On a motorized float designed and built several weeks into the Trump administration for the Rose Monday celebration before Lent in Cologne (Köln), Germany, the likeness of President Donald Trump vividly illustrates what is becoming more of his view toward the world and toward citizens of the United States.
Trump Giving the Middle Finger to the World
On the float, Trump has the world perched on his middle finger, a derogatory symbol known world-wide.
With Trump and Vance’s mega-bully job on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, February 28, Trump’s image of giving the finger to not only Zelensky, but also to the leaders of the European Community who met with Zelensky one day later on March 1 in London, seems to symbolize Trump’s view of European leaders.
As the Guardian reported, “Zelenskyy came to the White House to sign a deal for US involvement in Ukraine’s mineral industry to pave the way for an end to the three-year war. The president has inspired many by refusing to flee Kyiv when Russia launched its invasion—’I need ammunition, not a ride’—delivering nightly addresses to rally his people and visiting his troops on the frontlines.”
The Guardian, sarcastically, characterized Trump as “a profile in courage who dodged military service in Vietnam because of alleged bone spurs and who hid in the White House during the January 6, 2021, riot. Trump has reportedly described soldiers who die in combat as suckers and losers. He was impeached for trying to strong-arm Zelenskyy in 2019 and last week called him a dictator.”
Statue of Liberty Knocked Flat on Her Stomach
Also on the float, is a replica of the Statue of Liberty, a statue that is known from a poem by Emma Lazarus and placed as a plaque on the statue as a beacon of hope to those fleeing oppression:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost [tossed] to me.”
Ironically, the inspiration for the poem came from Emma Lazarus’s experience in aiding Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe. After seeing the conditions in which many of these people lived, she expressed her empathy and compassion through the lines of the poem.
On the float, the Statue of Liberty has been knocked down onto her stomach no doubt in reference to Trump’s idea of sending Palestinians away from their lands as a part of the Israeli genocide of Gaza and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank as well as a symbol of Trump’s deportation of migrants, calling them “criminals,” surely meant to inflame his blindly loyal MAGA base.
The Statue of Liberty also is no doubt offended by Trump’s proposal to sell a pathway to U.S. citizenship by offering a $5 million “Gold Card” visa to investors, replacing the 35-year-old EB-5 visa for investors who spend about $1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people.
Lady Justice on Her Knees
Lady Justice is depicted as kowtowing on her knees to the hundreds of Trump executive orders…except that the courts are finally standing up to his pronouncements which are negatively affecting every aspect of our federal government’s ability to help the nation’s citizens.
This is happening while the anointed—but not confirmed—Trump alter ego, “Special Government Employee” Elon Musk, is supervising the destruction of many federal agencies and neutering those that do not fall into line with his mega-financial exploits with Tesla and SpaceX!!!
One Small Float Says It All About Trump and His Policies
It is amazing that one small float in Germany, as part of a celebration of Easter season, can portray the worldwide effects of Trump and his administration with such stunning accuracy.
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About the Author
Ann Wright is a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official.
She was one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.
Since that time Colonel Wright has been a dedicated peace activist.
Ann can be reached at annw1946@gmail.com.