and confused - sets himself up as the mythical "Wizard" with bravado, stagecraft, and flashing lights and smoke, and tricks the populous of Oz into thinking that he was the "wonderful and powerful Oz." Of course, he was just a confused old guy.  Sound familiar?  When Wizard Trump is "exposed", whether in reporting his comments on the bus, his history with other women, his constant lying, and his habitual obsession with TV and tweeting nonsense without caring a wit for the consequences for the nation, our standing, our economic well-being, and/or our national health suffer. Trump's outrageous exaggeration of his successes and achievements are widely condemned as a complete distortion of reality and are littered with a long series of broken pledges and promises.  Just ask the 9 million + children across America who lost healthcare coverage this past month due to the expiration of CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).  Or, you can ask the "dreamers" who Trump pledged never, ever to put at risk during his campaign for President, only to sign an Executive Order ending the program and calling on a recalcitrant congress to "fix the problem." Or, ask those on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security - who, just last week - heard Speaker Paul Ryan say that his 2018 goal was to "reform" these social programs because " given our substantial national debt, we cannot afford them anymore." This - after his giant tax "gift" to the nation's wealthiest folks and biggest corporations that cost the Treasury another 1 TRILLION DOLLARS IN ADDED DEBT.  So, we can afford to provide unnecessary tax "relief" for those who need it least....  and deny subsistence income (Social Security), and medical care for those who need it most (Medicare and Medicaid) because... WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT?  This is the world turned upside down....   If not "Oz", perhaps "Alice in Wonderland..." with the Mad Hatter (Bannon), the bloodthirsty "Queen of Hearts" (Ivanka), the "Knave of hearts" (Ryan), and the Cheshire Cat - or is it the Cheshire Turtle? - (McConnell) in the wings.

OK....   So, we are not in a fairy tale....  Or, are we?  In the just released book , "FIRE AND FURY", author Michael Wolff describes a White House in total chaos.  Juvenile elementary schoolyard behaviors, missed opportunities, dysfunction, staff in-fighting and sniping, and, of course, incessant leaking to the press - either to embarrass other staff members, display personal superior knowledge, or to create an emergency of sorts that could only be solved by the "leaker." And, then, there are the ever-present tweets..... Over the first year, senior staff were shuffled out the door - some without ceremony - and replaced by others viewed as more "loyal" to Trump himself. Still, the agenda of the Trump presidency is a mystery to most... and, perhaps to even Trump himself!  To discover that Trump doesn't read books or reports or policy papers, refuses to get detailed policy briefings, prefers to watch several TVs all at once rather than to debate policy options, and, in the judgment of many, is barely literate, is certainly shocking...but, believable. Seems that we are not in Kansas anymore Toto.

I guess that we will have to wait for the STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS to come later this month, to discover where we go from here.... Will it be San Juan?  Miami?  West Palm? The Yellow Brick Road? Down the Rabbit hole? Or, to North Korea via ballistic missile. When will this lunacy stop?  And, who will stand up for America?  How long will it take before this nightmare is over?  And, when can we get our country back? OMG!