THE NEW RESIDENT IN THE WHITE HOUSE - NOT ONLY CRAZY BUT AN ANTI-SEMITE AS WELL: G-D HELP US

"I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life".  A disturbing response from President Trump to a question at a recent press conference from Jake Turx, a journalist from the ultra-orthodox Jewish publication Ami Magazine.  A disquieting response indeed, because Turx's question wasn't about the president, but rather what was being done about "an uptick in anti-Semitism [in the US] and how the government is planning to take care of it".

It was a deeply alarming moment when Trump chose to respond:  I am the least anti-Semitic person . . . "  If Trump had said:  "I am not an anti-Semite", it would not have raised a red flag.  Instead he couched his statement by using the word "least"; which simply means he is a anti-Semite, but on the lower rung of the anti-Semitic scale.  To put it differently, Trump is a little prejudiced and hostile to Jews, but nevertheless an anti-Semite.  His emphasis on "little" is akin to the fallacy of being a "little bit" pregnant.

Trump's obfuscation is consistent with the permissive populist-ridden anti-Semitic sentiment evident in his campaign.  In the last days prior to the election, the Trump campaign published an ad using standard anti-Semitic themes - readily identifiable Jewish figures, and established anti-Semitic vocabulary - money, power and "global special interests".  It was an ad intended to appeal to anti-Semites and spread anti-Semitic ideas.  It was intentional, and no accident inasmuch as Trump's campaign manager , Steve Bannon, orchestrated it -  a die-hard anti-Semite, and currently Trump's top advisor in the White House.

There are those who would argue that Trump is blind to anti-Semitism inasmuch as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is a Jew, and his wife Ivanka, Trump's daughter,  converted to Judaism.  Unpersuasive at best, as Kushner appears to lack an inner sense of what is right or wrong, and in the eyes of anti-Semites distinguishable between good Jews and bad Jews.

When the issue of anti-Semitism was raised by journalists at Trump's press conference, Trump was clearly uncomfortable with their questions. He had the opportunity to put matters right in his message on Holocaust Remembrance Day, but failed to do so, even failing to mention Jewish victims.  Many believe it was premeditated.

There are those who would argue that Trump is a friend of Israel.  During the campaign he sided with Israel on the expansion of West Bank settlements, and relocating the US Embassy to Jerusalem. He has since back tracked on both, as well as declaring that the US will no longer insist in the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord with Israel.

This raises a key question:  can Israel trust Trump whose positions on fundamental US-Israeli relations have swung so wildly in a few weeks?  Can Israel feel secure with someone  who shoots and tweets from the hip spreading chaos, confusion and craziness?  Israel must not be swayed by a impetuous and psychopathic untested president who has no knowledge of the region, and a history of breaking campaign promises.  Israel must step back before jumping into bed with Trump, because he could turn out to be Israel's worst nightmare.

According to Trump's biographer, Michael D'Antonio,  Trump is the "emperor of chaos".   He should have added that Trump lives in another dimension trapped in a labyrinth of lies where he routinely distorts the truth with lie upon lie. As Lawrence Downs of the New York Times points out: "The truth is harder to see in the flickering gaslight of Mr. Trump's America".

Surely it is time to ask G-d to help America and the rest of us.

TO ZUMA & HIS MINIONS: ITS TIME TO STOP BEING ASSHOLES

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan  used the word "transformation" multiple times in his recent budget speech.

Gordhan's message was unequivocally blunt:  economic growth is inextricably linked to transformation.  The one cannot exist without the other inasmuch as "We need to grow in order to transform.  Without transformation, growth will reinforce inequality; without growth , transformation will be distorted by patronage."

Therein lies the rub - growth and transformation are mutually exclusive concepts in Zuma's government given the presence of rampant corruption, patronage, nepotism, wasteful and irregular expenditure, to mention a few.

Gordhan was sending a warning to government, but whether it was understood is debatable.  For those who did not, let me spell out in simplistic terms what Gordhan meant:  economic growth is the catalyst for transformation, but only if you stop the plunder and looting of public assets and resources.

BRIAN MOLEFE AND THE KEYS TO THE TREASURY

Whether it is Luthuli House, or Jacob Zuma and his cabal calling the shots, it makes no difference: Pravin Gordhan will be given his marching orders. 

It will simply be a matter of time to make way for disgraced Brian Molefe to take over the reins as finance minister, and a likely precursor to organized looting of South Africa's ultimate state asset: the Treasury.  Like wolves circling a sheep pen, the state capture lobby is dripping with anticipation at the  prospect  of Molefe, a Zupta toady, being handed the keys to the fiscus. 

The legendary radio broadcaster Edward R. Murrow once remarked that "a nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves."   Murrow must have had South Africa in mind. 

PLAYER & TRUMP: TWO RACIST PEAS IN A POD

Gary Player suffers from "good old days" syndrome - a nostalgic fondness and longing for the days of apartheid when the likes of Verwoerd, Vorster and PW Botha ruled the country with an iron fist.

Player recently commented on the chaos that erupted in parliament prior to the SONA address. He blamed the chaos in parliament on the absence of "law and order in South Africa".

In contrast, Player was singularly  impressed with his golfing buddy, Donald Trump, America's new president, who to Player's delight is cracking the whip . . "to bring back the disciplines America used to have".

Trump's character traits  - his penchant for authoritarianism and racism, appeals to Player.   His affaire de coeur with the apartheid regime . . . "to maintain civilised values and standards amongst the alien barbarians . . . The African", underscores his commitment to being "of the South Africa of Verwoerd and apartheid".  

It behooves Player to accept that the "good old days", notwithstanding Trump's election, will never return.  Instead, now  in his twilight years, he should be thinking in terms of absolution for his immoral love affair with the apartheid regime.

DENTONS' REPORT ON ESKOM A ROADMAP TO NOWHERE

Ever wondered why privatization of state owned enterprises (SOE's) is considered the equivalent of contracting a horrible and incurable disease amongst the party elite of the ANC government?  The answer is simple:  SOE's are self-enrichment vehicles for the politically well-connected, their families and friends.

The Financial Mail recently published damning details from Denton's investigative report on Eskom and the prevalence of serious financial abuses within the state-owned entity.  By way of example, Eskom paid R13.4m for R4.2m worth of coal.  Who allegedly pocketed the difference? According to the report:  Eskom executives, their families and friends.

Other than one organisation calling for a commission of inquiry the fallout thus far has been somewhat muted. Therein lies the problem:  the electorate is so conditioned to government malfeasance that right from wrong has been relegated to the apathetical dustbin.

The Dentons report is a roadmap to prosecuting and convicting those responsible for looting Eskom. But, Eskom and other SOE's will remain a prime source for ill-gotten gains  by corrupt individuals.  It will remain so as SOE's are sacred cows who enjoy de facto exemption from criminal investigation.  How else can these leeches maintain their high on the hog lifestyles?

MEDICAL SCHEMES "A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY": REALLY?

Dr. Kgosi Letlape, president of the Health Professions Council, is no stranger to controversy.  Several years ago he labeled the Medical Schemes Act evil as it divided the nation into have's and have-nots.  Now, he has again climbed onto his anti-medical scheme soapbox, but this time labeling medical schemes as "a crime against humanity".

Letlape has his reasons for denigrating medical schemes, but to recklessly assert that medical schemes are the embodiment of a crime against humanity is the product of a staggering level of ignorance.

Letlape supports eliminating medical schemes in favour of universal healthcare - the two cannot co-exist.  But, simply wanting the government to adopt and enforce his say-so ideas is typical of the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic.

EDWARD ZUMA AN EVEN POORER EXTENSION OF HIS FATHER

Edward Zuma recently issued a statement claiming  that there were "greedy people [who] don't give a damn about the livelihoods of the people of this country whatsoever".

At first glance it seemed that Zuma Jr. had experienced an epiphany by accusing Jacob Zuma, his father, as one of the "brutal and greedy" leaders who "don't have the interests of the people [at heart]".  It was too good to be true  - his diatribe was, in fact, directed at Pravin, Jonas and De Klerk.

If it was Zuma Jr.'s intent to intimidate the "the Pravin camp" he could not have been more wrong.   Other than the son of Jacob Zuma, his relevance in the context of South Africa's realpolitik is zero. He is nothing more than a pretentious windbag not to be taken seriously.

Zuma Jr. was simply the attack dog selected to spew flame throwing rhetoric against his father's critics.  Rhetoric that Zuma and his faction were too cowardly to express openly.