Op Ed
The Trump Error/Era
The Trump error took place on November 8th 2016 and his era began on January 20, 2017. But for all intensive purposes, error and era may be interchangeable at this point. But the true question at hand is “will the error be corrected before the era comes to an end?”
The list of atrocities under the buffoon in chief surpasses the imagination of even his worse critics. When his former opponents warned the American public of how much of a disaster Trump would be (before they started licking his boots), we should have ALL listened. But plenty of U.S did not for our own selfish/scared/racist reasons.
Now our country is seeing its’ demise at the speed of a tweet on a nightly basis. Some of his supporters may feel this is exactly what they wanted (even if they’re lying to themselves.) These supporters will find out soon enough just how this administration’s policies will ultimately have an adverse effect on their future.
Here’s a quick look at some of the policies that will come back to bite us all…including the sheep that follow him.
America First – Retracting from a world that is increasingly getting interconnected.
Tariff Wars – Raising taxes on imported goods while garnering a similar response eventually leading to an economic crisis.
Withdrawal from Paris Agreement – Climate change is real and now our policy is to help experience those effects much quicker.
Environmental Policy – Increase fossil fuel use and abandoning renewable energy use (which happens to be the future)
Economic Policy – Doing away with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Consumer Protection Act that was in place to protect us from the banks playing Russian roulette with our money. Yes you guessed it…another pending economic crisis on the horizon.
Immigration Policy – A land of immigrants from stolen land now want to restrict the immigration from what they deem undesirable places to try and thwart the inevitability of a more diverse population.
Family Separation Policy – Detain illegal immigrants at the border and separate their children from their families. I’m sure this policy won’t create the next wave of terrorist that will be much closer now.
I think it’s safe to say that we all hope our American Idols Paul Manafort, Micheal Cohen and Michael Flynn team up and sing the prettiest tune Robert Mueller has ever heard. Our collective sanity depends on hearing “Trump, you’re FIRED!”
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
