From CNN:
Saturday’s developments come less than a week after Trump appeared to indicate that he had not paid federal income tax over an unspecified period during a debate with Clinton. The Democratic nominee accused the billionaire of refusing to release his returns because he wanted to hide how little tax he had paid.
“That makes me smart,” Trump replied, and also said that any tax money he had paid would have been wasted by the federal government.
Isn’t this a cause and effect switcheroo? Saving money on taxes doesn’t make you smart, it just makes you slightly wealthier, if only momentarily – if he ran off to a casino and lost it on the slots, the result is insignificant.
But perhaps this is part of a mindset wherein we judge folks based on their actions – a meritocracy, if you will.
Look at me, I didn’t pay taxes, that must mean I’m smarter than the doofus down the street who paid.
Of course, he must make the assertion because, at some level, he must be aware there are alternative interpretations; but, as a businessman, through and through, who’s completely assimilated the ethics & morality of the private sector with, apparently, no regard for the public sector, it never occurs to him that government provides a number of services from which the Trump empire benefits: from the fact that we’re not someone’s colonial bitch, police services, judicial services (or is it too ironic to mention those in view of his various legal entanglements with those he’s screwed over?), even the much despised EPA, which helps lead the way in keeping the air breathable – indeed, at age 70, he should be thankful, since the haze we see over Beijing would have undoubtedly killed him if it were over New York City.
No, none of this occurs to him. He’s swallowed a right-wing fringe meme hook, line, and sinker.
That’s all he can see on his own. He apparently has no clue that government is better than no government. He’s firmly a creature of the private sector, and without a clue as to why the public sector exists, its responsibilities and processes, he has little qualification for the position. He’ll just run it like a company, and that will end up being a disaster.
