Tag: Trump

Meet the New Boss! Same as the Old Boss!

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He missed! But he took out others in the crowd, so we cannot be totally jubilant. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful in taking down its primary target. Some say it was divine intervention that kept Donald alive, and barely wounded. I’m not sure about that, but it is an obvious fact that it was a very close miss. But if you hoped that the attempt would bring about a Road to Damascus moment for Donald, it appears you will be waiting for a very long time. It took only about a day before the murmuring to resume, only now with added emphasis based upon the assignment of blame.

Of course, according to Republicans, all of the speech that provoked this attention seeker was Democratic. It is very easy to whitewash all of the Donald’s past comments about violence as an acceptable response to political differences as simply another case of fake news. And of course, all of the sycophants are happy to go along with the flow, and lay the blame upon the enemy. It is worse at the RNC since all of the sycophants are gathered together in one space, where they feed off of each other’s energy, and they have absolutely no compunction against revising the story of our lives in the last administration. According to these speakers of their truth, it goes without saying that the economy was never better than in the 2017-2020 time period, and everyone was fat, dumb, and happy. People have never been happier than they were back then, with depressed energy prices caused by demand collapse, and 15% unemployment. Those little irritating facts just get swept away as one speaker after another tries to sell their own line of reality.

Remember, more Americans died of Covid under Biden than under Trump say the Trump cultists. So Trump must have done so much right, according to the story sold by the true believers. (I am feeling like I have a horrible cheek hernia caused by my tongue poking through my skin after penning these lines.) Unfortunately, all of this is exactly what I’ve been expecting. Nowhere is anyone willing to take any responsibility for creating the culture that results in lone punks trying to take out a presidential nominee. My late father-in-law shared his wisdom from his 90 years on this planet. He said, “there are too many guns in the hands of too many people who have no business having them.” When you combine apocalyptic rhetoric from politicians of all persuasions, along with so many weapons out there, it is a wonder that this sort of event has not happened before.

Many people now want to believe it was an evil plot that nearly succeeded in Pennsylvania. We are so expectant that nothing happens by chance, we cannot accept any result that is not formed from a complex conspiracy. As it so happens, the tiniest of actions, like turning your head unexpectedly to the side, can prevent evil from triumphing. But in our society that has been raised on conspiracies, it is now impossible to accept simple answers. According to the cultists, no one has free will. Everyone is manipulated into their actions, and the more convoluted the explanation for an event, the more likely it is to be transmitted as undeniable truth. I am reminded of the Mexican bandits in the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, except their iconic line has been changed to: “Facts? We don’ need no steenkin facts!”

So now it appears that our nation is going to be captured by a rogue minority who doesn’t believe in the changes of the past 60 years. Heck, they want to go back to the days before 1920, when US Senators were elected by legislators, women couldn’t vote, and Social Security and other safety net programs were only gleams in the eyes of the libs. All of the changes to society are suspect, and the only solution is open carry. Submit, all ye women, as ye reclaim your rightful position as being inferior to males. How do you deal with people who exist in an alternate reality? Who believe in male superiority? Forget white privilege, it is male privilege that is truly more important to the members of the cult.

So to imagine society will be brought together by the tragedy of Butler PA is a fever dream. It ain’t gonna happen! Although, I guess, if all of the people decide to join the cult, they would deign to pretend they’ve brought about unity. Of course, when you are led by someone who inherited hundreds of millions, then somehow successfully peddled the myth that he was a self-made business genius, a little lie about unity is easy to swallow.

The Unending Crisis

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And so, as of May 30, 2024, our long national nightmare …. is just beginning again. To those who believe a first conviction of a former president of the United States will result in the cause of this former president going away, I have some beach front property in West Virginia to sell to you. If anything, the clamor from the “victimized” classes is going to increase, not go away. The nattering nabobs of negativism seem to believe that only crimes defined by Republicans are legitimate crimes. They earnestly believe the entire federal government is arrayed against them, merely because they are being prosecuted by those who administer justice.

So it is abundantly clear we have a split screen nation. One side is wanting to worship the con man who fooled millions into believing he was on their side, while the other side is wondering when the gullible fools will have the scales fall from their eyes, and undergo their road to Damascus conversion. I honestly believe the true supporters of Trump will never weaken in their support for the charlatan and his supposed cause. That is because they are convinced if they admit their champion is a fraud, the entire façade they’ve built up over the years will crumble. They will have to acknowledge the US has grown beyond a monolithic white protestant culture, into one that reflects the diversity found in the world. And, quite frankly, that prospect terrifies many on the right. They will be forced to admit proficiency exists across all racial and ethnic lines, which is contrary to their belief that white is best and deserves to dominate.

You hear so many of these idolaters transfer their allegiances from God to the developer who has mucked up most of the businesses he’s been associated with over the decades. They decry the deep state that stands against their ascension again, since anyone who opposes them, must be against America. You hear many claim that Biden has been terrible, though if you push them for an example of his errors, they are unable to reply. Really, what you are seeing is the demolition of an entire belief system built up over decades. Face it, trickle down economics as enunciated by Ronald Reagan and his followers, has been a poor deal for many people. It has turned them from the middle class, to the poor who cannot afford life. Of course, since many people are incapable of understanding subtlety, they support those who scream the loudest and share the shortest soundbite to support their position. Expecting a reversal of 40 years of mismanagement, they choose to follow someone who conveniently reverses all of reality. It is so easy to draw out fake memories of times past, when things were good. Never mind that all of history is against them. And by following their selective memories, they ignore all of the evidence of future intent found in the statements of their supposed leader.

So we are to believe that crime is raging out of control, when all statistics show crime rates have come down from decades past. And we are to believe we have a feckless foreign policy, because of course, no country would dare to attack another while the past president was in control. And we are to believe the economy in the US was never better than under Trump, something than can be disproven through a simple Google search. While at the same time we are supposed to believe that truth, justice, and the American way will flourish once again if we only put these supposed patriots back in power. How gullible to they think we are?

Actually, we have very clear evidence about their beliefs. An entire party is predicated upon supporting their leader, simply because they now have a leader who uses bullying as a primary tool. Once their current leader goes away, either through electoral defeat, or through administration of justice, or through human mortality, they will turn around and select another who is capable of being a figurehead to lead their one, true cause. The many who insist on the purity of their cause will latch onto someone, anyone, who is able to deceive them into believing they need him. And have no fear, it will be a him, not a her. Eventually the Republicans will support a woman, but just as the election of Barack Obama did not eliminate the latent racism in the country, the first election of a woman to the presidency will not eliminate the misogyny of the country. Given how that trait seems rooted more firmly in one party, I predict it will be Democrats who cause the election of the first woman to the presidency.

And just like the racism that oozed out after Obama’s election, the virulent strain of misogyny will tear apart this nation even more than it is already. Face it, the attacks upon women’s agency are just beginning. Should Donald win another term, the hounds will be unleashed. Forget any form of contraception. That is something thought of by evil people who do not want women to be vessels of creation, a calling clearly authorized in the Bible (sarcasm on). That is what upsets me the most, is the misuse of the words of scripture to justify the subjugation of – just about anyone viewed as potentially progressive. When you hear about ministers who are upbraided by members of their congregation for preaching on the words of the Beatitudes, because they cast Jesus as a woke liberal, that’s when you realize there is nothing these brazen hypocrites will not do to gain power.

But then the economy. Things were so much better back then The political ads are already dripping their poison into the veins of America. And while some sense the true nature of this poison, others welcome it as they welcome morphine to ease their pains of existence. Sooner or later, they will find themselves addicted to the words of their cult leader. When that happens, we all will lose.    

The Rematch of Our Lives

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Memories! It’s amazing how memories can be manipulated. They are actually claiming conditions were so much better under the past administration, and if we only grant them our vote again, they will institute nirvana once more. Well, I invite all who have short memories to look at the archives of this blog. I began the blog after the inauguration of Donald Trump, and have kept it ever since. It is a reflection of the chaos we all felt set down in real time. But what I now see is that the chaos does not matter to so many of today’s citizens who may vote in November for Trump. No, what matters is ignorance. A recent poll from NBC shows that people who use newspapers to learn about the world favor Biden over Trump by a 70%-29% margin, while people who don’t follow political news favor Trump over Biden by a 53%-27% margin. Hidden within these numbers is a belief that traditional media gives a more comprehensive understanding vs. reading T-shirt slogans. I know some reject that belief.

So we now understand the reason why so many people are supporting Donald Trump. They are ignorant of the real issues.  At last, a real reason for why people are voting against their long-term interests. They believe politics are totally outside of their concern, and they have no need to understand issues or have any sort of political perspective. They are content just to skim the surface of culture, and are subject only to the loudest voice. That is why one party is able to claim the exact opposite of reality and get enough folks to buy into it that they are able to win elections.

I do understand that there are many who have bought into Trumpian principles. Some of them are true believers in the Republican mantra of lower taxes and smaller government, and they honestly believe other positions are evil and must be opposed. Bill Barr fits into this category, since he has come around to supporting Trump since the Biden / Democrat leftist thrust (according to him) is so evil, Trump is better by comparison. More than a few also share in the Trumpian racism which is reflected in so many of his positions, such as a vituperative distrust of any immigrants from what is called the Third World. These are the ones who believe in the great replacement theory, wherein whites are being deliberately forced into subservience and minority status, primarily by Jews who are pulling the strings of society. These are the hard core of Trump’s support, and no one will ever convince them otherwise.

No, what seems as if it is defining the election to come is the core of lazy and ignorant people who refuse to get involved. They may be convincible about the total unfitness of Donald Trump for presidential responsibilities. Somehow we must show these folks that the upcoming election is not an ordinary choice between opposing views of government. What we have instead, is a choice between reality, and a fantasy world of entrapment. Should we choose the latter, what might we expect?

For one, expect an attempt to be made to expel all who do not possess legal status inside of the US. Even if those who have a status of undocumented have lived within this country for decades, and have obeyed all other laws during that time, there will not be an exception made for good behavior. The mere act of illegal immigration will be enough to offset any subsequent behavior, and forced expatriation will be pursued throughout the second Trump administration. Expect scenes to be broadcast of crops rotting in neglected fields, followed by inflation in all prices agricultural. Remember that we no longer have a meat packing workforce that employs  legal residents, so prices for all farm protein will also skyrocket. If we thought prices escalated during the Biden administration, you can expect many times that level of inflation to afflict US consumers during the next administration.

Restaurants will close down as the work force disappears. Schools will be in flux as some students abruptly leave in order to accompany their families across a border to a land totally alien to them. Television crews will focus on those left behind, some with family support, but others trying to tough it out having lost both parental figures. The GDP of the country will nosedive as the US attempts to compensate for the loss of a substantial portion of its labor force.

This all did not have to happen. Immigration policy has been verboten to resolution in our congress for decades. Now, it appears the issue will be forced upon us because of the threats coming from one of the two political parties in this nation.

Other consequences we can expect? How about the abandonment of the rule of law, both domestic and foreign. We can expect the commitments to international order to vanish in a flurry of Presidential decrees, and people will be surprised to see an expansion in international conflicts, instead of the peace promised by Republicans. An attempt will be made to seize the levers of control for the US justice department, and only court challenges will potentially stop that from happening. Expect the job market for attorneys to ramp up, while productivity in the US economy slows to a crawl.

Of course, food-borne illnesses will take a huge jump up, as we abandon any semblance of regulatory control. All of the guard rails set up to prevent financial players from gouging clueless consumers? Gone in a blink. The political group that wants to eliminate Darwin from the schools has no qualms about unleashing financial Darwinism on the hapless people who live on the margins of the economy.

The controls on women of reproductive age will tighten. Reproductive rights? Merely a mirage, nothing to see here, your duty is to produce a new generation of citizens. The right kind of citizens, that is. Remember the laws against miscegenation? They were big when America was Great. Those same laws will reappear to prevent our culture from homogenizing. You want your government to monitor the status of your pregnancy? Your wish will be fulfilled in many states.

Worst of all, we will see the continued crackdown on political expression. TDS will become a capital offense, Even the far corners of the internet, like this blog, will be searched and forbidden. Those who think this is all hyperbole? Just go ahead with the election of Donald Trump and see how many of these projections come to fruition. This is not my choice of societies to live in for my remaining years. Unfortunately, societal dystopia may be coming for us all.

Poor Choices? It’s Up To Us

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In the rest of the northern hemisphere, Spring is inexorably coming. The daffodils have burst forth, and the Lenten roses are blooming. In the isolated world of politics, winter is coming. We face a reprise of the 2020 election in the US, with two flawed candidates leading their respective party tickets. Meanwhile, the legislature in the state of West Virginia has fitfully drawn to a close, with extended debate over culture war touchpoints, and not much else. It seems that the faults inherent in the original constitution have finally manifested themselves in our current political climate. We have the reality of the supreme body of the judicial branch, which is suffering from the lowest approval ranking of its long duration, and it also suffers from the sclerosis of its longest tenured members thinking they have all the answers, therefore they have inherent rights most of us can only dream about.

We have a legislative branch which has twisted itself into knots, bringing Shakespeare’s line to mind. Merely a sound and fury, signifying nothing. At the same time, the effectiveness of the executive branch of government is greatly hamperedt, with many in one party doubting the legitimacy of the current leader based only upon the repeated bleating of the past leader and his minions.

You can go back a long time and never come up with a time when all three branches of government were viewed with as much disdain as is found today. Always there was at least one branch of the three-headed creature called the US Federal Government which would fulfill its purpose as spelled out in the Constitution. Now? It seems like we continue to have crises in confidence streaming out hourly through social and commercial media. No longer is it necessary to hide your hypocrisy or your racism. In fact, if you don’t manifest it daily, you will be outed as a “gasp” liberal or RINO, since you obviously are not a true believer.

We don’t have to believe in nasty facts anymore. We do not need a common understanding of any situation. Just sit back and let the languid tones of your political superiors wash over you like a full-body massage. After all, you never need to really understand the implications of our political choices. If you say often enough that one candidate is enfeebled due to advanced age, then it entitles you to a free pass for all of your own gaffes, and allows you to claim execution of “sarcasm” as a reason for your misstatements.

What I really dislike is the tendency of people to assume problems that have built up over a 50-year period are owned strictly by the party currently in charge of the Executive branch of government. Memory does not extend back to the abhorrent acts of the previous administration. Well, for those who wish to understand why so many folks in the US are unhappy, it would be good to review the income distribution for the US. The last data I’ve seen was from 2019, so it does not cover the pandemic and subsequent recovery. That data shows 30% of families across the US earn $40,000 or less. For a full-time employee, that is less than $20 / hour. I would maintain that this amount is not sufficient to live on and support a family in any metropolitan area within the US. Even in my depressed area of West Virginia, that level of income would not allow you to live unless you already owned your house outright. And even then, the mandatory bills keep increasing. Utility bills in this state are soon to eclipse housing cost, as this state holds onto coal-based electricity, and inefficient water and gas utilities. A base level of utility service is approaching $500/month. For those who are retired, with inflexible incomes, these increases in utility costs are causing real hardship.

Yet our taxation and other governmental policies seem to indicate a lack of concern for these folks. Every program aimed at assisting these people who are working hard, is viewed as yet another handout for the undeserving. Indeed, there is a supposition of moral superiority for those who do not need any governmental assistance. Why do you think there is such a preference for unearned income (capital gains, dividends) in the Federal tax system vs. earned income (wages). Since taxation represents a moral judgement, the tax system at a Federal level reveals a strong preference for not working but merely using money to make more money.

There are so many cases where the moneyed class decry any assistance to the working class, on the stated belief that those who labor for a living do not deserve to receive governmental largesse, but giving taxation relief to the moneyed classes is morally required, since all taxation is viewed as illegal taking (thanks Ayn Rand). Now this group has its sights set on the WV income tax, and is slowly reducing the taxation stream to the state, even though the income tax is 40% of state revenues. This is something that affects me personally. My taxes will be reduced, while a world of need exists throughout the state.

We have lost the ability to share a burden as a nation. We cannot comprehend that we need a viable service class, which means paying them a living wage. When prices go up (as has happened with fast food), we scream for succor. How many problems could be solved if people accepted increasing the revenue side for the government, instead of focusing solely on the “excess spending”. We will never solve the problems of this nation or state if we insist upon continuing the path begun under Ronald Reagan. Taxation is not an unreasonable taking, it is part of the cost associated with living inside of a society that is not tearing itself into pieces. Those who are insisting upon nouveau isolationism will find out sooner or later the truth of the old advertising adage – you can pay me now, or pay me later. And the cost of later payment will likely be much much higher than the costs associated with paying now.

Only 7 Years Ago? Seems Like Yesterday

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Trump tower escalator. Photo credit by AP Images

It is hard to imagine, but it has been 7 years since a fateful trip down an escalator brought Trumpism into our national vocabulary. Now we will see if this political era was an aberration, or whether there will be an ongoing phenomena of selfish nationalism as a defining political belief. So many things have changed in the intervening years. For one thing, money was nearly free for much of the Trump era as interest rates hovered near zero. This nation and the world suffered from the most extensive viral infection we have seen in a century – though many people still do not think there was any unusual disease around them.

In many ways, the response to COVID provides an answer that Trumpism is not an aberration. If Trumpism is defined as a distrust of all forms governmental, along with a belief that our nation is better off going it alone and forgoing all international alliances, then no, Trumpism is not an aberration. An entire wing of the Republicans has always stood for isolationism, and a propensity toward conspiracy theories. As I grew up, it seemed those beliefs got segregated within self-contained enclaves, like the John Birch Society. We were able to laugh at those who believed in the imminent threat water fluoridation posed. But the Republicans writ large were able to subjugate this tendency since the existential threat of international communism seemed to be the primary motivation for foreign policy.

Once the communist threat imploded, the glue holding the Republican coalition loosened. Combined with downward economic mobility afflicting much of the nation’s interior, we emerged into a world where a significant portion of the population became convinced nothing good would ever come to them if the elites remained in charge. The wisdom of Donald Trump (gad – it hurts to write that phrase) was to reach out, if only in a superficial way, to that segment of the population and toss them a life preserver. That so many reached out for that life preserver, even when it was revealed to be covered with the slime of self-interest, carried Donald Trump to an improbable victory.

Once in office, he tried ineffectually to turn the levers of power to his advantage. Much to his chagrin, he found it was not possible to turn the ship of state, even in a single four-year term. He mistook this resistance to change to an entity he called the deep state. But he was able to establish his mark upon many of the governmental organizations, especially those with a conservative bent. Still, he found it impossible to totally restructure those portions of government with a liberal bias, and thus minimal change occurred in the groups who used science to govern their actions. Fortunately for us, the corruption and incompetence of Donald Trump enabled the deep state to survive a single term.

But if you view Donald Trump as someone who rode the currents to victory in spite of himself, the second generation of Trumpism offers hope to those who believe in the ultimate objectives of Trump. They come with the experience of running large organizations, and have survived the skirmishes politics throw up. Governors of Texas and Florida are well-positioned to ride the waves of anti-government sentiment still crashing on our shores. They are backed by legions of followers who self-segregate into media pools where only their own perspective is allowed. Nowhere was that more evident than in the decision of Fox News to not only ignore the prime time January 6 hearing, but in the secondary decision that organization made to forego any commercial revenue in the hopes of keeping fingers from switching inputs to other channels, where the hearing was playing.

So where we stand is at a precipice. It is still possible to convince a portion of this nation of the evil represented in the Republican position, while at the same time it is possible to evoke emotional support for those same positions in another segment of the population. But that is a key point. Only 20 million people watched the first January 6 hearing, and while those involved in television believed this was a huge crowd (it rivaled the audience for Sunday Night Football!), I myself was underwhelmed by an audience of 6% of the population of this nation who had enough interest to tune in for two hours. You must realize it will be the 94% who didn’t watch this coverage who will determine the outcome.

Those who will decide the course of this nation are not the people invested in politics. The ones who will decide are those who cannot see beyond their current economic conditions and view their vote as the only tool they have to right the wrongs they see in their own lives. You can try to convince them to vote in favor of principles, but high and mighty thoughts will be swallowed by the economic waves battering the shore. Many folks cannot see beyond those waves, and to persuade them of the impending death of democracy should they choose the party of autocrats is hopeless. What we must do is figure out a way to make more noise than the opposition. I am convinced it is necessary to yell, since it seems only cacophony can be heard over the drone of the trumpets. There’s a reason Twitter has such a small character limit to its posts – the national attention span can’t handle longer thoughts.

What this nation needs is not a better COVID vaccine. We need a vaccine against the idiocy and idolatry of Trumpism.

A Glimpse Inside His Skull

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Poor widdle Donald. No one understands him. All he sees is hatred out there. That’s why he has to reinforce his ego through regular injections of rallies. Even those, though, are somehow failing to satisfy the black hole of an ego. Not even the false accolade of being the person who brought Osama Bin Laden to justice could make him feel better. No, we need to schedule another rally in North Carolina.

Let us peek into the inside of his damaged mind to discern his thoughts.

No one can understand how math works. Why can’t they see that 74 million votes is so much more than 81 million? Why, 74 million is so much more than the 63 million who voted for me back in 2016. If I got 11 million more than before when I won, it was impossible for Sleepy Joe to beat me in a fair fight. Yet there are still folks who are not convinced of the massive, massive fraud that took place in 2020. What more do we need to show people? They actually believe other media? What idiots they are.

They call me a liar. The wicked technology companies actually kicked me off after my perfect calls on January 6. No, you can’t see those logs. They are important for national security. But trust me, they were all perfect calls. Well, I’ll show them. I’ll come up with my own social media company. You say it’s been up since February? I’ll bet all of those who have bought into this are just waiting for my words of wisdom. I do have words of wisdom. They show how it is possible to self-deceive so completely that I actually believe what I say. Believe me, that takes some doing when the entire rest of the world is so deceived. Except for those who watch me when I’m on TV. And there are so many ways I can express myself nowadays. I really limited myself when I used that Twitter thing. One thing I have to remember, though. Never book another interview on NPR. Just wait till I’ve gone through my next coronation. NPR will find themselves so far out from public funding it’ll make their head spin. Imagine the audacity of trying to ask me real questions. Better I stay where I can direct the talk.

Just wait till my power shows itself. All those candidates I endorsed, marching to victory in their primary races. Of course, that’s the only race that matters. No way the loser Democrats can compare with my wonderful record, best President ever. I’ve got to check with those folks in South Dakota, see whether they have enough room for my glorious face up there. But why fool around with those other losers. There’s a blank slate up there in Yosemite, you know, that blank canvas made of granite? How much better it’ll look when it is filled with my glorious face. I deserve my own place, not sharing one with others.

South Dakota. They’ve got a pretty good governor up there. Sooner or later I’ll need to think about who I want up there with me when I’m coronated again. Don’t know, it may even be possible to get a larger crowd than my first coronation. I’ll have to look up that Spicer fellow, he may be able to convince those stupid media folks. Have you ever seen such hatred? They don’t believe me when I say I am the greatest. What did Cassius Clay have that I don’t have? They all loved him. Why can’t they show me that same love? I oughta send Mike Tyson out to bite off their ears. Then they might believe me.

Don’t you love hearing Herschel talking about his grades? I haven’t heard so much talk about grades since I was talking about all of my academic awards in college. What? You want to see them. Nope, can’t release them. Matter of national security, after all. Those grades are still under audit and I’ve been told (I have the best advisors – I always do what they tell me once I’ve let them know what’s right) to not ever release anything under audit.

But everything is unfair. They won’t even say anything good about my hole-in-one. I know the best places to play golf. So good to get out there in the sunlight and drive my cart the length of my golf drives. No one can drive it as good as me. So much better for me to golf than for that loser to ride a bike. Who’s he trying to impress, anyway? I just bet that they’ve got the double out there riding the bike, while Sleepy Joe is taking another nap. Look at me. You never hear me talk about taking naps. I’m the one who knows what’s coming next. You want to know what Putin will do next? You’d better hope I’m back there and am the one talking to Putin. See, he just doesn’t respect Sleepy Joe. Putin would never have tried to invade Ukraine if I was in charge. I know just the way to talk to those guys. Look at Kim Jong Un. Firing those huge missiles up in the air. He never did that when I was talking to him. And he wrote such lovely letters to me. Of course I wanted to take them with me. Wouldn’t you?

No, I’ll still be around. Since I’m back on my old diet, I’ll be around for a long time to come. You’ve got a lot to look forward to.

Let Me Know When We Get Back To Normal

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The former Trump Plaza casino is imploded on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

We’ve had more self-proclaimed witch hunts than Salem had at its peak. One more government prosecution, one more charge of a political witch hunt coming from our witch-in-chief. Yet we should not be surprised. We are now witnessing the ultimate case of failing up, and the denouement of this case is causing severe angst amongst the few who benefited from the Trump empire.

Certainly it has not been the myriads of small businesses and craftspeople who built the edifices intended to glorify the namesake of the empire who benefited from the business. They had to resort to legal action in order to recover even a tiny portion of what was owed them. Certainly it has not been the banks, who had to take over ownership of the various pieces of the empire after they had fallen into bankruptcy. Certainly not those family members who were associated with his loser brother, who had the temerity to renounce the family business and take on a proletariat occupation. They disgraced the family name and had to settle for a pittance of what they were truly owed.

Failing up. Imagine an entire career where the Peter Principle was embodied by its leader. Only this was a case where the one true skill of the leader, self-aggrandizement, was successful enough to cause millions of followers to be mesmerized into believing in the divinity of the leader. The embodiment of greed became the mantra of masses of otherwise normal people. So instead of the real example of a failed businessman who had never truly succeeded at any of his ventures, the image of the self-made business genius prevailed, and nothing anyone could say would disabuse his true believers from their delusions. Certainly not the investigative reporting of the various media sources, which had been transformed into the “enemies of the people” by the repeated statements of the leader.

Now, with the indictment of the Chief Financial Officer, and the indictment of the business itself, Donald Trump may find it impossible to fail upwards anymore. Everything for him is now pointing downhill, like the demolition of one of his Atlantic City casinos shown in the photo above. Whether this is the event which will cause the dear leader to accept his failings is doubtful. We’ve plenty of evidence to show it is impossible for The Donald to accept any self-failings. It has to be someone else’s fault. It is simply not possible for any actions of Donald to be less than glorious in its magnificence.

His minions and worshipers will be unmoved by the legal travails emanating from the various indictments swirling around. They still believe in the neo-deity and divine inspiration of the charlatan. In order to acknowledge the failings of Trump, it would be necessary to admit they were wrong in hitching their wagon to his ascendency. After all, the vision of a world where black and white were clearly defined, and each was in its place, is at the heart of the world view of his followers.

It is nearly six months since the leader of this movement abdicated his Washington shrine for his southern estate in Florida. This nation wants desperately to move on, yet we continue to be held hostage by the ravings of the ex-President, and by the sycophantic sniffling of those who still curry favor with the failed leader. It is now entering the dangerous phase, where a significant segment of the US population believes blindly in the lies and deceptions uttered by those who seek to gain from their association with the ex-President. We now have a schizophrenic Congress, with a split personality. Who will be our psychiatrist capable of reconciling these diametrically opposed personalities? Will we reach reconciliation before we have violence in support of the big lie?

Once more, it is necessary to put our faith in the hands of the administrators of justice. Only they have the ability to ensure the behavior of the Trump organization does not become normalized across the business world. Only they are able to finally administer accountability to the man who has held this nation hostage, by letting him know once and for all that his behavior was and still is unacceptable. Certainly it is not possible to expect Congress or state legislatures to administer this accountability. In the case of Congress, the culpability of many members in the January 6 insurrection must be covered up and buried. For state legislatures, they sit in craven fear that the Republican base will come after them if they dare to show independence from the story of the big lie.

I wish I still did not feel obligated to express my feelings about the failure of our 45th President. Maybe in another six months, he will have receded far enough from the daily topics of the news so that he himself will no longer present a danger. But it will be a long time before his followers can be deprogrammed, and re-enter the world of reality. There lies the real danger.

A Final Temper Tantrum?

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Donald’s sad, very very sad. What a sad day Donny had.

This was a verse I used to sing to my children when they were pouting or crying for what I perceived to be inappropriate reasons. It seems appropriate now to sing it to our pouter-in-chief as he concludes his tantrum against the foundations of democracy. How is it that he could deceive as many people as he has into believing it was impossible for him to lose, because he had all of the visible energy of his fraction of the electorate. How could he lose when he got more votes than all of the previous successful candidates?

Easy. The energy that was stored in those who voted for his opposition was potential energy, waiting for the opportunity to be released through the ballot. And thus, an even greater number of citizens voted for Joe Biden, and the primary reason why they supported him was because he was not Donald Trump.

We’ve run our little experiment on what it would be like to withdraw into our own borders, and not interact with anyone else. What have we learned? We’ve learned that the vacuum that develops from our withdrawal gets filled. The Chinese in particular have stretched their legs and made inroads across the globe, especially in what used to be considered the non-aligned world. But in Europe, a recognition has grown that the US is not to be depended upon, since it is capable of electing such an imbecile as has graced the White House for the last four years. The enduring image from this administration will be Trump sitting at a table, arms crossed in the body language of rejection and defiance, while Angela Merkel leaned across the table as if lecturing the wayward boy while the rest of the western leaders stood by in support of Merkel.

Photograph: Jesco Denzel/AFP/Getty Image

But now we see the last stages of the four year long temper tantrum, and the desperation in Donald’s demeanor is coming out in droves. “So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”  Begging, pleading, threatening. All of the behaviors we have expected from this excuse for a President coming to the fore in a single perfect phone call. Well, after the final card is played on January 6 with the official declaration of the Electoral College vote, and no miracle is forthcoming to overturn the will of the people of the US, then Donny can go off and sulk in the corner. Just so he doesn’t do further damage to the fabric and substance of this nation on his way out.

I hope this is the last post I have to write denouncing this abysmal President, but I fear he is capable of much mischief not only while he is still officially in power, but in the political wilderness he will descend into after January 20. There are still tens of millions who believe he is the rightful winner of the election, and who will not recognize the legitimacy of the Biden administration. There are still tens of millions who believe that the ultimate evil has been unleashed upon this nation, and we can expect another batch of child abductions and dismemberments at the hands of the satanic Democrats. There are still tens of millions whose image of Trump is as a ripped man holding the automatic weapon of vengeance ready to pounce on those who object to his manifest greatness. It is obvious that all the facts in the world will not change the mind of a single one of these true believers. What we must be ready to do is make progress while we step around those who are screaming and holding their breath as they denounce the unfairness of the world.

The real problems we face as a species have not gone away over the past four years. In cases like climate change, they are now worse, and we have squandered a significant chunk of time in a futile attempt to recapture our past fossil fuel greatness. In others like pandemic preparedness, we’ve seen only too vividly how important it is to have early warning systems in place, and respond appropriately when a true signal is sounded. There are many other problems that can cause our intricately constructed house of economic cards to collapse. Supply chain issues come to mind as demonstrated by the pandemic, but it is our electric infrastructure that is most vulnerable to attack, either from nature, or from cyber threat. We must make it feasible for these problems to be addressed. The four years we spent on a circus sideshow now appear as a wasted opportunity.

When I used to sing this verse to my children, I would repeat the first line.

Donald’s sad, very very sad. What a sad day Donny had.

The second time through, it was slightly lower in pitch. Then I’d break into the following final line, raising the pitch:

But then he got happy! He really got happy!

When I sang that, usually it caused the boy who was pouting or crying to forget what he was mad about, and get mad at me for making fun of him. In Donny’s case, I’m afraid he is congenitally unable to become happy. If four years of near absolute power cannot make him happy, then there is not a thing in the world that will work to make him happy. That is undoubtedly the curse he will take with him to his grave.

Yesterday

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In the past week, events ran at such a pace that a poor blogger was not able to keep up. I initially wrote this piece a week ago, after the “debate”, and the story about taxes from the NYT, when I believed that just maybe, a sense of reflection would have come across this President. Then came the news of the positive result for COVID, and the subsequent hospitalization. While tempting, I will not resort to cheap expressions that I feel karma has overtaken events. Still, it may be that the President has actually had the chance for reflection over the past few days, so my offering here is provided with that in mind.

My apologies to the Beatles.

Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away.
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be.
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why they had to blow,

My cover, they wouldn’t say

I did all things wrong

Now I long for yesterday

Yesterday fraud was such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh I believe in Putin’s sway

Why I thought they’d know?

I’m the best, we’d be ok.

I did all things wrong

Now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday, all my dreams were part of daily play

Now I’ll need a brand new place to stay

No more TV from Fox today

Mm mm mm, mm mmm mmm mm.

Still Crazy, After All These Months

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Trump's world

Fourteen months ago, the Trump administration took office. The American electorate selected a novice politician as their executive leader. This leader extolled his business acumen, his management skills, his abilities to only hire “the best people”. The voters of this nation, having grown used to the presence of this actor from his television reality show, ignored the baggage that he brought to this office. Baggage of multiple business bankruptcies. Baggage of two failed marriages, and the baggage of a reputation for womanizing. Baggage of a history of making money through the expedient act of not paying local craftsmen for their honest work. Baggage of sponsoring a bogus real estate course offering expectations of great insights from the master developer, only to instead offer bait and switch courses where for a few thousand dollars more, course participants could get the next level of knowledge. Baggage of over 3,500 lawsuits filed against Donald Trump and his affiliated companies over the course of his career. Baggage of egregious racist attitudes exemplified by his crusades against the falsely convicted Central Park 5 defendants and his outrageous birther claims against President Obama. Still. He was elected as President of the United States despite this pitiful record.

So why is it now, fourteen months later, do I have the feeling that I’m revisiting a 1930’s movie with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, only instead of “Hey, let’s put on a show!”, I believe that the rank amateurs in this administration decided, “Hey, let’s put on a Federal Government !” I can see the facades of the scenery being constructed for the big musical numbers, err, the big cabinet meetings that is, with the cheesy dialogue coming from the cabinet members pouring out laud and honor upon he who must not be criticized. Why is it that this supposed genius at personnel management managed to hire people better suited for roles as parking valets than as government managers?

I hear his supporters keep claiming that he’s accomplished so much, and all of the media and coastal elites just keep harping on the same old things, can’t get over the fact that Hillary lost, just shut up and take it. OK. Fine. Hillary lost. Apparently enough voters from enough states wallowing in the echo chamber of social media (soaking in a Russian dressing marinade) selected this candidate to enable him to succeed in the electoral college. I’ve seen all of the graphics showing that Trump won the overwhelming amount of land area and the county count. Guess what? This nation has turned into an urban nation, and it is in the urban centers that the repudiation of Donald Trump was at its strongest. Only the Electoral College was in favor of Donald Trump.

As far as Donald Trump’s incessant claims that his administration has accomplished the most of any first term President in his first year, I realize once more that he lives in the delusional world of his own making. I count his successes in his first year at exactly two – first, the nomination of Neil Gorsuch and his confirmation by the Senate, second, the extremely tortuous path to an upper class and corporate tax cut foisted upon the American public late in 2017. What are some of his failures in his first year as he played his role as President?

  1. Repeal and Replace. Easiest thing in the world (who knew that health care was so hard!).
  2. Witch hunt! Seems to me that the witch hunt is getting closer and closer to unraveling the webs of deceit and deception surrounding the unnatural ties between Trump and Russian influence and money. We shall see what we shall see.
  3. Infrastructure week 1. Infrastructure week 2. In what should have been the easiest sell in the history of Presidential politics, can anyone enunciate what infrastructure policy Trump is advocating and how that is going to restore the nation to greatness?
  4. Let’s all sing like the birdies sing. Tweet, tweet tweet, tweet tweet. Enough said.
  5. I only hire the best people. Yeah, the best people who manage to trip all over themselves in justifying exorbitant plane fares (in first class I don’t get yelled at by the people affected by my policies), the people who can’t figure out how to comply with instructions on how to fill out forms for security clearances, people who beat their spouses and can’t get security clearances but still remain on the job until their actions get unwanted press. I can keep on going as long as you have patience to read examples of incompetence, but still I think the Mooch has the unbeatable record of being fired before he actually took over a position within this administration. I don’t know how you can ever top this as a signal accomplishment of this totally incompetent President.
  6. There’s good people on both sides. Ah yes, the moral equivalence proposition that neo-Nazis who paraded down the streets of Charlottesville in their khakis and polos carrying their tiki torches and chanting anti-Semitic slogans were just as good as those who marched to protest the neo-Nazis. And yes, I am aware that there were antifa provocateurs who provoked attacks from the neo’s. But they didn’t drive cars through crowds of protestors, mowing down victims mindlessly.
  7. Diplomats? We don’t need no steenkin’ diplomats. While there is optimism that the Korean peninsula is not going to become a giant ball of nuclear flame, the American people (and the rest of the world) greatly prefer the use of diplomacy with an adequately staffed State Department to the vagaries of an adult with ADHD who decides on the spur of the moment to accept a summit invitation. What does it say when the leader of North Korea exhibits more maturity than the President of the United States? Welcome to our world.

I know that none of these arguments are going to sway those who are true believers in the complete imbecile now occupying the office of the President. I also know that the true believer who occupies the office of the Vice President is perhaps more dangerous, since he is an ideologue, and has demonstrated competence at government administration. The Vice President’s ideology is putrid, and his pronouncements would have the institution of a theocracy as one of his highest priorities. For all of Donald Trump’s failings, theocratic leanings are not one of them. Donald Trump has played the Christian card for all of the benefits he could get, being himself a card-carrying hypocrite. So there is danger in forcing the removal of this President, should the opportunity present itself. No, what I am doing is using whatever power I have in my words to keep shouting to the world how Donald Trump’s incompetence and narcissism is placing the security of the world at risk. And once more emphasizing to the American public that it is not a good idea to elect charlatans to the highest office in our land. Not that they care. Last time I checked, the Kardashian’s are still trending on social media. And of course, that is our highest priority, right?