Donald Trump's presidency has made the United States the laughing stock of the entire world, full stop. Some recent highlights include Trump's tantrum in front of Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the dismantling of the Department Of Education, giving Canada and Mexico endless whiplash with his "TARIFFS! NEVERMIND!" approach, and letting absolute fucking maniac Elon Musk taking his ill-advised Twitter approach to the government. I'd keep going, but I'd be here all day and my fingers would eventually turn to bloody stumps from all the typing.
Despite all that – despite every even semi-rational person scratching their heads wondering what is going on as democracy commits suicide on the worldwide stage with a knife made of billionaire's money – System Of A Down drummer John Dolmayan seems to think this is a good thing. In an interview with Lilian Tahmasian, Dolmayan said he feels Trump is bringing "a little sanity back" before taking the very Trumpian stance of adding that he thinks that "irrespective of what you hear out there." Fuck the facts, right?
"I'm glad he won, because it brings a little sanity back," said Dolmayan. "Irrespective of what you hear out there, it's much more sane with him than it was without him.
"We need law and order. Just like you lock your door at night, you don't want somebody coming to your house when you have secure borders. We need people coming to this country. We all came to this country. And we need more people coming in. And the United States should always be a bastion for people that need it. Maybe they get oppression one way or the other in their countries and they need to leave. Or maybe they just want a fresh start. Or maybe they wanna be part of something that's unique and interesting like the United States. And they should be allowed to do that, but do it a certain way — pay taxes, whatever you need to do, and live your life."
Dolmayan the went on to lament that there are too many taxes put on small businesses and not enough on corporations. Dolmayan also mentions that there are "too many government jobs" and "too much regulation in general," which I mean… yeah, tax the corporations, but regulation and government jobs make the government and the country work. The government should not be run like a business, and business shouldn't be run like a government. They're two separate things with two separate functions.
And if we were really concerned about money, maybe ending corporate bailouts (looking at you airlines) and making people like Trump and Musk pay their taxes is a good start? Surely John Smith making $70,000 as a federal employee isn't sinking everything, but Tesla and Amazon paying no taxes is a pretty big fucking problem.
"Look, the corporations don't give a shit," said Dolmayan. "They're subsidized by the government half the time, and the other half the time they're taking money from stockholders. They're not earning it. So for them to pay 50 dollars, 75 dollars, all these benefits, it's easy. They don't give a shit. They're just pushing it down the line. They're not gonna pay for it. It's the next CEO that'll cover it. But if you're a mom-and-pop small business owner, you open up a store, you save up money, you work somewhere else, you save up money. All your earnings go. Now you open up a business. Now you've gotta get this license, this license. And God forbid you don't pay a fee?
"California does not like small businesses. They wanna crush small businesses. They want you to rely heavily on corporations and the government. But I have news for you. Corporations will only stay here until it's not profitable. Once it's no longer profitable, they will leave. No matter what they tell you, they're about the dollar at the end of the day. Small businesses, they're what build a country, because they employ far more people than corporations will. And I think we have too many government jobs. There's too much regulation in general. Too many taxes.
"As far as politically — right, left, makes no difference to me. It's who's doing wrong at this time. So, if the conservatives go way off on the right and become too religious or whatever the case may be, where they're infringing on people, then I'm gonna be with the Democrats at that point, because I'm not a politician and I don't give a shit about the political parties. I'm a realist. And whatever's good for people, that's what I'm gonna fight for. So I'll always be the enemy. I can never win."
