Oligarchs

By Mickey Friedman
June 5, 2018

The obvious is often missed. Until it rises up and comes crashing down upon us.

So much TV talk about the great mystery. Why are there Russians everywhere you look in Trumpovia? The former Republican consultants wistfully share that for all their Bushian mistakes, yes, whoops, they got weapons of mass destruction wrong, there were never, ever any Russians near their White House.

In so many ways we Americans are suckers. So in love with our story, so dedicated to the preposterous assumption that we are especially blessed, so very different than the Germans, the Russians, the Chinese. Better than all the rest.

For so long we’ve believed we’re victors, stronger, more caring, more democratic, and yes, so much richer than the rest. And we have so very tenaciously fought for this vision. Have spent such extraordinary energy evading our true history.

A history that began Day One with occupation. Any true telling would begin with wresting this very land from others with violence and guile. But the story we tell ourselves is about noble ancestors who fled tyranny to honor God in a new land. Naturally beginning as heroes and heroines, not thieves and certainly not killers. We’ve learned to zip past those smallpox infected blankets. And slavery.

And it’s more clear that in Our Make America Great Again, these fundamental untruths have made us even more susceptible to all kinds of lies. Especially those wrapped around our special blessedness.

Hitler sold the notion that the German people – the true German purebloods not the mutts – despite their World War One humiliation – were indeed the Master Race. Every despot sings a similar tune: you are special and I am the one who sees your specialness and I am the one who will return us to our deserved greatness.

And so it is that we’ve fallen under the spell of an oligarch.

Putin promises a once again great Russia: “Russia faced a number of dark periods and challenges, and rose like a phoenix from the ashes every time, achieving heights that seemed unattainable to others … I am confident that we will achieve a breakthrough this time as well … Let the love for the Fatherland and all the best there is in people inspire each and every one of us to improve ourselves in order to succeed as individuals and for the benefit of our families, and to work hard for the benefit of our homeland. There is no doubt that we will succeed!”

China’s new lifetime leader Xi Jinping adds some grandiose prose: “We must ride on the mighty east wind of the new era, charge forward with a full tank and steadily steer the wheel with full power, so that the giant ship of China carrying the great dream of more than 1.3 billion Chinese people will continue to cleave through the waves and sail to victory for a promising tomorrow.”

And naturally one oligarch congratulates the other: President Rodrigo Duterte of the Phillipines took a break from jailing critics to celebrate Xi: “Mr. President, first of all, I’d like to say it again before everybody, including the Cabinet – that we are very happy about your reelection as President of the People’s Republic of China.” President Trump called Duterte: “I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem.” Yes, indeed. No trials. Just guilty. Old-fashioned assassination.

And Xi was quick to praise Egypt’s oligarch, el-Sisi, whose own glorious re-election victory was helped by disqualifying 1.7 million write in votes: “Xi said that China and Egypt enjoy a long-run friendship and he hoped that the Egyptian people, under Sisi’s leadership, would score more important achievements in exploring the country’s own development path.”

Success, just like tyranny, loves company.

The New York Times reports our art-of-the-dealmaker President within hours honored two oligarchs for the price of one, announcing his election victory congratulatory call to the Russian dictator Putin: “We had a very good call,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he had just welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.”

The President decided it might be impolite to “raise with him the lopsided nature of his victory, Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election or Moscow’s role in a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter living in Britain.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered precious praise of a man who starves the North Korean people: “I think Chairman Kim [Jong Un] shares the objectives of the American people. I am convinced of that.”

So Xi offers $500 million for an Indonesian project that includes a Trump resort. While Trump wants to relax sanctions on China’s XTE phones that pose security threats to us. And a Qatari investment group decides to bail out the Kushner’s 666 Fifth Avenue financial nightmare.

One oligarch hand washes another.

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“Oligarchs” was first published in the May 24, 2018 edition of The Berkshire Record.