- The Trump presidency has been mired in controversy since Day 1.
- But Trump's transgressions and maneuvers have given the lie to longheld myths about American government and politics, argues Andrew J. Bacevich.
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Irony, paradox, contradiction, consternation - these define the times in which we live.
On the one hand, the 45th president of the United States is a shameless liar. On the other hand, his presidency offers an open invitation to Americans to confront myths about the way their country actually works. Donald Trump is a bulls--- artist of the first order. Yet all art reflects the time in which it's produced and Trump's art is no exception. Within all the excrement lie nuggets of truth.
Well before Trump rode the down escalator to the center of American politics, there were indicators aplenty that things had gone fundamentally awry. Yet only with the presidential election of 2016 did the chickens come home to roost. And with their arrival, it became apparent that more than a few propositions hitherto accepted as true are anything but.
Let me offer seven illustrative examples of myths that the Trump presidency has once-and-for-all demolished.