Regarding "Trump urges Americans to 'stay true to our cause' in controversial July Fourth fete" in the July 5 edition, Trump's darkly ironic commandeering of a holiday that celebrates independence from tyranny, along with his latest rallies and interviews, reconfirms that he's devoid of fresh ideas, stuck in a spin cycle of transparent lies, and laser-focused on three things: Trump, Trump and Trump.
At rallies, Trump's schlocky shtick mirrors Elvis's final concert: While star-struck Trumpketeers lip-sync to his Golden Oldies — "Fake News," "Build the Wall," "Enemy of the People," "Witch Hunt," "Lock Her Up" — it's indisputable that their Oval-Office heartthrob has lost his hallowed groove, lumbering like a tragicomic self-parody, rehashing long-outdated material, struggling to hit notes.
In interviews, the hits keep coming as Trump, in fluent playground-ese, retells farcical fictions: the U.S.-Mexico wall he promised is "already being built"; he "inherited the parent-child separation border policy from Obama"; "many new" U.S. auto plants are being constructed; American air quality is "the cleanest ever"; and Sen. John McCain's thumbs-down vote was the only reason he failed in his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Having headlined 62 barnstorming rallies since his inauguration 30 months ago, Trump is an aberration among all U.S. presidents, who spent a comparatively infinitesimal amount of time campaigning while in office; they concentrated on actual governing, not manic self-esteem boosting. Trump, however, an inveterate showboat, prefers monopolizing headlines and ruling the Twitterverse to doing his job, reflexively placing "Me, the president" above "We, the People."
Trump's regurgitation of dim-witted diatribes, oafish obfuscations and malicious misrepresentations — all eardrum-splitting cries for attention — reaffirms his singular vision: feeding his puerile lust for instant gratification and life-long addiction to cheap applause. As the consummate day-trading simpleton, Trump thinks "looking at the big picture" means gazing upon life-size portraits of himself.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.