I think that many conservatives write off Trump's behavior as damnable but not all that serious. I don't.
Is Trump a tyrant? He is not Hitler, and he is not Caligula. But I just finished a Netflix special about Caligula - "Roman Empire" season three. It was very interesting, and it showed a man who was badly psychologically wounded and dominated in his youth, thrust into the position of Emperor of Rome (the third emperor after Augustus and Tiberius) and who started off courting popularity from the people and cooperation with the Senate. That changed after he suffered a very serious illness of three months where he almost died, an illness that drove him into paranoia, madness, and violence. His behavior was debauched, and he slaughtered tens of thousands accused of treason. He ended up being assassinated by his uncle, Cassius after only three years of being an emperor at the age of 28. Cassius went on to be what Caligula was not - a competent Emperor.
So what has this to do with Trump? Trump is not an unfettered Emperor and although the Senate is doing nothing to curb his whims and abuses of power, there is an opposition press and opposition House of Representatives that are having some effect. And the judiciary has not been compromised by his commands.
However, there are some descriptions of Caligula by the historians in the film that are interesting to us in America today:
"Caligula did not know what he was doing. You have this damaged individual that you now have thrust into power, with no skills, no background, nothing but his damaged psyche who you have now given all the power in the world to, and asked him to behave properly"
Sound familiar?
"Caligula needed to make sure that the people knew that he was all powerful and could do anything. So he built bridges, he built temples, he was putting up statues of himself everywhere. He tried to be worshiped as a God while still living."
Sound familiar?
The most frightening thing about the Caligula story was that after he had lost the adoration of the crowds he decided to lead Rome into war and conquer Britain, which was a total failure because of his incompetence, so he staged a fake victory and returned in a fake triumph. It didn't help him all that much.
Hoping and praying that Mr Trump doesn't decide to become popular by attacking some country....
Of course, Trump has not slaughtered tens of thousands for treason, but he does accuse critics of him as being treasonous, doesn't he? He hasn't built statues and monuments to himself, but he does put his name, TRUMP, on buildings and anything he can get away with, doesn't he?
The Romans didn't have the tools of impeachment and elections to replace terrible Emperors, and America does. The only way they could get rid of Caligula, and indeed get rid of Caesar, was assassination.
I hope my conservative friends recognize the danger that this incompetent, ignorant, erratic, and mentally unfit man is and support any and all challengers to Trump in the upcoming primaries. And if that fails, I hope that they hold their nose and vote for his opponent in the general election.
The man is no Caligula, but not because he wouldn't like to be...
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Conservartive calls for Trump primary upponent
Some conservatives are finally waking up to the damage of the Trump presidency and calling for a primary challenge to him in the upcoming election cycle.
Joe Walsh, former Illinois Republican Congressman and Tea Party darling writes:
"At the most basic level, Mr. Trump is unfit for office. His lies are so numerous — from his absurd claim that tariffs are “paid for mostly by China, by the way, not by us,” to his prevarication about his crowd sizes, he can’t be trusted...At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead. There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them...I soon realized that I couldn’t support him because of the danger he poses to the country, especially the division he sows at every chance, culminating a few weeks ago in his ugly, racist attack on four minority congresswomen....he sides with Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence community. That’s dangerous. He encouraged Russian interference in the 2016 election, and he refuses to take foreign threats seriously as we enter the 2020 election....That’s un-American...We need someone who could stand up, look the president in the eye and say: “Enough, sir. We’ve had enough of your indecency."
Anthony Scaramucci, formerly briefly in the Trump White House, call for a primary challenger as well:
"my public criticism of the president has been mounting over the past two years. His response to the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville was repellent. I was appalled by the administration’s child-separation policy along the southern border. His ranting about the news media as the “enemy of the people” was dangerous and beyond the pale. But the final straw came last month when Trump said on Twitter that four congresswomen — all of them U.S. citizens, and three native-born — should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” ...like all demagogues, he is incapable of handling constructive criticism. As we lie on the bed of nails Trump has made, it’s often difficult to see how much the paradigm of acceptable conduct has shifted...I challenge my fellow Republicans to summon the nerve to speak out on the record against Trump. Defy the culture of fear he has created, and go public with the concerns you readily express in private."
Scaramucci is appealing to former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump.
"...OK, the guy's unstable, everyone inside knows it, everyone outside knows it, let's see if we can find a viable alternative,'"..."I predict in middle or late fall there will be a trove of people that will come together in unity to say this is what's going on. This is how the person's acting."
There has been a relentless parade of Conservative Never Trumpers, from George Will and Charles Krauthammer to Michael Gerson and Jennifer Rubin. These two are not pundits, and they are actively calling for conservatives to Replace Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in 2020.
That would make this country, and the world, a safer place.
Joe Walsh, former Illinois Republican Congressman and Tea Party darling writes:
"At the most basic level, Mr. Trump is unfit for office. His lies are so numerous — from his absurd claim that tariffs are “paid for mostly by China, by the way, not by us,” to his prevarication about his crowd sizes, he can’t be trusted...At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead. There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them...I soon realized that I couldn’t support him because of the danger he poses to the country, especially the division he sows at every chance, culminating a few weeks ago in his ugly, racist attack on four minority congresswomen....he sides with Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence community. That’s dangerous. He encouraged Russian interference in the 2016 election, and he refuses to take foreign threats seriously as we enter the 2020 election....That’s un-American...We need someone who could stand up, look the president in the eye and say: “Enough, sir. We’ve had enough of your indecency."
Anthony Scaramucci, formerly briefly in the Trump White House, call for a primary challenger as well:
"my public criticism of the president has been mounting over the past two years. His response to the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville was repellent. I was appalled by the administration’s child-separation policy along the southern border. His ranting about the news media as the “enemy of the people” was dangerous and beyond the pale. But the final straw came last month when Trump said on Twitter that four congresswomen — all of them U.S. citizens, and three native-born — should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” ...like all demagogues, he is incapable of handling constructive criticism. As we lie on the bed of nails Trump has made, it’s often difficult to see how much the paradigm of acceptable conduct has shifted...I challenge my fellow Republicans to summon the nerve to speak out on the record against Trump. Defy the culture of fear he has created, and go public with the concerns you readily express in private."
Scaramucci is appealing to former Cabinet members to speak out against Trump.
"...OK, the guy's unstable, everyone inside knows it, everyone outside knows it, let's see if we can find a viable alternative,'"..."I predict in middle or late fall there will be a trove of people that will come together in unity to say this is what's going on. This is how the person's acting."
There has been a relentless parade of Conservative Never Trumpers, from George Will and Charles Krauthammer to Michael Gerson and Jennifer Rubin. These two are not pundits, and they are actively calling for conservatives to Replace Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in 2020.
That would make this country, and the world, a safer place.
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
America's Spirit needs to renew and awaken
I continue to struggle to understand the presidency of Donald Trump. His flaws are pretty much all that he is - corruption, racism, bullying domination, lying, incompetence, ignorance, disloyalty - the list can be extended I am sure; these are just what comes off the top of my head.
But why is he our president? I want to look at it in a much broader scope than electoral constituencies and grievances.
I think that Trump is a face of America that has always been there, and one that the rest of the world has always known. It is one that blacks and browns and yellows and reds in America have always known. It is a racist and violent face that I, and I think a very large majority of Americans, had thought was behind us. I think we thought we were beyond the George Wallace, Jim Crowe South, white supremacist racist domination of the past. It is a shock to me to see it take over the county.
But, even deeper than the horrors of racism, I think there is something underneath it holding it up - a toxic masculinity, a macho chauvinism, that is dying out and is making a last gasp effort to reassert its tyranny. We are in the emergence of the Me Too movement that includes punishing sexual predators, but also includes the emergence of women as a political force. And more than that, I think we are in the process of awakening more feminine energies and turning away from the twisted masculine energies of brutal domination and violence.
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote that the Muslim extremists were violently reacting against the what they saw as the corrupt influences of the West, and especially they thought the West had lost control of their women, and Islam was not about to lose control over their women.
I think the emergence of Trump and the Trumpsters is a kind of a parallel to that desperate urge - they want to assert their control over women - and even more so they want to assert their control over the feminine energies - to make sure that force and domination and bullying are in charge of America, not the more feminine energies of caring, compassion, negotiation, win-win solutions, and respect for people who are different.
I am hopeful that this remarkably toxic president and his domineering and racist followers, by marching proudly into the light, lets America see them clearly and know we can no longer turn away and pretend they aren't there.
I am hopeful that Trump and the Trumpsters are exposing themselves and the true Spirit and Soul of America is in the process of waking up and turning away from their toxic brew of bigotry, hate, and domination.
It is time for a renewed American spirit to emerge. Or so I hope.
But why is he our president? I want to look at it in a much broader scope than electoral constituencies and grievances.
I think that Trump is a face of America that has always been there, and one that the rest of the world has always known. It is one that blacks and browns and yellows and reds in America have always known. It is a racist and violent face that I, and I think a very large majority of Americans, had thought was behind us. I think we thought we were beyond the George Wallace, Jim Crowe South, white supremacist racist domination of the past. It is a shock to me to see it take over the county.
But, even deeper than the horrors of racism, I think there is something underneath it holding it up - a toxic masculinity, a macho chauvinism, that is dying out and is making a last gasp effort to reassert its tyranny. We are in the emergence of the Me Too movement that includes punishing sexual predators, but also includes the emergence of women as a political force. And more than that, I think we are in the process of awakening more feminine energies and turning away from the twisted masculine energies of brutal domination and violence.
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote that the Muslim extremists were violently reacting against the what they saw as the corrupt influences of the West, and especially they thought the West had lost control of their women, and Islam was not about to lose control over their women.
I think the emergence of Trump and the Trumpsters is a kind of a parallel to that desperate urge - they want to assert their control over women - and even more so they want to assert their control over the feminine energies - to make sure that force and domination and bullying are in charge of America, not the more feminine energies of caring, compassion, negotiation, win-win solutions, and respect for people who are different.
I am hopeful that this remarkably toxic president and his domineering and racist followers, by marching proudly into the light, lets America see them clearly and know we can no longer turn away and pretend they aren't there.
I am hopeful that Trump and the Trumpsters are exposing themselves and the true Spirit and Soul of America is in the process of waking up and turning away from their toxic brew of bigotry, hate, and domination.
It is time for a renewed American spirit to emerge. Or so I hope.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Ignorant Trade War
Donald Trump does not understand trade deficits. He thinks if we have a trade deficit with China it means that China is pulling money out of America. It just means that our economy buys more from China than it sells to China. If we lower the trade deficit with China we will just increase a trade deficit with other countries. We buy more than we produce, so we have trade deficits.
And Donald Trump doesn't know history - especially the history that says that the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was a contributor to the collapse of the U.S. and world economy of the Great Depression of the '30s. This has been explained to this poor hapless guy in the White House, who is in way over his head, many times by many people, but he is incapable of learning because he thinks he knows it all already.
Or he just doesn't have the mental capacity to understand complicated things, as has been reported by a number of former staff who tried to deal with him.
Or maybe he is under other influences?
So, Trump announced a ridiculous 25% tariff on China. He thinks he is negotiating. He thinks the way you negotiate is with sledge hammers. He only is capable of imagining using force, and incapable of imagining or using persuasion. He can only see the world in win-lose terms, and hasn't a clue to what win-win is. He is the worst negotiator in U.S. history, as far as I can tell. So, China responds with its own draconian measure, dropping the value of their currency. And today the stock market dropped 767.27 points. Is this a surprise to anyone?
That Trump is ignorant is obvious. That Trump is incapable of learning is obvious. That Trump is incapable of admitting a mistake is obvious.
I just hope and pray that he doesn't complete his mission of plunging the country into a real depression.
It is almost as if he were taking orders from a hostile foreign power waging war against America and having him do those things most destructive to America, and America's economy, and America's leadership and standing in the world, and America's power in the world.
Did someone mention Russia?
Friday, August 2, 2019
Williamson and Yang
The Democratic contenders for president are all focusing on policy. And, of course, that is what they would do. The basic idea is that whoever is nominated will be a vast improvement over the ignorant and corrupt president Trump. And they are right. But....
Two of the contenders are focusing on problems much bigger than policy. Marianne Williamson correctly runs on the idea that the country is in a moral and spiritual crisis, and what we need is what conservative commentator David Brooks calls "An Uprising of Decency". He writes:
Two of the contenders are focusing on problems much bigger than policy. Marianne Williamson correctly runs on the idea that the country is in a moral and spiritual crisis, and what we need is what conservative commentator David Brooks calls "An Uprising of Decency". He writes:
"It is no accident that the Democratic candidate with the best grasp of this election is the one running a spiritual crusade, not an economic redistribution effort. Many of her ideas are wackadoodle, but Marianne Williamson is right about this: “This is part of the dark underbelly of American society: the racism, the bigotry and the entire conversation that we’re having here tonight. If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.”
And she is right about this: “We’ve never dealt with a figure like this in American history before. This man, our president, is not just a politician; he’s a phenomenon. And an insider political game will not be able to defeat it. … The only thing that will defeat him is if we have a phenomenon of equal force, and that phenomenon is a moral uprising of the American people.”
I hope and trust that America will rise up and demand a leader who is simply a decent human being rather than the dark, twisted, deeply corrupt and toxic leader we now have.
The other visionary on the stage, also who has no chance of winning the nomination, is entrepreneur Andrew Lang whose message is that the exponential growth of computer and artificial intelligence capabilities are and will continue to eliminate jobs that human beings do. This effect is obvious in manufacturing. As Yang pointed out in the debates this week it is robotic machines that fill up the auto plants in Michigan, not illegal immigrants. We are heading toward a country without work where it is not just mechanical work being replaced but intellectual work as well - AI does better diagnosis than the best doctors in some instances, and what white collar or blue collar jobs will be safe against the exponential progress of technology? I understand that the computers will need to be programmed and the robots will need to be repaired, but those jobs won't be enough to occupy the entire country.
His solution is paying everyone a monthly survival stipend. Not sure that is the answer. I think we might be moving toward an economy based on services, entertainment, artistic expression, hands on medical care, for example - the kinds of things that it takes a human heart and human creativity to do. But Mr. Yang points out that jobs and careers that we know of are going to go away.
Interesting times.
Step one is get rid of the dark vortex of hate and ignorance that currently runs our government.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Trump support
I think 35% will vote for Trump no matter what. That is his real base. That is the core Republican base and it always has been and always will be, I believe.
The current Trump approval rating is about 43%. That means about 8% of the people who currently support him are not really his hard-core no-matter-what base. 46% actually voted for him in 2016. That’s about 11% who actually voted for him are not his hard core base.
The current Trump approval rating is about 43%. That means about 8% of the people who currently support him are not really his hard-core no-matter-what base. 46% actually voted for him in 2016. That’s about 11% who actually voted for him are not his hard core base.
I think there has been a change in Donald Trump ever since the Mueller report and now especially since the Mueller testimony in Congress. The change is that Donald Trump thinks he has gotten away with it. The Mueller report and the Mueller testimony said there was no criminal conspiracy. And although neither the report nor the testimony exonerated Trump on the question of obstruction of justice, there has not been it outcry from the country that included Republicans to prosecute impeachment.
So I think that Trump feels freshly empowered to go for his reelection with no holds barred. And since the only real issue that Donald Trump has ever cared about is white supremacy that seems to be the issue that he is going all in on.
It used to be that the Republicans used racist dog whistles and talked about things like law and order or states rights or welfare queens or the menace of drug gangs. Those issues were not exactly subtle references to minorities. But they were disguised just enough that people could vote for a Republican and pretend to themselves or others that race was not their issue, but rather their issue was law and order, drugs, or tax cuts, or fiscal austerity, or balancing the budget, etc. So they could think of themselves as good people caring about issues other than white supremacy and racism. Indeed, many just put up with the racist appeals that did not appeal to them and voted on the basis of conservative economic or social issues.
However, now Trump is in full out white supremacist mode. He attacks four women of color and tells them they should go back to where they came from – which of course everyone understands they should go back to their brown countries even though they are all actually from America and are American citizens.
And then he attacks Elijah Cummings and says that his state Maryland is a rat infested disgusting place and said "No human being would want to live there." No human being? Black and brown people are not real human beings? So there is no longer any question about who Trump thinks real human beings are - white people are real human beings in Trump's twisted mind.
And then he attacks Elijah Cummings and says that his state Maryland is a rat infested disgusting place and said "No human being would want to live there." No human being? Black and brown people are not real human beings? So there is no longer any question about who Trump thinks real human beings are - white people are real human beings in Trump's twisted mind.
White supremacists certainly hear this toxin and are thrilled. So the 35% that will always vote for Donald Trump knows they are speaking to them. What about that 8% to 11% that voted for Trump or still approve of Trump who are not white supremacists. Who are perhaps Republican out of habit, or ideological belief but who do not think of themselves as racist or white supremacist? Who might not even be white? The cover is blown. How do they support this overtly white supremacist and racist presidential candidate now?
Oh, you say to yourself, this is just a moment in time and he won’t be saying these kind of things for very long. And he will get smarter as the election cycle continues. Are you kidding? Trump will never stop being Trump. Trump has always been a white supremacist. Trump has always been a racist. And Trump is sure that that is why people voted for him.
And indeed, political scientists and sociologists struggled to understand the Trump election, and they studied many options that could explain his victory - the economic dispossessed and forgotten voted for Trump? The lower classes ignored by the elite so they voted for Trump? Racists voted for Trump? The unfortunate result of a many very good scientific studies was that the biggest predictor for a trump voter was racial resentment (racism).
And indeed, political scientists and sociologists struggled to understand the Trump election, and they studied many options that could explain his victory - the economic dispossessed and forgotten voted for Trump? The lower classes ignored by the elite so they voted for Trump? Racists voted for Trump? The unfortunate result of a many very good scientific studies was that the biggest predictor for a trump voter was racial resentment (racism).
Trump knows this even if Democrats think they’re supposed to be trying to come up with programs for farmers and abandoned manufacturing sectors - he knows his real draw is racism. And I think Trump will become more and more overtly white supremacist and racist as he campaigns for president. And I think that he is going to lose much of that 8 to 11% who currently support or voted for him because they do not want to be associated with that slime.
Trump will always be Trump. He did not win the popular vote last time, he got 46.1% of the popular vote, and he lost by 2.1%. His result in 2020 could well end up being not much more than that core support of 35% as the non-racists finally peal away and turn their back on him.
Or at least so I hope. I hope that my conservative friends who do not want to be associated with the white supremacy and racism of this president will, like me, will hold their nose and vote for a giraffe rather than for Donald J Trump in 2020.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Mueller's testimony
For those of us who actually read the Mueller report, his testimony is no surprise, just a restatement of what he wrote:
There was no "gasp" moment in the hearings that would grip the nation in astonishment and horror. I have been gasping in horror ever since Trump's disgusting ride down his elevator announcing his candidacy by attacking brown people as the basis of his candidacy. It remains the basis of his presidency.
There is enough to impeach him in the House, of course, but I don't see the Senate convicting him.
I think it is time for Congress to focus on his current unconstitutional violations, such as his massive refusals to allow people in his administration honor subpoenas to testify. Such as investigating financial crimes of money laundering and tax fraud and financial obligations to other countries that force him to do their bidding rather than operating in the interest of America.
We have a criminal in the White House. And the Republicans know it and the Republicans are doing nothing about it.
Rats....
- Russia interfered with and influenced the election of 2016, and Russia and other hostile nations are doing so again right now.
- He did not charge Trump with obstruction of justice because Department of Justice rules said he couldn't
- He didn't make a determination whether Trump committed a crime of obstruction, leaving that to others (read Congress)
- He said Trump was Not Exculpated of obstruction even though Trump repeatedly says we was totally exonerated by the report
- He said that Trump could be prosecuted for crimes after he leaves office.
- He said that criminality was not the necessary standard for determining a politicians fitness in office, things like ethics are a needed standard.
There was no "gasp" moment in the hearings that would grip the nation in astonishment and horror. I have been gasping in horror ever since Trump's disgusting ride down his elevator announcing his candidacy by attacking brown people as the basis of his candidacy. It remains the basis of his presidency.
There is enough to impeach him in the House, of course, but I don't see the Senate convicting him.
I think it is time for Congress to focus on his current unconstitutional violations, such as his massive refusals to allow people in his administration honor subpoenas to testify. Such as investigating financial crimes of money laundering and tax fraud and financial obligations to other countries that force him to do their bidding rather than operating in the interest of America.
We have a criminal in the White House. And the Republicans know it and the Republicans are doing nothing about it.
Rats....
Monday, July 22, 2019
Trump and the Trump Cult is Un-American
America is a shining light on the hill. Trump's America is a cesspool of corruption, ignorance, racism, and greed.
America is where people of the world come and manifest their dreams. Trump's America blocks the world out and tells them to "go back where they came from".
America is world on the march toward freedom and democracy. Trump's America moves relentlessly toward dictatorial autocracy and welcomes dictatorial leaders as inspiration and friends.
America leads the world in free trade and commerce. Trump's America blocks free trade and inhibits commerce.
America created strong political and economic alliances to promote prosperity and freedom around the world. Trump's America is destroying its alliances and weakening America diplomatically and economically around the world.
America leads the world in scientific exploration and development. Trump's America attacks and destroys scientific research by neutering and destroying department of energy and agriculture, and by denying and destroying evidence of climate change.
America is essentially idealistic. Trump's America is greedy and avaricious. (And when I use the phrase "Trump's America" I mean the Trump Cult - those that are blindly believing and following this horrible man regardless of how horrible he is. I do not mean the poor folks who voted for Trump because they hated Hillary, or thought he was somehow "conservative'. I understand that they are trapped in a party that is not giving them alternatives to his depraved impulses.)
America has always had the horrors of Trump's America - from the genocide of Native Americans, to the crushing of African Americans through slavery, to the Jim Crow South, and to the relentless and enduring racism that has recently raised its nauseating head and shown itself in all its disgrace and shame.
There are times that I start to feel that the heart of America is a criminal enterprise, and the fact that enough of America elected a corrupt criminal to be its president supports that despairing feeling.
BUT...
Trump is Un-American. America is going to reject Trump, and recover it’s soul. Trump and his cult will be embarrassing footnotes in the American history and will join the KKK, George Wallace, the Tea Pot dome scandal and other darknesses in its checkered history. The real America will continue it’s march toward freedom, justice, caring and prosperity for all who are willing to have it.
I believe America is in a profound identity and spiritual crisis, and that the inspirational America will emerge to transform the corrupt America.
Tuesday, July 9, 2019
How the Democrats lose to Trump
How can the Democrats lose to Trump in 2020? The same way they always do, by being taken over by the left wing nut case faction. Busing? Reparations? Medicare for All? Impeachment? Do everything they possibly can to force never-Tumpers to vote for Trump? to force independents to turn away in bewilderment? to prove to America that the Loony Left is riding again?
Look, I will vote for a giraffe before I vote for Trump. I have a bunch of very sound reasons for that, about which I am sure I will write of in the future and often. But now I am talking about the Democratic Party primary season. And so far it is not comforting to the large swath of moderate America hoping to find someone to replaced Trump who isn't nuts.
Loren Thompson of Forbes Magazine lays out a very articulate warning. He says he knows how this movie will turn out, he has seen it before, way too often. And Democrats lose a race that should be impossible to lose. Nixon crushed lefty McGovern. HW Bush easily handled lefty Dukakis. Reagan stomped lefty Carter and then had no trouble with lefty Mondale.
Clinton won as a moderate liberal, centrist - big tent. Obama was almost post ideological, not a lefty firebrand.
Thompson writes:
"Even in the depths of the Great Depression, FDR knew he had to run as a centrist and populist rather than a socialist to bolster his chances of getting elected (Carter and Clinton successfully embraced the same lesson)."
Trump is a dangerous lunatic but that is not how the campaign will be run. He will be the sane one and the Lefty Dem will be a dangerous Socialist trying to change everybody's lives, thoughts, feelings, and consciences.
Thompson says Trump will run on five things, probably successfully:
Peace - will say he saved the world from war with North Korea and Iran (only after threatening war with both and then pulling away)
Prosperity - good stock market, low unemployment, will say that tariffs and being a tough negotiator saved the day (all wrong, of course, but that will be a constant drumbeat)
Sovereignty - The Wall, The Wall, The Wall, Fear the Brown People, Fear, Fear, Fear....
Self Sufficiency - America First, America alone, America to build in America, American jobs in America (while actually destroying jobs in America with his ignorant tarrifs)
Energy of the candidate - Trump as the energizer bunny that never ever ever ever gives up and pushes and pushes and pushes for what he wants - bad things, of course, but many see them as good things.
Trump can't win on his base alone. So, why are the Dems playing to their base alone?
It is very predictable, of course, that the left, including me, thinks that Trump is so god-awful that the country will turn away from him in horror and nausea. And they will, unless the Dems are taken over by those that think that now is finally their chance to put in a radical lefty agenda.
For example - as Mark Shields, liberal commentator on the PBS Newshour pointed out after the first Dem debate - Liberals had been trying to get expanded health care for all for about a century and finally got it in the Affordable Health Care law. They got it through Congress. They survived a Supreme Court challenge. It is a compromise that keeps private hospitals, private insurance, private doctors, private drug companies. They won. And now we have Dem candidates who want to throw it away for the health care that exists only in the dreams of the extremists in the Democratic Party - Medicare for All, which would be a massive change and will be rejected fiercely not just by the Right wing but by moderates and liberals as well the more the details of what would have to change are revealed.
Never underestimate the delusions of the extremist faithful.
All the Dems have to do to beat Trump is not be crazy. Trump is crazy. One is enough.
Look, I will vote for a giraffe before I vote for Trump. I have a bunch of very sound reasons for that, about which I am sure I will write of in the future and often. But now I am talking about the Democratic Party primary season. And so far it is not comforting to the large swath of moderate America hoping to find someone to replaced Trump who isn't nuts.
Loren Thompson of Forbes Magazine lays out a very articulate warning. He says he knows how this movie will turn out, he has seen it before, way too often. And Democrats lose a race that should be impossible to lose. Nixon crushed lefty McGovern. HW Bush easily handled lefty Dukakis. Reagan stomped lefty Carter and then had no trouble with lefty Mondale.
Clinton won as a moderate liberal, centrist - big tent. Obama was almost post ideological, not a lefty firebrand.
Thompson writes:
"Even in the depths of the Great Depression, FDR knew he had to run as a centrist and populist rather than a socialist to bolster his chances of getting elected (Carter and Clinton successfully embraced the same lesson)."
Trump is a dangerous lunatic but that is not how the campaign will be run. He will be the sane one and the Lefty Dem will be a dangerous Socialist trying to change everybody's lives, thoughts, feelings, and consciences.
Thompson says Trump will run on five things, probably successfully:
Peace - will say he saved the world from war with North Korea and Iran (only after threatening war with both and then pulling away)
Prosperity - good stock market, low unemployment, will say that tariffs and being a tough negotiator saved the day (all wrong, of course, but that will be a constant drumbeat)
Sovereignty - The Wall, The Wall, The Wall, Fear the Brown People, Fear, Fear, Fear....
Self Sufficiency - America First, America alone, America to build in America, American jobs in America (while actually destroying jobs in America with his ignorant tarrifs)
Energy of the candidate - Trump as the energizer bunny that never ever ever ever gives up and pushes and pushes and pushes for what he wants - bad things, of course, but many see them as good things.
Trump can't win on his base alone. So, why are the Dems playing to their base alone?
It is very predictable, of course, that the left, including me, thinks that Trump is so god-awful that the country will turn away from him in horror and nausea. And they will, unless the Dems are taken over by those that think that now is finally their chance to put in a radical lefty agenda.
For example - as Mark Shields, liberal commentator on the PBS Newshour pointed out after the first Dem debate - Liberals had been trying to get expanded health care for all for about a century and finally got it in the Affordable Health Care law. They got it through Congress. They survived a Supreme Court challenge. It is a compromise that keeps private hospitals, private insurance, private doctors, private drug companies. They won. And now we have Dem candidates who want to throw it away for the health care that exists only in the dreams of the extremists in the Democratic Party - Medicare for All, which would be a massive change and will be rejected fiercely not just by the Right wing but by moderates and liberals as well the more the details of what would have to change are revealed.
Never underestimate the delusions of the extremist faithful.
All the Dems have to do to beat Trump is not be crazy. Trump is crazy. One is enough.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Well, there goes democracy in America
The conservative Supreme Court Judges just ruled that the courts cannot stop undemocratic partisan gerrymandering. Every 10 years the states redraw congressional districts. And every 10 years whichever party controls the state draws the districts to favor their party.
An old practice? Yes. An unfair and undemocratic practice? Yes. So, since it has been around forever what's the problem? The problem is that in today's world, with today's computer data, the party in power can draw the districts so precisely as to guarantee victory for their party in as many districts as possible. The power computer analysis can give to the party in power to disproportionately represent themselves by cheating using skewed gerrymandered districts will only get worse and worse over time.
Is there a solution? Referendums. Like in California.
California voted against allowing the politicians to draw up the districts and gave the job to the Citizens Redistricting Commission - 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 others. This seems to me to a necessary thing to do to have the votes of the people in the state mean anything at all. As it is now in too many states the politicians choose their voters rather than letting the voters choose their politicians.
I am very disappointed in the non-democratic efforts of this conservative majority Supreme Court. The only way the Supreme Court works in this country is if the vast majority of the people think it is fair. And, starting for example at Bush vs Gore where the conservatives gave the election to Bush rather than letting the final vote tally decide, the Supreme Court is proving itself to be unelected politicians, with a big agenda to enact.
Bad day in America today.
An old practice? Yes. An unfair and undemocratic practice? Yes. So, since it has been around forever what's the problem? The problem is that in today's world, with today's computer data, the party in power can draw the districts so precisely as to guarantee victory for their party in as many districts as possible. The power computer analysis can give to the party in power to disproportionately represent themselves by cheating using skewed gerrymandered districts will only get worse and worse over time.
Is there a solution? Referendums. Like in California.
California voted against allowing the politicians to draw up the districts and gave the job to the Citizens Redistricting Commission - 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 others. This seems to me to a necessary thing to do to have the votes of the people in the state mean anything at all. As it is now in too many states the politicians choose their voters rather than letting the voters choose their politicians.
I am very disappointed in the non-democratic efforts of this conservative majority Supreme Court. The only way the Supreme Court works in this country is if the vast majority of the people think it is fair. And, starting for example at Bush vs Gore where the conservatives gave the election to Bush rather than letting the final vote tally decide, the Supreme Court is proving itself to be unelected politicians, with a big agenda to enact.
Bad day in America today.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Number 16
The 16th brave woman, E. Jean Carroll, revealed that Trump sexually assaulter her by grabbing her by her genitals and, indeed, inserting himself into her forcefully. In a book excerpt in New York Magazine she describes three or four rich boys who were hideous boys and men - sex assaulters. She reveals incidents of 21 hideous rich boys (men) in her book apparently.
Real estate celebrity Donald Trump was one of them in the '90s. He was ranked as the 20th most hideous rich boy/man on her list. Here is what happened:
So now I will tell you what happened:
Who were the other 15 brave women who have revealed Trump's assault on them?
"...he has denied accusations of sexual misconduct made by at least 15 credible women, namely, Jessica Leeds, Kristin Anderson, Jill Harth, Cathy Heller, Temple Taggart McDowell, Karena Virginia, Melinda McGillivray, Rachel Crooks, Natasha Stoynoff, Jessica Drake, Ninni Laaksonen, Summer Zervos, Juliet Huddy, Alva Johnson, and Cassandra Searles"
I believe her because Trump confessed to these assaults during the campaign on the Access Hollywood tape - because he was a celebrity he could "grab them by the pussy" - he is talking about inserting fingers, by the way.
I believe her because 15 others also made these kinds of revelations about this hideous man.
I believe her because she took the advice of one of her friends about why not to go to the police:
She grew very quiet when I told her, then she grasped both my hands in her own and said, “Tell no one. Forget it! He has 200 lawyers. He’ll bury you.”
I believe her because we have been watching this man's behavior for three years as a president and campaigner and know him to be corrupt, a bully, and a deeply immoral rich boy/man.
Will any of this matter to his base? I suppose not. They already know he is a rapist and as long as he gives them Christian activist judges and their stupid wall and tax cuts they don't care. His corruption has corrupted the Republican Party - not that they had all that far to fall......
Real estate celebrity Donald Trump was one of them in the '90s. He was ranked as the 20th most hideous rich boy/man on her list. Here is what happened:
So now I will tell you what happened:
The moment the dressing-room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall, hitting my head quite badly, and puts his mouth against my lips. I am so shocked I shove him back and start laughing again. He seizes both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and, as I become aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and jams his hand under my coat dress and pulls down my tights.
I am astonished by what I’m about to write: I keep laughing. The next moment, still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway — or completely, I’m not certain — inside me. It turns into a colossal struggle. I am wearing a pair of sturdy black patent-leather four-inch Barneys high heels, which puts my height around six-one, and I try to stomp his foot. I try to push him off with my one free hand — for some reason, I keep holding my purse with the other — and I finally get a knee up high enough to push him out and off and I turn, open the door, and run out of the dressing room.
The whole episode lasts no more than three minutes. I do not believe he ejaculates. I don’t remember if any person or attendant is now in the lingerie department. I don’t remember if I run for the elevator or if I take the slow ride down on the escalator. As soon as I land on the main floor, I run through the store and out the door — I don’t recall which door — and find myself outside on Fifth Avenue.
And that was my last hideous man. The Donna Karan coatdress still hangs on the back of my closet door, unworn and unlaundered since that evening. And whether it’s my age, the fact that I haven’t met anyone fascinating enough over the past couple of decades to feel “the sap rising,” as Tom Wolfe put it, or if it’s the blot of the real-estate tycoon, I can’t say. But I have never had sex with anybody ever again.
Who were the other 15 brave women who have revealed Trump's assault on them?
"...he has denied accusations of sexual misconduct made by at least 15 credible women, namely, Jessica Leeds, Kristin Anderson, Jill Harth, Cathy Heller, Temple Taggart McDowell, Karena Virginia, Melinda McGillivray, Rachel Crooks, Natasha Stoynoff, Jessica Drake, Ninni Laaksonen, Summer Zervos, Juliet Huddy, Alva Johnson, and Cassandra Searles"
I believe her because Trump confessed to these assaults during the campaign on the Access Hollywood tape - because he was a celebrity he could "grab them by the pussy" - he is talking about inserting fingers, by the way.
I believe her because 15 others also made these kinds of revelations about this hideous man.
I believe her because she took the advice of one of her friends about why not to go to the police:
She grew very quiet when I told her, then she grasped both my hands in her own and said, “Tell no one. Forget it! He has 200 lawyers. He’ll bury you.”
I believe her because we have been watching this man's behavior for three years as a president and campaigner and know him to be corrupt, a bully, and a deeply immoral rich boy/man.
Will any of this matter to his base? I suppose not. They already know he is a rapist and as long as he gives them Christian activist judges and their stupid wall and tax cuts they don't care. His corruption has corrupted the Republican Party - not that they had all that far to fall......
Thursday, June 20, 2019
The Shkreli-Trump smirk
There is a particular look that only seems to show up on the faces of men who think themselves to be so wealthy and powerful that they consider themselves to be invincible. Kind of like I have so much money that nobody can touch me or harm me in any way. Kind of an entitlement smirk. Pretty nauseating to the rest of us. Shown below are photos of Shkreli (the astonishingly greedy pharmaceutical executive) and Donald Trump (the astonishingly greedy reality show star turned president of the United States).
Mr Trump might be wise to note that Mr Shkreli is in jail.
Mr Trump might be wise to note that Mr Shkreli is in jail.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Trump admits to collusion
Trump just admitted to collusion with the Russians. On TV. And said there was nothing wrong with that. He just dares people to impeach him. This is a deeply disturbed and twisted man in the White House.
George Stephanopoulos interviewed Trump and asked him if he would accept info from a foreign power. He said yes, of course, why not?
"I think you might want to listen, there's not anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, (and said) ‘we have information on your opponent' — oh, I think I'd want to hear it."
That is against the law, by the way. It is pretty close to treason which the Constitution defines as "adhering to the country's enemies" or "giving aid and comfort to them". Russia is an enemy of America. Russia is out to weaken and destroy democracy in the world, and most importantly, destroy democracy in America, the former leader of democracy in the world.
This president just said that he welcomes interference from a hostile foreign power, and in so doing he has effectively confessed that he already did welcome interference from a hostile foreign power, Russia, in the 2016 presidential election.
That alone is reason to impeach this totally unfit and corrupt imitation of a man. Do Republicans try to justify this as well as every other of his assaults on the decency, integrity, and goodness of America?
Trump's basic playbook is when presented with evidence of his crimes is to deny it first, then lie about it, then admit it and say there is nothing wrong with it. Just disgusting that so much of the country are OK with that.
Good grief.
George Stephanopoulos interviewed Trump and asked him if he would accept info from a foreign power. He said yes, of course, why not?
"I think you might want to listen, there's not anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, (and said) ‘we have information on your opponent' — oh, I think I'd want to hear it."
That is against the law, by the way. It is pretty close to treason which the Constitution defines as "adhering to the country's enemies" or "giving aid and comfort to them". Russia is an enemy of America. Russia is out to weaken and destroy democracy in the world, and most importantly, destroy democracy in America, the former leader of democracy in the world.
This president just said that he welcomes interference from a hostile foreign power, and in so doing he has effectively confessed that he already did welcome interference from a hostile foreign power, Russia, in the 2016 presidential election.
That alone is reason to impeach this totally unfit and corrupt imitation of a man. Do Republicans try to justify this as well as every other of his assaults on the decency, integrity, and goodness of America?
Trump's basic playbook is when presented with evidence of his crimes is to deny it first, then lie about it, then admit it and say there is nothing wrong with it. Just disgusting that so much of the country are OK with that.
Good grief.
Saturday, May 25, 2019
Finally finished the Mueller Report
I finally finished the Mueller Report.
It clearly showed Russian interference in our election. It clearly showed Russia helped Trump win. It clearly showed Trump and his campaign welcomed Russian help. But it did not have proof of active conspiracy between the campaign and Russia.
It clearly showed massive efforts by Trump to obstruct justice by attempting to intimidate and influence witnesses being questioned by Mueller, and by firing Comey and trying to fire Mueller, and by threatening and coercing the investigators.
Does there have to be an underlying crime to justify obstruction of justice charges? Mueller says no because the obstruction itself taints and changes the testimony and inquiry. Mueller passed the decision to prosecute obstruction to Congress.
The nauseating corruption of this president is the stench that infuses every page of this report.
It is easy to say that this man is a bully and you don’t like him, and then go on to say “but...fill in the blank”. But the reason we need to rid our country of him and his deeply corrupt supporters is that democracy itself is being dragged into oblivion in the cesspool of their corruption.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Will Trump's distractions from subpoenas cause war in the Gulf?
So far, we have been lucky because the Narcissist in Chief hasn't caused a war as a way to distract the country and the Congress from his legal and financial debacles. That luck may be running out.
Apparently, Trump has removed exceptions to Iranian oil imports from eight countries in order to cut Iranian exports of oil to zero. I suppose that sounds really tough and brave to the Trumpster base, but it looks ridiculously stupid to me. It looks like a consequence of this is that someone has sabotaged Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Gulf - Iran? Trump is throwing matches at gasoline. And explosions are all too possible.
Iran has been mostly complying with the nuclear deal with Europe even though our ignorant president pulled out of that deal. Iran is now threatening to pull out of the restrictions of that deal and go back to building nuclear materials. How lovely it is for our remarkably foolish president to push Iran toward building nukes, just so he can get off the front pages about his violations of the constitution.
Another amazingly stupid thing that Trump has already done is pick sides in the religious wars between the Sunni Saudi Arabia and the Shiite Iran. What? Both sides are filled with crazed religious fundamentalist fanatics and terrorists. One side isn't good and the other side bad. Don't pick sides, for goodness sakes!
So, for America to pick sides in the first place and then try its best to destabilize the situation now that Trump needs headlines to distract the country from Congressional investigations into his corruption has the potential for disaster and actual deaths.
I am guessing that the war hungry John Bolton, Trump's National Security Advisor, is avidly promoting how wonderful and manly it is to be tough against Iran. But it seems to me that Trump's real motivation is to dominate the headlines and put the Trump corruption stories on the second pages of the papers.
What a very sad turn of events.
Apparently, Trump has removed exceptions to Iranian oil imports from eight countries in order to cut Iranian exports of oil to zero. I suppose that sounds really tough and brave to the Trumpster base, but it looks ridiculously stupid to me. It looks like a consequence of this is that someone has sabotaged Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Gulf - Iran? Trump is throwing matches at gasoline. And explosions are all too possible.
Iran has been mostly complying with the nuclear deal with Europe even though our ignorant president pulled out of that deal. Iran is now threatening to pull out of the restrictions of that deal and go back to building nuclear materials. How lovely it is for our remarkably foolish president to push Iran toward building nukes, just so he can get off the front pages about his violations of the constitution.
Another amazingly stupid thing that Trump has already done is pick sides in the religious wars between the Sunni Saudi Arabia and the Shiite Iran. What? Both sides are filled with crazed religious fundamentalist fanatics and terrorists. One side isn't good and the other side bad. Don't pick sides, for goodness sakes!
So, for America to pick sides in the first place and then try its best to destabilize the situation now that Trump needs headlines to distract the country from Congressional investigations into his corruption has the potential for disaster and actual deaths.
I am guessing that the war hungry John Bolton, Trump's National Security Advisor, is avidly promoting how wonderful and manly it is to be tough against Iran. But it seems to me that Trump's real motivation is to dominate the headlines and put the Trump corruption stories on the second pages of the papers.
What a very sad turn of events.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
The Fraud in the White House
We finally got some tax returns of Donald J Trump, and they were just about what informed people expected - they showed colossal losses by the real estate developer - between 1985 and 1994 he lost $1.17 BILLION. That may have been more losses than any other American over that time. So much for the Successful Entrepreneur myth that he built around himself. This is not a surprise to those who actually follow the news, real news, not the stuff that gets dumped into the Right Wing media propaganda bubble. Donald Trump is a terrible businessman.
Donald Trump is a fraud. He is a failure, not a success. He doesn't have great wealth, he spends like he has great wealth, and that is not the same thing.
At about that point in time he could no longer get loans from reputable American banks. Where did his money come from? As best I can tell he ran a money laundering operation for Russian and perhaps Saudi Arabian oligarchs. It looks like Deutsch Bank was often the facilitator for his money laundering.
His incompetence and buffoonery is on display every day in the White House. And that is just a continuation of his incompetence and buffoonery in business prior to his presidency.
He seems to be very good at one thing - propaganda, bluffing, image building, pumping up his Brand. And enough are fooled to keep him going.
Maybe he is good at money laundering, bank fraud, and tax evasion as well. But two things he is not good at - being a businessman and being a president.
It is no mystery why this pathetic person is sooooooooooooooo desperate to keep his tax returns away from the public eye. We will all see that he is not a billionaire; we will all see his monumental debts; we will all see that he is nothing but a fraud and a failure.
The Wizard of Oz was about a pathetic little man behind a curtain manipulating a grand a powerful Wizard Puppet for the world to see and bow down before. But is was just a sham, a fraud. And all that was there was a pathetic little man who didn't want to be seen. A good picture of the Fraud in the White House.
It's depressing that there are so many fools in the great country. Time for them to wake up.
Donald Trump is a fraud. He is a failure, not a success. He doesn't have great wealth, he spends like he has great wealth, and that is not the same thing.
At about that point in time he could no longer get loans from reputable American banks. Where did his money come from? As best I can tell he ran a money laundering operation for Russian and perhaps Saudi Arabian oligarchs. It looks like Deutsch Bank was often the facilitator for his money laundering.
His incompetence and buffoonery is on display every day in the White House. And that is just a continuation of his incompetence and buffoonery in business prior to his presidency.
He seems to be very good at one thing - propaganda, bluffing, image building, pumping up his Brand. And enough are fooled to keep him going.
Maybe he is good at money laundering, bank fraud, and tax evasion as well. But two things he is not good at - being a businessman and being a president.
It is no mystery why this pathetic person is sooooooooooooooo desperate to keep his tax returns away from the public eye. We will all see that he is not a billionaire; we will all see his monumental debts; we will all see that he is nothing but a fraud and a failure.
The Wizard of Oz was about a pathetic little man behind a curtain manipulating a grand a powerful Wizard Puppet for the world to see and bow down before. But is was just a sham, a fraud. And all that was there was a pathetic little man who didn't want to be seen. A good picture of the Fraud in the White House.
It's depressing that there are so many fools in the great country. Time for them to wake up.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Trump will continue to be Trump, maybe more so now...
Trump feels that he dodged a bullet when his Attorney General, William Barr, said that there was no conspiracy with Russia, and that there was no provable obstruction of justice. So, he shouted to the world "No Collusion, No Obstruction!" An actual reading of the Mueller Report, of course shows a lot of welcoming of Russian interference in the presidential election, even if there was no proof of active conspiracy. And apparently there are at least ten very overt examples of obstruction that Mueller decided to allow Congress to decide what to do about. I am reading the report and haven't gotten to the obstruction portion yet.
But, something to remember - Trump will not stop being Trump. That is to say, Trump will continue to be a child; Trump will continue to act like a nine year old's version of how a king can act; Trump will continue to bully and intimidate anyone he can, including Congress (if they allow him to); Trump will continue to operate as if the whole point of being President is to make a financial fortune; Trump will continue to be cruel to all but the upper 1% of the wealthy in the country (and the world); Trump will continue to be overtly and blatantly racist and white supremacist; Trump will continue to violate the Constitution on a daily basis.
So, Trump will continue to be Trump, only more so now that he thinks he can get away with anything. He thinks he got a Get Out of Jail Card, and he is off to plunder and destroy.
He has an excellent chance of creating something so outrageous that it will force Congress to impeach him, and perhaps even force the Senate to convict him. He is not a smart man. He is a foolish child, bent upon destroying as much as ne can, and thinks he can get away with anything.
I would not be surprised that he runs right off the cliff.
But, something to remember - Trump will not stop being Trump. That is to say, Trump will continue to be a child; Trump will continue to act like a nine year old's version of how a king can act; Trump will continue to bully and intimidate anyone he can, including Congress (if they allow him to); Trump will continue to operate as if the whole point of being President is to make a financial fortune; Trump will continue to be cruel to all but the upper 1% of the wealthy in the country (and the world); Trump will continue to be overtly and blatantly racist and white supremacist; Trump will continue to violate the Constitution on a daily basis.
So, Trump will continue to be Trump, only more so now that he thinks he can get away with anything. He thinks he got a Get Out of Jail Card, and he is off to plunder and destroy.
He has an excellent chance of creating something so outrageous that it will force Congress to impeach him, and perhaps even force the Senate to convict him. He is not a smart man. He is a foolish child, bent upon destroying as much as ne can, and thinks he can get away with anything.
I would not be surprised that he runs right off the cliff.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Trump's "Mission Accomplished" moment - "no collusion! no obstruction!
I guess one of the benefits
of having an Attorney General who introduces the Mueller Report by claiming
that there is nothing to see here is that the first impression is that there
is, indeed, nothing to see. But...
I remember the U.S. invasion of Iraq with the toppling of statues to Saddam Hussein and American tanks in the streets of Baghdad. And, of course, there was the indelible image of the U.S. President, George W Bush, standing on a battle ship under a huge banner that said "Mission Accomplished" basking in the glow of triumph and surrounded by admiring military.
Well. How did that turn out? All he did was boldly emphasize that the Mission Was Not Accomplished. The war lasted about a decade and still isn't really over. That "Mission Accomplished" moment turned out to be a bad choice on the part of W. It was just started, and nothing was accomplished.
So too for our current president and all the president's sycophants. As soon as Barr said that the Mueller Report blessed his president, Trump leaped forward to claim exoneration (against the actual words of the report itself as far as obstruction of justice is concerned).
But the report is over 400 pages long. It says the same things that the Trump books which exposed the Trump White House has always said - Trump commands his subordinates to obstruct justice, reaches out to get help from the hostile foreign power - Russia, ignores and tramples over laws and norms, behaves like a nine year old’s version of a king, and trashes the very concept of America endlessly.
Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury" said it. Bob Woodward's "Fear: Trump in the White House" said it. Now, it is time to read the Mueller Report. It says the same thing, with the enormous authority of 22 months of sworn testimony and records to substantiate it.
No Collusion? No Obstruction? Congress will hold hearings with the testimonies of Barr, Mueller, McGahn and perhaps others. Trump and the Reps want to say that there is nothing to see here. They say don't drag their leader through the mud - mud? is there mud? Golly gee. I wonder?
Maybe Trump escapes impeachment. But his mud is on very plain view.
I remember the U.S. invasion of Iraq with the toppling of statues to Saddam Hussein and American tanks in the streets of Baghdad. And, of course, there was the indelible image of the U.S. President, George W Bush, standing on a battle ship under a huge banner that said "Mission Accomplished" basking in the glow of triumph and surrounded by admiring military.
Well. How did that turn out? All he did was boldly emphasize that the Mission Was Not Accomplished. The war lasted about a decade and still isn't really over. That "Mission Accomplished" moment turned out to be a bad choice on the part of W. It was just started, and nothing was accomplished.
So too for our current president and all the president's sycophants. As soon as Barr said that the Mueller Report blessed his president, Trump leaped forward to claim exoneration (against the actual words of the report itself as far as obstruction of justice is concerned).
But the report is over 400 pages long. It says the same things that the Trump books which exposed the Trump White House has always said - Trump commands his subordinates to obstruct justice, reaches out to get help from the hostile foreign power - Russia, ignores and tramples over laws and norms, behaves like a nine year old’s version of a king, and trashes the very concept of America endlessly.
Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury" said it. Bob Woodward's "Fear: Trump in the White House" said it. Now, it is time to read the Mueller Report. It says the same thing, with the enormous authority of 22 months of sworn testimony and records to substantiate it.
No Collusion? No Obstruction? Congress will hold hearings with the testimonies of Barr, Mueller, McGahn and perhaps others. Trump and the Reps want to say that there is nothing to see here. They say don't drag their leader through the mud - mud? is there mud? Golly gee. I wonder?
Maybe Trump escapes impeachment. But his mud is on very plain view.
Friday, April 19, 2019
Mueller - Russia interfered in U.S. election - and succeeded!
Despite the happy face distortions of the Mueller report made by Trump's Attorney General William Barr (who has proven that he is not America's Attorney General) the Mueller report revealed that Trump's campaign was welcoming Russian interference although not provably conspiring with Russia. Also, Mueller makes it very clear that Trump himself made every effort to obstruct justice and only the refusal of his subordinates to carry out his unconstitutional orders saved him from criminal prosecution. Does that save him from impeachment?
Russia swayed this election toward Trump, and they succeeded. This is one of the saddest things I have ever written.
What to do?
Follow the advice of the political master, Nancy Pelosi - Speaker of the House - and have Democrats focus on building an agenda for America and support the wave of Democratic victories of the 2018 mid-term elections by staying the victorious course of moderation, health care, compassionate assistance to the middle classes and lower classes?
Or decide that the danger to America and the world posed by the manifestly corrupt and unfit man it the White House is too much of a danger to avoid impeachment proceedings?
Up to now, I was on the side of you can't impeach him if you don't have a "gasp moment" where the country recoils and turns against him. The Barr spin has dampened the impact of the Mueller report. But, wouldn't a full public exposure of the evidence in the Report build to such a conclusion?
I think the good middle ground is to get Barr and Mueller before Congress in public hearings to grind through the evidence to bring the corruption and incompetence of this president and his White House to the full light of day. Might not lead to an impeachment trial, but would let the country actually see this administration as they actually are - without the propaganda machine telling us all to look away.
And it looks like that is going to happen
Russia swayed this election toward Trump, and they succeeded. This is one of the saddest things I have ever written.
What to do?
Follow the advice of the political master, Nancy Pelosi - Speaker of the House - and have Democrats focus on building an agenda for America and support the wave of Democratic victories of the 2018 mid-term elections by staying the victorious course of moderation, health care, compassionate assistance to the middle classes and lower classes?
Or decide that the danger to America and the world posed by the manifestly corrupt and unfit man it the White House is too much of a danger to avoid impeachment proceedings?
Up to now, I was on the side of you can't impeach him if you don't have a "gasp moment" where the country recoils and turns against him. The Barr spin has dampened the impact of the Mueller report. But, wouldn't a full public exposure of the evidence in the Report build to such a conclusion?
I think the good middle ground is to get Barr and Mueller before Congress in public hearings to grind through the evidence to bring the corruption and incompetence of this president and his White House to the full light of day. Might not lead to an impeachment trial, but would let the country actually see this administration as they actually are - without the propaganda machine telling us all to look away.
And it looks like that is going to happen
Friday, April 5, 2019
How did Venezuella go so terribly wrong?
Millions are fleeing Venezuela. I heard a radio report of the brutal exodus over frigid mountain passes on a narrow road filled with trucks and not much walking space by families including pregnant women and children. Venezuela is without food, power, and now water. Things are desperate.
So - why?
During my Conservative Years the answer would have been obvious - Socialism destroys economies, tyrannizes peoples, and crushes freedoms. Look at the Soviet Union. Look at Cuba. Look at - Venezuela. And, indeed, it is clear that Trump and Republicans will use the specter of Venezuela in their 2020 campaigns.
But, I am coming to a very different conclusion. It's not so much Socialism itself, it's authoritarian demands of loyalty over expertise. Venezuela is a clear warning to Americans about our own authoritarian who is doing the same thing here - Trump.
Venezuela has essentially one economy - oil. And Venezuela has ruined its only economy. How? By astonishing incompetence. By having the authoritarian presidents - Chavez and Maduro - replace industry professionals with political toadies whose only qualifications are political loyalty to the supreme rulers. Per Robert Rapier of Forbes:
"During the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003, Chávez fired 19,000 employees of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and replaced them with employees loyal to his government."
Oil production is complicated. It takes qualified, professional, educated and trained scientists, engineers, a craftspeople. So it is the same for government. The Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Education, State, etc. all require highly educated and trained professionals to run them. To keep America safe. To keep America growing and prospering.
But Trump has replaced the heads of almost all government agencies with political hacks whose only qualifications are loyalty to him. This is pointed out in terrifying detail in Michael Lewis's "The Fifth Risk". The most recent, and terrifying examples are Trump's desire to put Stephen Moore as the head of the Federal Reserve (the most complicated and demanding job for the top economists in the country - this man is an incompetent ideological nitwit with no approval of real economists). And even more cartoonishly, Trump now wants the amazingly ridiculous Herman Caine of the disastrous "9-9-9 (personal tax, sales tax, and corporate tax)" presidential campaign in 2012 before he was laughed off the stage.
So, I think the way Socialism destroys economies is political as much as economic. It's not so much that Socialism destroys incentives and as a result economies die. Perhaps it is that Socialism easily becomes tyranny and tyrants replace expertise with ideological loyalists who are ignorant and incompetent.
So here is the real question - where else to we see ideological and personal loyalty being the sole criteria for leadership in government? Trump. America. The Republican Party has abandoned principle, expertise, competence, and its soul to the whims of its authoritarian ruler - Trump.
If you think Socialism means Venezuela, then of course Socialism is bad, really bad. But if you think that Socialism is Social Security, Medicare, interstate highways, libraries, police departments, fire departments, NASA, bridges, museums, public schools, water and wastewater treatment plants, clean air and clean water regulations, inspections and codes in public safety, environment, and food quality - then Socialism is actually quite good. All of these things have been called Socialist. And they are, I guess. They are public funds for public good. They are the heartbeat of civilization. Take them away and you have Fascist tyrannies which end up in - Venezuelas.
By the way. I am thinking that as time passes the old fights between Right and Left, between Free Markets and Socialism, are going to become passé. The real split that is coming is between the old Boomers of my generation who see things in Right-Left terms, and the Young Millennial generation who will blow past such chasms and come up with whole new paradigms. They didn't grow up in the Cold War. They grew up in a land where they had to be trained how to stay alive during a crazed man with military assault weapons trying to kill them in school - and in a world where they went into six figure debts to get a college degree - and in a world where climate change is an economic and existential threat to humanity. They aren't in the thrall of old Boomer hatreds.
I have great hope and expectations of the Millennials, and for America.
So - why?
During my Conservative Years the answer would have been obvious - Socialism destroys economies, tyrannizes peoples, and crushes freedoms. Look at the Soviet Union. Look at Cuba. Look at - Venezuela. And, indeed, it is clear that Trump and Republicans will use the specter of Venezuela in their 2020 campaigns.
But, I am coming to a very different conclusion. It's not so much Socialism itself, it's authoritarian demands of loyalty over expertise. Venezuela is a clear warning to Americans about our own authoritarian who is doing the same thing here - Trump.
Venezuela has essentially one economy - oil. And Venezuela has ruined its only economy. How? By astonishing incompetence. By having the authoritarian presidents - Chavez and Maduro - replace industry professionals with political toadies whose only qualifications are political loyalty to the supreme rulers. Per Robert Rapier of Forbes:
"During the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003, Chávez fired 19,000 employees of the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and replaced them with employees loyal to his government."
Oil production is complicated. It takes qualified, professional, educated and trained scientists, engineers, a craftspeople. So it is the same for government. The Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Education, State, etc. all require highly educated and trained professionals to run them. To keep America safe. To keep America growing and prospering.
But Trump has replaced the heads of almost all government agencies with political hacks whose only qualifications are loyalty to him. This is pointed out in terrifying detail in Michael Lewis's "The Fifth Risk". The most recent, and terrifying examples are Trump's desire to put Stephen Moore as the head of the Federal Reserve (the most complicated and demanding job for the top economists in the country - this man is an incompetent ideological nitwit with no approval of real economists). And even more cartoonishly, Trump now wants the amazingly ridiculous Herman Caine of the disastrous "9-9-9 (personal tax, sales tax, and corporate tax)" presidential campaign in 2012 before he was laughed off the stage.
So, I think the way Socialism destroys economies is political as much as economic. It's not so much that Socialism destroys incentives and as a result economies die. Perhaps it is that Socialism easily becomes tyranny and tyrants replace expertise with ideological loyalists who are ignorant and incompetent.
So here is the real question - where else to we see ideological and personal loyalty being the sole criteria for leadership in government? Trump. America. The Republican Party has abandoned principle, expertise, competence, and its soul to the whims of its authoritarian ruler - Trump.
If you think Socialism means Venezuela, then of course Socialism is bad, really bad. But if you think that Socialism is Social Security, Medicare, interstate highways, libraries, police departments, fire departments, NASA, bridges, museums, public schools, water and wastewater treatment plants, clean air and clean water regulations, inspections and codes in public safety, environment, and food quality - then Socialism is actually quite good. All of these things have been called Socialist. And they are, I guess. They are public funds for public good. They are the heartbeat of civilization. Take them away and you have Fascist tyrannies which end up in - Venezuelas.
By the way. I am thinking that as time passes the old fights between Right and Left, between Free Markets and Socialism, are going to become passé. The real split that is coming is between the old Boomers of my generation who see things in Right-Left terms, and the Young Millennial generation who will blow past such chasms and come up with whole new paradigms. They didn't grow up in the Cold War. They grew up in a land where they had to be trained how to stay alive during a crazed man with military assault weapons trying to kill them in school - and in a world where they went into six figure debts to get a college degree - and in a world where climate change is an economic and existential threat to humanity. They aren't in the thrall of old Boomer hatreds.
I have great hope and expectations of the Millennials, and for America.
Monday, April 1, 2019
25 security clearances given to Trump officials who were denied clearances
In what ways are Donald Trump hurting America? There are many ways, actually, but here is a particularly frightening one - Trump has given security clearances on his whimsical say so to 25 people who had been denied clearances by the professionals whose job it is to vet officials for security clearances. We have people who have access to high level security secrets who shouldn't be having them! When will my conservative friends wake up to the damage their beloved president is doing to America?
Politico's Andrew Desiderio writes that a whistleblower in the White House Security Office, Tricia Newbold, has testified to the House Oversight Reform Committee:
"According to Ms. Newbold, these individuals had a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct,”..."noting that her internal complaints were ignored even as she amassed a list of more than two dozen officials whose clearances were approved despite an initial denial....Newbold, who currently serves as the adjudications manager in the personnel security office, has worked at the White House for nearly two decades under both Republican and Democratic presidents. She was suspended without pay for two weeks earlier this year, an action she described as retaliation.... other whistleblowers have “corroborated” Newbold’s allegations, “but they were too afraid about the risk to their careers to come forward publicly."
This president actually thinks that the laws and rules don't apply to him. He thinks he has been made king. I know that each president usually expands the powers of the office, but this president's changes are not a difference in degree, but rather are a difference in kind. He is trying to be an authoritarian ruler. It is up to America to make sure he fails in his attempts to become the American Mussolini.
It is a courageous woman who has finally decided that she must speak up even though the price she will pay could be very steep. So many of the reforms needed in America are coming from brave women. Our country owes them a debt of gratitude, and the hits will just keep coming....
Politico's Andrew Desiderio writes that a whistleblower in the White House Security Office, Tricia Newbold, has testified to the House Oversight Reform Committee:
"According to Ms. Newbold, these individuals had a wide range of serious disqualifying issues involving foreign influence, conflicts of interest, concerning personal conduct, financial problems, drug use, and criminal conduct,”..."noting that her internal complaints were ignored even as she amassed a list of more than two dozen officials whose clearances were approved despite an initial denial....Newbold, who currently serves as the adjudications manager in the personnel security office, has worked at the White House for nearly two decades under both Republican and Democratic presidents. She was suspended without pay for two weeks earlier this year, an action she described as retaliation.... other whistleblowers have “corroborated” Newbold’s allegations, “but they were too afraid about the risk to their careers to come forward publicly."
This president actually thinks that the laws and rules don't apply to him. He thinks he has been made king. I know that each president usually expands the powers of the office, but this president's changes are not a difference in degree, but rather are a difference in kind. He is trying to be an authoritarian ruler. It is up to America to make sure he fails in his attempts to become the American Mussolini.
It is a courageous woman who has finally decided that she must speak up even though the price she will pay could be very steep. So many of the reforms needed in America are coming from brave women. Our country owes them a debt of gratitude, and the hits will just keep coming....
Monday, March 25, 2019
The Mueller Report does not produce a “gasp moment “ in the country
I
have written a few times that the only way for Trump to be impeached is for the
Republicans to impeach him, and that would only happen if something came out
that caused a majority of the country, including Republicans, to gasp in horror
and disgust. The Mueller Report
apparently has no such revelation, at least according to the Trump appointed Attorney General, William Barr, who issued a four page synopsis and conclusion
yesterday after a 48 hour review of the Mueller Report.
Did
the Russians try to interfere with the election? Apparently Mueller says yes, there is enough evidence
that says that is true.
Did
Trump conspire with the Russians in that effort? Apparently Mueller says there is not enough
evidence to prove that to be true.
Did
Trump attempt to obstruct justice?
Mueller says the evidence neither condemns nor exonerates him.
“According to Barr, on the
obstruction of justice front, the Special Counsel wrote that “while this report
does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not
exonerate him.” “
Barr then stated that he
would not be pursuing an Obstruction of Justice charge because there was not
conclusive evidence of intent on the part of Trump to obstruct. Seems clear to me that Trump’s actions were
obstructive, but proving intent beyond a reasonable doubt is too hard,
according to Barr. Barr wrote:
“Generally speaking, to obtain and
sustain an obstruction conviction, the government would need to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in
obstructive conduct with a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding.”
Will the Mueller
Report be released to Congress and the American people? The House voted 420 – 0 demanding it, so I
don’t see Barr refusing to do so, but there are likely to be some redactions –
not implicating people who have not or will not be charged with a crime, and
not revealing national security secrets, I suppose. But I would expect to see the report pretty
fully exposed. Trump will try to stop
it, so fights to come, I expect.
Was the president “fully
exonerated” as he claimed? No. Mueller explicitly said the evidence could
not conclude that he committed a crime but also could not exonerate him. Trumpsters will believe Trump, of course, because
that is what they do.
Was/is Pelosi right in
saying the House should not impeach Trump unless something comes to light that
makes it necessary? Yes. We did not get a “gasp moment” yesterday that
turned the Republicans against him.
Is Trump still in
legal jeopardy? Yes. Not from conspiracy
charges, but investigations into his current and deep history of corruption,
money laundering, and tax evasion will continue.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
What sweethearts Trump and the Republicans are
The Trump proposed Budget is dead on arrival in Congress, of course, thank goodness. But his Budget reveals a lot about him and his Republican Party. He breaks a number of promises that he made to his gullible Trump voters in 2016 - he said he wouldn't cut Social Security or Medicare. Of course that was a lie. Sorry his voters didn't see who he was when they voted to help the Russians install him in the White House.
Here are some of the cuts. Over ten years:
Of course, these are the same folks who pull brown children from the arms of their parents - and then lose track of them.
What sweethearts these people are.....
Here are some of the cuts. Over ten years:
- Medicare - cut $845 billion - aren't most Trumpsters old white folk?
- Social Security - cut $25 billion - again, old folks being hurt?
- Medicaid - cut $1.5 trillion - these people really hate poor folks!
- Food stamps - $220 billion - punish the poor for being poor?
- Student loans - $207 billion - we have a generation in debt, serves them right for not being rich!
- Education - $8.5 billion - let them all go to private schools like good Republicans should!
Of course, these are the same folks who pull brown children from the arms of their parents - and then lose track of them.
What sweethearts these people are.....
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Deficit grows as planned after Trump tax cut
The "good" Trump economy has a dark side - growing deficit spending. Not a surprise, of course. When Trump and the Republican controlled House and Senate passed their super wonderful tax cut to transfer money from the middle classes to the upper classes the economy improved because it was a good old fashioned Keynesian stimulus. So, what's wrong with a Keynesian stimulus? Well, it is something you do in a recession, not when the economy is going well, which it had been for years after the Great Recession of 2009. It is a tool that you can't use all the time because when you use it up it has no room to be used again when it will actually be needed, during the next economic downturn.
So, Trump and the Republicans, blinded by the Supply Side Economics of Reagan, apply lower taxes to stimulate the economy and just forget about the fact that doing so will balloon the deficit. How much? an increase of 21% in fiscal 2018.
This is simple mismanagement of the economy by the remarkably ignorant president, but it is quite a deliberate manipulation by his heartless Republicans in Congress - they want the deficit to grow so they can use it as an excuse to cut social programs, which they despise - helps poor folks you know, and they really don't like that.- kick 'em out into the streets, that'll show them for being poor!
So, for my conservative friends who know that Trump is a monstrous fool but still support him because of the "good economy", it's a sugar high at best, and is a cynical ploy to attack the poor and middle classes.
Social Security and Medicare are on the chopping block.
So, Trump and the Republicans, blinded by the Supply Side Economics of Reagan, apply lower taxes to stimulate the economy and just forget about the fact that doing so will balloon the deficit. How much? an increase of 21% in fiscal 2018.
"America’s deficit is rising sharply and will surpass $1 trillion per year by 2020, a gap that has grown since Congress cut taxes and increased spending, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday.
The federal deficit — the gap between how much the government takes in and how much it spends — will hit $804 billion in fiscal 2018, up 21 percent from 2017, the CBO said".
This is simple mismanagement of the economy by the remarkably ignorant president, but it is quite a deliberate manipulation by his heartless Republicans in Congress - they want the deficit to grow so they can use it as an excuse to cut social programs, which they despise - helps poor folks you know, and they really don't like that.- kick 'em out into the streets, that'll show them for being poor!
So, for my conservative friends who know that Trump is a monstrous fool but still support him because of the "good economy", it's a sugar high at best, and is a cynical ploy to attack the poor and middle classes.
Social Security and Medicare are on the chopping block.
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