You can imagine the tweet that’s coming later tonight.
“Failing Starbucks which is totally overrated wants to hire terrorists to make their overrated coffee. SAD!”
Arch mediocrity President Donald Trump’s momentous decision to impose a religious test on U.S. law earlier this week backfired – and backfired badly.
Not that he’s noticed.
The mass demonstrations, international condemnation, taxi strikes, and judicial checks on the legality of his executive order were described by senior officials in his administration as an example of a:
“…Massive success story in terms of implementation on every single level.”
Sean “Whiny Spice” Spicer was let out of out of his cupboard in order to toe the party line with all the tenacity of a barnacle super glued to a sheet of flypaper.
Just days after he tweeted out his own password he was back on fighting form, arguing that the ban was a “minor inconvenience” and a “small price to pay” for protecting Americans from a terrorist attack.
Such an observation sidestepped two rather glaringly obvious points.
Two Prong Policy Wrong
Firstly, the inconvenience was not restricted to the 109 people who were detained. The mass demonstration in the U.S. and around the world was not only compounded by strikes. There was a hidden cost, those people who chose to cancel plans in the face of uncertainty, those people who were trapped in never-ending cycle of red tape and customer outrage.
Trump also wasted the court’s time as they tackled an ill-thought-out order that he couldn’t even be bothered to run past Homeland Security or the Justice Department.
Secondly, the concept of keeping people safe has descended into the stinking ooze of post-truth “alternative fact” America and is now so deeply entrenched that even rational-minded people seem to continuously miss the point.
So let’s re-cap one more time.
https://twitter.com/elisefoley/status/778022958442876929
OK? Have we got that?
Because between 2001 and 2014, there were over 440,000 deaths by firearms in the USA. During that same period, there were 3,412 deaths related to terrorism. And aside from the deplorable attacks on the Twin Towers, most had little or nothing to do with immigration.
The Overland Park Jewish center shooting. The Tiller abortion clinic. Fort Hood…
None of them had anything to do with immigrants.
The ban had nothing to do with safety and everything to do with xenophobia; with out of control salute-the-flag nationalism inflated to egregious and fascist proportions.
Americans are as likely to be killed falling over their own furniture as they are to die in a terrorist attack, and yet executive orders restricting the import of Persian chaise lounge are conspicuously thin on the ground.
Fortunately, some people are more capable that others when it comes to marrying facts to actions.
Take Starbucks for example.
Just Can’t #Resist That Morning Coffee
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks vowed earlier today to take “resolute” action in direct response to Donald Trump’s executive order. His intention is simple, he is going to hire refugees.
A lot of them.
In a strongly worded letter penned to his employees, he wrote:
“We are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does business.”
He added that Starbucks had no intention keeping silent as:
“…The uncertainty around the new administration’s actions grows with each passing day.”
According to Schultz, the plan will begin in the U.S. focusing on refugees who have served as interpreters for the US military. He also confirmed that the Seattle-based company had contacted employees who had been affected by the immigration ban.
All of which should give Trump pause for thought.
The Corporate Bladder
Not that it will.
Trump’s belief in his own inherent brilliance will almost certainly be his downfall. Machiavellian his plans are not.
His first week in office has highlighted some fundamental weaknesses. Divisions within his own inner circle are rampant, reports get leaked as a matter of routine. Meanwhile, federal employees seek novel ways in which to bypass his Führer-like directives and judges seek to mitigate the chaos he has sown by instigating temporary bans on his idiotic policy farts.
All of which has helped create unprecedented levels of opposition.
Companies such as Microsoft have already voiced their displeasure. No fewer than 76 of their employees were affected by the 90-day ban on entry for citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
On Sunday, the Google co-founder Sergey Brin was photographed among people protesting at San Francisco airport telling one journalist:
“I’m here because I’m a refugee.”
Even senior members of Trump’s own party condemned Trump’s actions.
All of which left only Trump sycophants such as ax- battered ventriloquist puppet Rudy Giuliani and self-propelled motor neuron disease metaphor Paul Ryan to politely cheer Trump’s contempt for the Constitution from the sidelines.
And that’s not going to be enough to save him.
Not by a long mile.
Watch the resistance grow.
Featured image via Pixabay/Public Domain
