‘You poor, tired huddled masses’/ Kill the Messenger, and the Bad News, Too / Mr. Gripes smells a rat…

‘You poor, tired huddled masses’…. Next time you take a domestic commercial flight, and suffer the usual rash of indignities – a seat with dimensions more suited for a 9-year-old, corrosive coffee, scraps of food bits fit for chickens, nickel-and-dime fees for everything, delays and cancellations galore, screaming kids, implacable airport attendants who never have any information, an hour-and-a-half on the tarmac – just keep in mind that this collection of humiliations has been in the works for years.

Mr. Gripes naturally asks, ‘How the Hell did this happen?’

Simple answer: years ago, the federal government essentially surrendered its statutory obligations to regulate the aviation industry and protect the flying public. Ever since the Ronald Reagan administration, there’s been an outcry for ‘less regulation’ – get rid of the ‘red tape’, and unshackle business by eliminating unnecessary statutes that stifle capitalism. Regulations are onerous, the politicians claimed. From that moment on, passengers have been royally screwed.

When the government eased up on the gas pedal, and created a more laissez-faire atmosphere for the largest industries, that translated into a surrender of any supervision of the cartels and an abandonment of safeguards for paying customers. In fact, the Federal Aviation Administration, responsible for overseeing the aviation industry, is now packed with members plucked from the very airlines it is supposed to regulate. So, naturally, whatever is good for the industry’s bottom line has become the mandate of the FAA. Profits rule, and the passenger be damned. And it’s been my experience that things are only getting worse.

American Airlines earned $2.8 billion last year. Yet, all the airlines do is whine how threadbare their revenue streams are. What a load of horse manure. They can’t give us another couple of inches in seat room, which, God forbid, might reduce their stock price by a penny or two? Forget it – the greedy corporations will continue to squeeze us, and the FAA will still not lift a finger for the passenger. The agency takes their marching orders from their ex-employers, the airlines. The poor slobs in the back of the plane who must fly?  ‘Shut up, you know we only answer to our stockholders – and, oh, by the way, that’ll be $4.00 for that crummy pillow.’


Kill the Messenger, and the Bad News, Too – At this moment in the history of our once-great Republic, Mr. Gripes has come to this dispiriting conclusion: The President of the United States is a crybaby. I’m talking about Mr. Trump: Twenty-four hours a day, Donald Trump is complaining that the diabolical New York Times and Washington Post are trying to destroy him. Not only do these newspapers publish lies [he calls it ‘fake news’], he says, but he’s the victim of a ‘deep state’ treachery, which is out to get him.

Yet the real facts, which the President assiduously avoids as he slanders and humiliates anyone who might criticize him, are actually the converse: Mr. Trump, for years, has delivered nothing but lies. He’s the king of fake news.

After all, the act of lying is at the heart of ‘fake news,’ and that’s the cesspool Mr. Trump swims in gleefully; it’s been his modus operandi long before he was elected President. Remember when he, some time ago, created a fictitious Trump public relations employee, masking his own voice on the phone, [using the pseudonym, ‘John Barron’] as he spoke to media types, while extolling the great virtues of one Donald Trump?;  or how about his made-up falsehood claiming Barack Obama was born overseas, and was not an American citizen? A total lie, it turned out, but Mr. Trump sure got a lot of mileage out of that tale. What about the multiple charges regarding his molestation and mistreatment of women? Not me, Mr. Trump insisted, as women en masse came forward with accusations [and continue to]. In virtually every case, Mr. Trump retorted, ‘I never met that woman.’

The denials look foolish when a few days later photographs appear of Mr. Trump, appearing quite happy standing next to the same beautiful women whom he ‘never met’.

And now the President has banned the New York Times and Washington Post from federal agencies. No longer will paid subscriptions of either be permitted in the White House as well.

I repeat: Mr. Trump is a big, big baby. He just can’t take the heat: any story – and I mean any story, no matter how insignificant – that portrays him poorly is immediately attacked by our President. He has no concept that a vigorous, independent press is the bulwark against tyranny in any democracy.  Without a ‘free’ press, we’re doomed. If he could get away with it [and who knows one day he may], he’d have the DC police march into the offices of the Washington Post and destroy their presses with axes. The American Constitution is anathema to Donald Trump.

Mr. Gripes loves newspapers, and all he asks is that they provide a fair, factual account of a news event. I insist on that credo. As long as I’m presented with facts, even if an accurate article disagrees with my political beliefs, I’m fine with it. I’m a big boy, and can make up my own mind. The opinion pages in the back of the paper? The newspaper can publish anything it wishes to in that section – I don’t care. In fact, I prefer variety and differences of opinion. As long as the news stories in the front of the paper are factual and accurate.

The Wall Street Journal is a perfect example: Mr. Gripes has read one nut-job, right-wing op-ed article after another in the back of the ‘Journal’. Not a problem. Since its subscribers are often highly educated, highly functioning, and important business types, the Wall Street Journal editors act judiciously where it counts: they know the news content in the front of the paper has to be independent, objective and truthful. Its readers depend on useful and relevant information. Otherwise, its subscribers will bail out quickly from the paper. So, if some idiot writer wants to rant about, say, the ‘dangerous’ Nancy Pelosi in the op-ed section, so be it. That’s what free expression means. Donald Trump doesn’t understand what a free press is all about – he’s clueless.


Mr. Gripes smells a rat… And the offending rodent may be Donald Trump. Right off the bat, I have no proof of what I’m now going to postulate, but my antennae are quivering, and when that happens, down the road, I’m usually right.

The huge swings in the stock market, up 200 one day, down 350 the next, have been occurring repeatedly over the past year or so. And, on most of those turbulent days, they’re set off by a comment or tweet from President Trump – he’s issued an opinion about the state of trade talks with China over tariffs. Will the tariffs be called off, or is it full speed imposing them going forward?

One day, it’s Mr. Trump or one of his subordinates asserting it ‘looks good’ for an agreement. The markets zoom up, ending 200 or 300 points to the positive. Everyone’s feeling fine. The next day or so, Mr. Trump throws cold water on any ‘imminent’ deal possibility, and the markets tank. For God’s sake, what’s going on? The roller coaster ride has been repeated many times.

Let’s look at this scenario a little more closely, starting with some givens:

An American President can affect markets all over the world with virtually any words he utters. That’s the way it’s been, since the end of World War II when the United States became, by far, the most powerful economy on earth.

In particular, President Trump absolutely knows this, and is not shy about wielding his clout to affect markets. After all, a thriving stock market is a lynchpin that Mr. Trump will rely on for a victory next year, and he’s capable of manipulating the stock market very easily.

For us small investors with a little bit of money tied up in the markets, it’s palpitation time amid all the fluctuations. It’s scary at times. For the big boys, though, the huge swings are opportunities to make a lot of money. Ask any trader – they’ll tell you volatility is good for their business.

Another given: the Securities Exchange Commission, the federal agency charged with overseeing the markets and enforcing securities laws as needed, is now loaded with Trump appointees, with a Trump supporter in place as chairman. There’s zero chance the SEC would ever initiate an investigation of anyone close to Trump. As for Trump himself, he’s completely insulated from any criminal probe that might come under the auspices of the SEC.

Third given: President Trump is one greedy human being, who will stop at nothing to make more money, legally or illegally. That’s just how he’s operated all his life. [He learned at the feet of his father]  The financial markets, with all the gyrations going on now, become a golden opportunity to grab a great deal of cash, especially if an individual knows beforehand about its direction. And, remember, Trump can create any scenario, true or false, he’d like, regarding the ups and downs of the market.

Ergo, for the reasons I just noted, and with the caveat that I do not have a shred of proof, I think President Trump has secret surrogates [perhaps a lot of them] buying on dips initiated by pessimistic comments the President makes about the tariff negotiations, and selling on the ‘highs’ when another statement is forthcoming, asserting talks are going smoothly, with a truce about to be consummated.

Do any of us really know what’s going on with the ‘talks?’ Of course not. That’s why the situation is perfect for a flim-flam man like the President to take full advantage of. And I suspect he’s doing just that.

Mr. Gripes
By Jim Israel
November 24, 2019