BY RAUL HERNANDEZ
Donald Trump could convince an eskimo living in an igloo to buy an oven.
Now, he’s trying to lull the media into believing that he will keep Obamacare. But first he will perform a delicate cosmetic makeover including breast implants and a tummy tuck and probably insist that his name is written with the stitching.
Trump also says he wants to call Obama and Bill Clinton for counseling sessions and on his surgical saw with Obamacare
Applause, applause, applause — Group Hug.
Most of the media is easy to dupe, and in the fact-free universe and ratings-driven universe they operate, the narrative among the so-called pundits and Trump apologists, supporters and surrogates will be in line that Trump had an epiphany when he walked into the White House and met with Obama.
BTW: Trump will be interviewed on 60 Minutes today. In his mall-Santa Claus mode, his handlers will trot out a gentler and kinder Trump with a beating heart, an occasional smile.
To watch a preview of the 60 minutes interview click here: 60 Minutes
Trump said in the 60 Minutes interview that between 2 to 3 million criminal aliens will be rounded up.
In saying that 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records live in the U.S., Trump was repeating a claim he’d made earlier in the campaign that The Washington Post fact-checked and determined was inaccurate.
60 Minutes apparently doesn’t have a fact-checker working Sundays and somebody unplugged their fact-check machine.
But if you want a large window into the Trump presidency or were comatose the last 18 months or so, look no further than Trump’s campaign CEO Steve Bannon. Trump wants him as his chief of staff.
My mother said in Spanish: Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. Translation: Tell me who you walk with and I’ll tell you who you are.
Here is a preview of the post- 60-Minute TV script: The CNN and MSNBC talking heads, drama queens and blowdried boys will comment: “He looked relaxed, more presidential” and “Donald Trump said some encouraging things.”
Still, a snake charmer will tell you that a snake can’t be taught to retract its fangs or not spew its venom.
TRUMP’S WALL
The promised concrete and steel that would stretch across the border and where Mexico gleefully pays the bill wasn’t really in his plans after all, according to his pal Newt Gingrich. It was apparently constructed during Trump’s political campaign to win over disgruntled white guys and his David Duke unofficial coalition.
Trump’s wall sounded like a YUGE sexual toy because it allowed bigots to stroke their racists’ wet dreams of living in a country that looks like Sweden.
Trump said the high, cement wall stretching from one end of America’s southern border to the other is apparently no more. It will be fencing and patching up the holes.
But that could change next week and then, change back and Mexico might still get the bill.
TRUMP’S MOTIVES
With Trump, the lying devil is not only in the details but in the fine print and ulterior motives.
There is big motive and reasons for Trump to transform himself into the mall Santa Claus lately and temporary put his ego aside – Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel and what might be shaping up as the American version of the Arab Spring.
The judge is going to rule whether to allow Trump’s lawyers to postpone the Trump University trial until after he is sworn as president in January.
Judge Curiel set the trial to begin Nov. 28 in San Diego, according to a Washington Post report. Trump’s Attorneys asked last week for the judge to delay the trial until after his inaugurated.
Curiel has not said how he will rule on the delay. What the judge did rule on is that Trump’s crude, racist and vulgar campaign remarks will be admissible during the trial. But the judge encouraged efforts to settle. The plaintiffs will want a large settlement and Trump’s legal costs are piling up.
Trump will be hard-pressed not to settle the class-action lawsuit.
If the trial begins, the media will show up and cover the testimony of victims who allegedly lost thousands of dollars. Many will testify how they used retirement and savings money to pay for tuition and other costs associated with the education-con known as Trump University that featured America’s elect carnival barker as its promoter-in-chief.
Razor-thin chance that Trump will take the stand. Under the threat of perjury, Trump has to tell the truth or face federal criminal charges.
AMERICA’S ARAB SPRING
People might be seeing America’s version of an Arab Spring that happened in the Middle East in December 2010 if Trump and the Republican Party start using the U.S. Constitution as a doormat, according to reports.
“Within months, huge protests had spread throughout the Arab world, taking down autocratic governments in four countries but also sparking horrific civil wars and giving fuel to religious and sectarian extremism in the region,” according to a Washington Post report.
A United Nations report suggests that the turmoil in the years since 2010 left a heavy economic imprint in the Arab region. A net loss of $613.8 billion in economic activity or about 6 percent of gross domestic product from 2011 to 2015, the Post reported.
Wall Street appears to be welcoming a Trump presidency. Trump is proposing Wall Street deregulations. The financial bankers will not be happy if these demonstrations grow in numbers and days.
It could sink a growing economy like a rock and leave tens of thousands without jobs.
Still, the fastest way to many Republican hearts is through the pocketbook.
With the Republicans everything seems to be filtered through the party-line and profit and loss sheets rather than what is good for the country.