Trump is a spiteful, petty, lunatic demagogue, elected by an archaic electoral college that over-represents low-population Red States, while losing the popular vote by an almost 3,000,000 vote plurality. He is unfit and an illegitimate President with no mandate to govern--his lunatic minority base constituting no consent of the governed, 67% in direct opposition and resistance. He is a Clear and Present Danger to America and our Home World.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Putin's Gambit Paid Off, Hugely and Bigly
Trump is a mental and emotional cripple, unfit to serve, and a Clear and Present Danger to the Nation and Planet. His words and deeds render him illegitimate. We the People can still stop this madman and usher in a new American Renaissance. See The End of the So-Called Era of Trump: An American Renaissance.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
How a Minority Party Dominates America in 2017
The framers of our
Constitution, representing thirteen Colonies in the 18th Century,
could not have imagined that 240 years later in the 21st Century, in
a Nation of over 326.5 million citizens: one
quarter would be living in the three most populous States, represented by only 6 Senators; one quarter would be living in the six next most populous States, represented by only 12 Senators, one quarter would be living
in the eleven second to least
populous States, represented by 22
Senators, and one quarter would be
living in the 32 least populous
States, represented by 64 Senators.
Many of these almost exclusively
Republican Senators represent entire States with a total population smaller
than many Cities in the other 20 States. This is not representative democracy. The fifty-two Republican Senators
today represent only 129.8 million citizens (40%), the 48 Democratic and
Independent Senators represent 196.8 million citizens (60%).
This disproportionate
over-representation of Republicans in the United States Senate is not as
flagrant in the House of Representatives, but due to systematic Congressional
District gerrymandering by Republican-dominated Statehouses, again, Republican
Congresspersons, like their Senate counterparts, represent a minority of voters.
This is how a minority
political party can dominate the Congress in a divided Nation. It is also how
a lunatic demagogue can be ‘elected’ by an electoral college that
over-represents low-population, mostly Red States, while losing the popular vote
by a 2.9 million vote plurality. Only with massive
voter turnouts, in every election, starting now, can We the People re-establish a government at the Federal, State, and
Local levels that is representative of the majority.
When the two major Political Parties represented an overlapping spectrum of the electorate, from Left to Right, and moderates in both parties worked to craft bipartisan solutions to the Nation's challenges for decades following WW II, the non-representative flaws and quirks in our political system were tolerable. But with the current poisonous political environment, begun in the 1980s with the Republican Culture Wars and accelerated in the 1990s with the Republican framing of Politics as War by Other Means, and now an opportunistic minority Republican Party willing to abide a lunatic demagogue unfit so-called 'President' to attempt to push through their Right-Wing and pro-Filthy Rich agenda, the flaws in our political system are not sustainable. Obama's naive assertion, that we are one United States, is no longer tenable.
After we elect a Democratic majority in the House in the 2018 midterms and our elected representatives in the House and both Parties in the Senate remove Trump and Pence from office in disgrace in 2019, for their High Crimes and Misdemeanors, we must face an indisputable fact: We are not one Nation. We didn't create the current breach in the body politic. We didn't expose and embolden the lunatic minority malignant cancer, irreconcilable and incompatible with our values and future as a Nation. Trump did this. This is not just unprecedented; Trump has rendered the Nation ungovernable. His profound mental illness precludes him from stopping this, and renders him illegitimate and unfit to serve in office.
When the two major Political Parties represented an overlapping spectrum of the electorate, from Left to Right, and moderates in both parties worked to craft bipartisan solutions to the Nation's challenges for decades following WW II, the non-representative flaws and quirks in our political system were tolerable. But with the current poisonous political environment, begun in the 1980s with the Republican Culture Wars and accelerated in the 1990s with the Republican framing of Politics as War by Other Means, and now an opportunistic minority Republican Party willing to abide a lunatic demagogue unfit so-called 'President' to attempt to push through their Right-Wing and pro-Filthy Rich agenda, the flaws in our political system are not sustainable. Obama's naive assertion, that we are one United States, is no longer tenable.
After we elect a Democratic majority in the House in the 2018 midterms and our elected representatives in the House and both Parties in the Senate remove Trump and Pence from office in disgrace in 2019, for their High Crimes and Misdemeanors, we must face an indisputable fact: We are not one Nation. We didn't create the current breach in the body politic. We didn't expose and embolden the lunatic minority malignant cancer, irreconcilable and incompatible with our values and future as a Nation. Trump did this. This is not just unprecedented; Trump has rendered the Nation ungovernable. His profound mental illness precludes him from stopping this, and renders him illegitimate and unfit to serve in office.
We didn't force the Republican Party to embrace Donald Trump. Many opposed him as unfit during the primaries and general election campaign. But after his unexpected electoral college 'win,' they opportunistically decided to tolerate and cravenly support Trump, hoping to further their own agenda. In so doing, they have revealed their rapacious greed, disregard for the common good, disdain for most Americans, and moral bankruptcy. This must and will end. We the People will put a stop to this. The Republican Party has forfeited any legitimate claim to govern, PERIOD!
This is why, while or after Trump is removed from office, if these Trump base lunatics force us to re-litigate the Civil War, there will be no
premature peace. Lincoln should have let his Generals, Grant and Sherman, and their mighty Union armies--their ranks swelled by self-liberated African-American slaves--finish
the job in 1865--killing every Rebel man, woman, and child, and every Rebel
sympathizer. This time, the Blue versus the Red, instead of the Grey, will
be a war of total annihilation. And when we have killed them all, we will
rebuild and repopulate the devastated secessionist former Red States with a diverse and inclusive population of Whites, Hispanics and
African-Americans, and make America truly great, for the first time. Trump, the Republican Party that embraced him, and
the malignant cancer he has brought into the light, will Reap the Whirlwind…
Or, as their
“Pro-Life” posters say, they can ‘Choose Life’, aggregate in the ten to fifteen reddest
States, and vote to voluntarily secede from the Union. Either way, this ends.
[See my “The End of
the So-Called Era of Trump: An American Renaissance” – https://www.dropbox.com/s/0u7h50kc7adtohq/The%20End%20of%20the%20So-Called%20Era%20of%20Trump%20v-1.15.pdf?dl=0 ]
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Trump is Finished
I've been waging The Trump Resistance from this blog, and on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, since the day before Trump was inaugurated in January 2017. I've spent hours on LinkedIn, a hotbed of Trumpian True Believers, refuting absurd posts and claims, for ten months. But now, finally, the end is at hand.
As mental health professionals have publicly warned, starting when Trump announced his candidacy and continuing to this day, Trump is a mental and emotional cripple, incapable of executing the duties of the Office of President. This illegitimate lunatic demagogue has only become more obsessed with feeding his irreconcilable and willfully ignorant base, which stabilized at 30-something percent of Americans within weeks of his taking office. There has been, and will be, no "pivot" to Presidential temperament or behavior, as his apologists insisted would happen during the campaign. He has no intention, inclination, or capacity to reach out to most Americans, who reject him, his Administration, and agenda. He has become more unstable, irrational, delusional, petty, spiteful, and hateful over time.
The madness that began when Trump declared he was seeking the Republican nomination for President, continued through a long primary season, and unprecedented and outrageous Presidential campaign, culminating in Trump's electoral college “election”--thanks to an archaic undemocratic system that over-represents low-population Red States, in which Trump lost the popular vote by a 2.9 million vote plurality in November 2016--and only escalating in the months since he was sworn in in January 2017, is coming to its inevitable conclusion with Trump’s removal from office in disgrace. The "why" is obvious. The "how" and exactly "when" are all that are in doubt. Not soon enough, but better late than never.
Keith Olbermann: “I am retiring from political commentary in all media venues.”
It seems we both have come to the same conclusion: Trump is doomed! Further back and forth with his lunatic 30-something percent irreconcilable and willfully ignorant base, and/or continuing to beat a soon to be dead horse, is unnecessary. I retired from my back and forth with Trumpians on LinkedIn yesterday!
After Trump is gone, we will turn our attention to the malignant cancer he has revealed, his core base: 15 to 20 percent of our fellow citizens, irreconcilable, hateful, willfully ignorant and incompatible with the values and future of our Nation. One way or another, they will be removed from our midst, so that America can continue its march into the diverse, inclusive, non-WASP, non-Filthy Rich dominated future that is our destiny.
[See my “The End of the So-Called Era of Trump: An American Renaissance” -
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0u7h50kc7adtohq/The%20End%20of%20the%20So-Called%20Era%20of%20Trump%20v-1.15.pdf?dl=0]
Since my Democratic Party seems to have some difficulty understanding the sentiments of We the People, and crafting a "message," I've created a meme to help them out:
Friday, November 3, 2017
Here I Stand
First, an Admission
It is impossible to keep up with every Trump outrage: every abuse of power; every impeachable offense; outright lie; and/or misinformation/propaganda assertion by him and his enablers. In light of this, I've written a detailed document addressing the profound problem we face as a Nation. Trump is an unprecedented threat to our way of life. This is not a threat than can be addressed in a catchy meme or 500 word statement. Consider reading my document. You can always bail out at any time.Here I Stand
Why and what I think the danger is, and how I believe we must address it: Hear I Stand v-1.70.
Friday, October 13, 2017
The Coming Revolution--Bloodless or Bloody; Their Choice
We are approaching the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik
Revolution, (aka the Great October Socialist Revolution in Trump’s dear
friend—and 2016 campaign co-chair, Putin’s Russia), when The Masses in Russia
rose up, overthrew, and killed their
Filthy Rich 1%ers. Hopefully, the Filthy Rich in America—their unlikely campion,
our spiteful, petty, and hateful lunatic
demagogue ‘President,’ crashing and burning like the Hindenburg—are feeling the
hair rise on the back of their necks!
Relax, mostly White Anglo-Saxon-Protestant (WASP) top
5-percenter Haves. We have a Constitutional
Republic, where revolutions can be
bloodless. Your idiot has awakened the sleeping masses in America, exposing
the rapacious greed and moral bankruptcy of your Social Class,
and your Lackeys, the Republican Party.
His lunatic shrinking minority base is no protection. We the People, 67% and growing daily, in open resistance and
opposition to Trump and his Republican enablers in the Congress, will
precipitate the needed Revolution, first in the 2018
midterm elections and every election thereafter. Spend all you want, in
unlimited and anonymous contributions, to attempt to buy the election, exploiting the fear, hate, and willful ignorance
of less educated Americans. It isn’t working, and will not work. Your upward
mobility myth is exposed; your unwarranted and unjust dominance and privilege are coming to an
end. You had to push it too far: now Reap
the Whirlwind. It will feel like oppression, but We the People will simply vote your protectors and enablers
out of office, and then deal first with Trump, and then with you and your obscene
wealth. Not with clubs and torches, but with steep, progressive, and just, new inheritance
and income taxation laws. And not forever, only as long as it takes to restore
levels of wealth and income distributions to sustainable levels in a functional
and viable democracy.
As you ponder your options, keep in mind that those who make
peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. Give it up,
voluntarily. You know it is past time. You had a great run, but in this
Universe, all things end…
The End of the So-Called Era of Trump: An American Renaissance
The End of the So-Called Era of Trump: An American Renaissance
Friday News Roundup – Domestic: https://the1a.org/shows/2017-10-13/friday-news-roundup-domestic
Friday, October 6, 2017
He Cray Cray, PERIOD!
Donald Trump is not just a willfully ignorant, racist, misogynist, hate-monger, demagogue. His agenda and policies are wrong. But these are dead in the Senate, with a handful of courageous Republican patriots blocking his bullshit legislative agenda. His Executive Orders are unconstitutional. But an independent Federal Judiciary consistently blocks these. His Crony Capitalist Cabinet and our Military Leaders openly defy and rebuke his insane comments and tweets, and senior appointees are leaking the most damning information and documents to a Free Press. His 35% minority lunatic "base" provides no basis to govern, with 60% of Americans, and most Federal Civil Servants in open opposition and resistance to his Administration. But why do we need to depend on these people to stop this lunatic from destroying our Nation and threatening all life on our Home World?
Trump is profoundly mentally disturbed. He is 'illegitimate' by words and deeds, having 'won' a bullshit electoral college that over-represents low-population Red States, while losing the popular vote by an almost 3,000,000 vote plurality. If Speaker Ryan continues to refuse to do his duty and start Impeachment proceedings in the House, we may not be able to wait until the Republican majorities in Congress are defeated in the 2018 mid-terms. In that case, our Military will have to remove this monster from office, in a coup, for the first time in our history, correcting the error of a White racist Whitelash against 8 years of Barack Obama and a visceral hatred toward Hillary Clinton, that put a dangerous demagogue in Office.
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and
Mental Health Experts Assess a President Hardcover – October 3, 2017
“The consensus view of two dozen psychiatrists and
psychologists that Trump is dangerously mentally ill and that he presents a
clear and present danger to the nation and our own mental health.
This is not normal.
Since the start of Donald Trump’s presidential run, one
question has quietly but urgently permeated the observations of concerned
citizens: What is wrong with him? Constrained by the American Psychiatric
Association’s “Goldwater rule,” which inhibits mental health professionals from
diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those
qualified to answer this question have shied away from discussing the issue at
all. The public has thus been left to wonder whether he is mad, bad, or both.
In THE DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP, twenty-seven
psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health experts argue that, in
Mr. Trump’s case, their moral and civic “duty to warn” America supersedes
professional neutrality. They then explore Trump’s symptoms and potentially
relevant diagnoses to find a complex, if also dangerously mad, man…”
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
The Reality of Obama’s Eight Years in Office, and Trump’s Likely Legacy
Two simple facts: (1) During Obama's eight years in office,
race relations and racial attitudes improved, as demonstrated by reputable
pollsters and a reduction in Hate Crimes; (2) These emboldened Trump base
lunatics--as clearly demonstrated on social media, through reporting in reputable
mainstream print and electronic News outlets, and in the Public Square--are not
going to stop until we are forced to re-litigate the Civil War.
The breach Donald Trump has both created and exploited will not
be repaired. Hate, fear, and willful ignorance are addictive and appeal to the
most primitive parts of our brains. This lunatic's legacy will be: He exposed a
racist, xenophobic, and mythic American Past yearning for, minority of
Americans; the intellectual and/or biological descendants of Rebels who were
allowed to survive the first Civil War in 1865 and pass their hate and
ignorance to future generations. He sparked a second Civil War. When he did,
we, the United [Blue] States of America annihilated
all the secessionists and their
sympathizers, allowing no premature surrender or peace. We will finish it this time.
There will be no third Civil War in America. After this one, together, we
will return America to its fearless march into the diverse, inclusive, more
just, and no-longer WASP-dominated or
1%ers-tolerating Future. Greed
and White
Privilege have had their day; but now, it is ending... Reap the
Whirlwind! Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, His Truth is Marching On.
“My Paternal Grandfather Called
Them White People”
Trump is in a trap he created with his rhetoric during and since the Presidential Campaign.
His DACA move is madness, raw meat for his lunatic base.
Trump Rescinds DACA, a Racist Bone to His Lunatic Base
Donald Trump, our racist Lunatic-in-Chief demagogue, first
rescinded DACA, then, within hours, seeing the firestorm and bad press, said he
“may” reconsider. This profoundly mentally disturbed emotional cripple thinks
he can create and hate a scapegoat, to ‘win’ an election and continue to feed
his 35% lunatic base to cling to power, and simultaneously reach out to the 60% of Americans in
open rebellion against him and his Right Wing xenophobic agenda, and the 5% who
inexplicably are still “Not Sure” about this madman.
Our Nation faced a fascist threat from Germany and Italy in
the 1930s, and responded with a World War that liberated Italy, already
regretting their flirtation with a lunatic demagogue, and devastated Germany,
too slow to throw off their lunatic demagogue on their own. Now, 80 years
later, we face a lunatic demagogue in our White House. We have a Constitution
that gives our Congress a legal mechanism to remove this idiot without a war,
and elections every two years so that if Trump's Republican enablers refuse to
do their duty, we can throw them out and elect a Party that will.
“A Top Member Of Trump’s Diversity Council Just Resigned
Live On The Air”
“They Know They Can’t Win; They Just Want Black and Brown
People to Lose Too”
“Trump: I'll 'revisit' DACA if Congress can't fix in 6
months”
“After Trump Immigration Decision, ‘Dreamers’ Say They Will
Fight To Stay In U.S.”
United We Dream, a great organization fighting for DACA and
immigrants, fellow human beings, not “illegal” anything!
I was warned about WASPs from a young age, by my
Grandfather, who immigrated to America, a mythic dream of opportunity that
turned out to be a Social Class driven Capitalist culture dominated by a small
minority of people who he presumed: “Once were honorable people.”
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
IMG 7426 All Things End
I've been watching my Morning Glories grow from seedlings to mature thriving vines in bloom and now, inevitably, surrendering to death and rebirth through hundreds of seeds, many of which I am collecting, but also many falling to the ground to spawn new generations of plants below my balcony... The Circle of Life!
Donald Trump is an abomination. His 'election' a fluke, the death gasp of a mythic racist White America that never existed. The reign of WASPs is coming to an end, their overthrow leading to the diverse, inclusive, more just, and no longer White-dominated One World of Tomorrow.
See "My Paternal Grandfather Called Them White People" -
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kp92rvsan71fv2g/My%20Paternal%20Grandfather%20Called%20Them%20%E2%80%9CWhite%20People%E2%80%9D%20v-1.25.pdf?dl=0
IMG 7425 Sparrow Cam
All Trump Resistance and no peace makes one an unbalanced human being... Like you, I am much more than my vociferous opposition to our hateful, dangerous, unfit to serve, lunatic demagogue and so-called 'President'. I took some time off this morning to enjoy this beautiful Fall day.
Friday, September 1, 2017
How Much Longer?
Trump has brought the Nation to the brink of a second Civil War. He has made himself illegitimate by his actions and words.
Not just the Nation, but his own Administration members are in complete revolt.
“Trump quietly growing irritated with some officials: report”
His profound mental
illness is becoming impossible to ignore, even for his apologists and
enablers. His lunatic base is eroding, as opposition hardens. The most recent
Gallup tracking poll data: http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx.
The question is no longer if, but when, Speaker
Ryan will cut his losses, try to save the Republican Party, and move forward
with Impeachment.
The Senate is likely ready to Convict right now, as Trump continues his attacks on his own
Republican-controlled Senate. House Republicans in less safe gerrymandered Congressional
Districts are already abandoning him. Those in safer, but not bullet-proof Districts are beginning to waiver. As more
pragmatic and less crazy members of his lunatic base realize that his campaign
promises are going nowhere in the Senate, they too are abandoning him.
This ‘President’ is wrong
about Climate Science [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/aug/31/what-do-we-know-about-relationship-between-climate/].
Much of his lunatic core “base,” who’s irrational hatreds, fears, and willful
ignorance on Immigration and economic displacement continue to be fed by this ‘President,’
are wrong [https://www.prri.org/research/white-working-class-attitudes-economy-trade-immigration-election-donald-trump/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwiqTNBRDVARIsAGsd9MrruLim3xw5Ql0ZWEQs5TwlXPvCQw0vFimTGNfH6LHp1tNhZBif1dIaAhPQEALw_wcB].
The views of the lunatic White
Evangelical Christian component of his base are wrong about Evolution, as all the Life Sciences,
particularly genomic science, confirm
the indisputable proof of this “Theory”; wrong
about the Cosmos as cosmologists confirm the indisputable proof of the Big Bang
“Theory” and almost 14 billion year history of the Universe; wrong about our rise and existence as an
evolved hominid, not the Creation of a absurdly presumed Patriarchal God; and wrong about the superiority of Whites in general and WASPs in particular. The
views of this wing, his lunatic Freedom Caucus wing, and other haters of
Liberalism and Secular Humanism, and worshipers of Capitalism, are wrong that all of America’s ills are the
fault of these scapegoats, and can be cured by a magical and mythic Free
Market. Trump and his 35% base are wrong
about Patriotism and loyalty to America; peaceful massive resistance
to his agenda; diversity, inclusion, and the very meaning of our Nation. The alternative
reality bubble Trump and his lunatic base inhabit continues to shrink in
the face of actual reality.
Under siege from all sides, with investigations closing in,
Trump is becoming more erratic and unstable,
just as mental health professionals predicted he would. Meanwhile, his rhetoric
and that of his core base becomes more strident and defiant, threatening a second Civil War. Once Impeached and Convicted, he may even attempt to
enlist the Military—the object of his toddler’s fantasy admiration—to cling to power; a move that will fail
as our Military Leaders are sworn to protect and defend our Nation, not
a rogue lunatic Commander-in-Chief.
As the Nation and World endure more insane tweets, public outrages,
and threats of “Fire and Fury,” Trump’s survival in Office until the 2020 Presidential
Election becomes less tenable. To give their Party a chance to recover from
this abomination, Republicans must become the Patriots they imagine themselves
to be and remove this sick monster from Office, the sooner the better. It may
already be too late, but if they wait until the 2018 mid-terms, only fourteen
months away, they will not only lose their majority in the House, they
will forfeit any claim to be a majority Party in the future.
Monday, August 28, 2017
The Two Political Parties are the Same - NOT!
I'll post an update addressing the most recent Trump outrages soon, but let me go Big Picture today and address one of my pet peeves...
If you still think there is no difference between the Parties, consider this distinction: The Rich own the Republican Party, they only rent individual Democrats, as needed, to pad Republican numbers. Let's throw out Republicans at every level--Federal, State, and Local, first. After that, we can start taxing the Rich until they scream, with reinstated high marginal taxes and steep progressive inheritance taxes. Let's call this "The Confiscate Obscene Income and Accumulated Wealth Tax Act" in response to the Republican absurd branding of the 'Death Tax' phrase.
If you still think there is no difference between the Parties, consider this distinction: The Rich own the Republican Party, they only rent individual Democrats, as needed, to pad Republican numbers. Let's throw out Republicans at every level--Federal, State, and Local, first. After that, we can start taxing the Rich until they scream, with reinstated high marginal taxes and steep progressive inheritance taxes. Let's call this "The Confiscate Obscene Income and Accumulated Wealth Tax Act" in response to the Republican absurd branding of the 'Death Tax' phrase.
My Modest Federal Tax Proposal
On all income, from any source: 33.3% - $250K to $1 million; 50% - $1 to $5 million; 66.7% $5 to $10 million, 75% over $10 million. Same rates for inheritance taxes. When the dangerous and obscene Wealth Gap is cut in half, maybe slowly reduce the rates over decades... Or, as an alternative if the Filthy Rich resist:Thursday, August 17, 2017
The Moral Equivalency Argument
Whether or not Trump's recent "both sides"
comments are a deliberate or unintended attempt to create a moral equivalency
between the excesses of the Left and Right [HINT: they are deliberate, in my humble
opinion], and give comfort to the neo-Nazi and Alt-Right, White Power segments of his dwindling "base,"given the continued comments by Trump, his apologists, and propagandists,
trying to "spin" this, I feel an article is order. With the very future of our Republic at stake, Hence…
Please read and discuss among yourselves or comment below. Oh, and “Share” if you will…
The Moral Equivalency Argument and What the Pro-Trump March in Washington DC, September 16th, 2017 Could Bring - https://www.dropbox.com/s/q1pngl0tmatnh1w/The%20Moral%20Equivalency%20Argument%20v-1.15.pdf?dl=0
The most recent national polling data: Donald Trump's approval rating lowest since taking office, Marist Poll shows
The most recent national polling data: Donald Trump's approval rating lowest since taking office, Marist Poll shows
Monday, August 14, 2017
Reap the Whirlwind - The End Game is Nigh
Neo-Nazis armed to the teeth are not exercising their free speech rights. Free speech is not limitless. Sedition is a crime. Had we finished this the first time a hateful minority, clinging to an untenable Slave-based Past, sought to split the Union and stop the march of History and the Future, at the end of the Civil War in 1865, instead of letting the surviving Confederate forces disarm and go home, we would not have to re-litigate the Civil War now, in 2017. This time, 152 years later, there must be no premature peace, no disarming and sending them home. As we are now forced to face the biological, cultural, and intellectual descendants of the original Confederates, we must abandon Obama's naive belief in One United States. This cancer of hate must be surgically removed from the body politic once and for all. This time, the original General Sherman solution, using a mighty Union Army, its ranks swelled by former slaves who fled or slaughtered their masters and took up arms, will be followed to the bitter end. No peace, no solace, no quarter, until every last Trumpian hold-out dead-ender is literally dead.
"They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind", originally from the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible (Hosea 8-7). You can find it in your humbly titled “Old Testament,” the heavily edited and redacted version of the Hebrew original, my Christian Brothers and Sisters. [Google Hubris if my sarcastic “humbly” went over your head.]
See Reap the Whirlwind
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
OMG, Trump at 200 Days
OMG, has it only been 200 days since Donald Trump seized
the White House. As I—and others who get paid for such insights—have pointed
out for months, it was Independent voters who first abandoned Trump. The latest polls show that now, finally,
Trump’s lunatic “base” is faltering. With increasing erratic and difficult to
ignore tweets, statements, and actions, Trump’s profound mental illness gets harder to ignore by the minute. And with
no legislative successes to distract the voters, their selfish, short-term
vested self-interests are not being
served either. Even a fake or real international
crisis, like North Korea’s accelerating ballistic missile and nuclear
weapon development programs, is not
enough to distract an aware and skeptical electorate. [See Trump
at 200 days: Declining approval amid widespread mistrust]
Having attacked the entire national Intelligence Establishment,
the Forth Estate [a Free Press and other legitimate mainstream media News
outlets], the Creative Class, the independent Judiciary and Legislative branches
of the Federal Government, the Rule of Law, and just about every other sacred
institution or norm that serves as a counterweight to the exercise of illegitimate Presidential power, the
only “trick” this one trick pony has left to fall back on is the echo chamber
of his adoring lunatic supporters, enablers, and apologists. This shrinking
support network does not provide a plurality
that renders the Nation governable.
As people on the Left, in the Center, and even on the Right
of the political spectrum agree that Trump represents a real danger to our very
way of life, coordinated actions to correct this abomination and protect the
Republic grow. The Trump Resistance, already broad, grows daily. And now,
deliberate countermeasures and plans are taking shape. [See Naomi Klein: The Worst Is
Yet to Come with Trump, So We Must Be Ready for Shock Politics.]
Our Republic has faced dangers before, foreign and domestic.
The threat posed by Trump is unprecedented, but the remedies are
at hand. The Nation is already ungovernable and none of either Trump’s or the
Party’s agenda can pass the House and Senate. Republicans enjoy a 2-vote
majority in the Senate and 24-vote majority in the House. Once Trump’s support
deteriorates to the point where House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, a Senator or two, and even just 30 Republican Congress members
are facing likely defeat, not to mention a possible blood bath, in the 2018
Mid-term elections, they will cooperate with Democrats and the pace of the
various Congressional committees investigating Trump will quicken.
Even if they can Impeach, Convict, and remove Trump [and
probably Pence too, as his head has been so far up Trump’s ass] from Office in
disgrace before the 2018 mid-terms,
it will be too late for the Republican Party. It has been too late for at least
100 days. The best they can hope for is that a President Ryan can: (1) form and
lead a coalition bi-partisan government with Democrats, if he assumes office;
(2) put some bi-partisan wins on the Legislative board; and (3) redeem the
Party before losing the 2020 Presidential election.
The Republican Party needs to purge its lunatic Freedom Caucus and Fundamentalist Christian wings, which have
poisoned the Republican Primary process and make it impossible for the Party to
govern when they win. Once it does, the Party can return to its rational and productive
roots, as the successful minority loyal opposition small-government,
pro-business, low-tax Party occasionally controlling one House and/or the White
House. This worked well for decades.
It is only when Republicans control the White House, Senate,
and House, that they—the lackeys of the Rich and Corporations—get
into trouble and expose the bankruptcy of their ideas. As the Nation has known
well, at least since FDR and the Great Depression: Capitalist Greed and the
selfish interests of the Rich do not further the Common Good. In
fact, they don’t even serve the long-term interests of either Corporations or
the Rich. Occasionally, enough voters forget this lesson to elect Republicans,
against their clear self-interest and better judgement. Fortunately,
Republicans—usually effective and ruthless in serving the needs of the privileged
few, at the expense of the rest of us—quickly remind the majority why they
should not vote for them.
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
When is Enough, Finally Enough?
At what point does the mainstream News Media establishment stop pretending that this is normal; a “new beginning;” another opportunity for Donald Trump to change and become Presidential; playing this as “entertainment” and/or a ratings bonanza; and being “Fair and Balanced,” as if there are really two sides to what is happening. When do they stop being a conduit for the blatant Propaganda from Trump, his enablers, and apologists? When does the Fourth Estate start doing its job: by clearly and unambiguously pointing out that Trump is profoundly mentally ill—as thousands of mental health professionals have publicly asserted for months—and a clear and present threat to our Nation and Way of Life?
When does the entire mainstream News Media establishment face
and report to the American people, what the Washington
Post, New York Times, LA Times, and a handful of other
organizations are beginning to report: Donald Trump must not only be opposed
and resisted, he must be removed from Office? It must be swift and brutal—via
Impeachment and Conviction in Congress [for high crimes and misdemeanors too numerous
to list] or Article 25 [for being emotionally unfit to serve]—as an object
lesson for any would be future demagogue.
The people who had the power to expose and stop Adolf Hitler,
in Germany in the 1930s, did nothing. A decade and bloody World War later, with
much of Europe in ruins and Germany devastated, the madness ended with a bullet
to the back of Hitler’s head, likely delivered by some trusted aide.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Epic Fail: Three Strikes and You're OUT
Seven-Year Campaign Promise Dashed on the Shores of Reality
"Repeal and Replace" until recently, became "Repeal First" in a tweet, then "Skinny Repeal." Failed, failed, and, failed. Great mantra for 7 years, dubious fallback try 1, laughable sham fallback try 2, last night in the Senate. Three strikes and you're OUT! It turns out that governing is "really hard," even if you control the Congress and have a tweeting lunatic 'business/deal making genius' in the White House.
So, maybe "crazy" is not a viable negotiating strategy. There goes the one-trick-pony's only trick. Well, frankly, more like a small barking lap dog [rich women carry in their large purses] than a pony. What now, idiot Donald Trump and my dear [LinkedIn, Facebook, other social media, and a few actual] Trumpian friends? 0 for 1. Hey, try slashing taxes on Corporations and the Rich. That should have broad appeal in Trumplandia among struggling Trump voters in the Heartland. Go for it!
A Flashback from My Past
This debacle--the so-called "Era of Trump"--reminds me of my 12-year marriage to Patricia (1973-1985). She really wanted get married. Our close friends at Purdue University had or soon would. I arrogantly assumed I could take a millennia-old institution and with written marriage vows about equality and an open relationship, appropriate it for our purposes--google my nemesis, Hubris.] It turned out she wanted to get married, but didn't really want to be married--at least not to me; a young, highly physical and demonstrative, sensual, and sexual second-generation Italian American guy. I think she refereed to me as a "wild animal" to our young, inexperienced, and recently married Jewish marriage counselor, a few days before we separated. Louise looked at me approvingly and almost had an organism.
The Campaign
So, Donald Trump, bored, privileged, above the law, filthy rich White guy--not really rich, leveraged up to his ass with no real assets, decided to run for President in 2015. Against all odds, reason, everyone else's, and his expectations, he defeats a fractured crowed field of rivals in the Republican primaries in 2016, with a stubborn, persistent, and lunatic 35% base. With that same base, expanded just a bit by White racists enraged by 8 years of a somewhat Black man in the White House, and disaffected "forgotten" Americans, again against all odds, he "wins" the general election.
Actually he lost the popular election by almost 3,000,000 votes, but with an antiquated Electoral College system that gives Red[neck] States disproportionate representation, and a small non-majority plurality in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, he won the only vote that counts. Of course, he had help from his friend, Putin, and the Russian government, but we'll have to wait for Mueller's Final Report to confirm that.
During the Fall campaign, his enablers and apologists insisted the crazy would stop, he'd pivot and become Presidential once he won. The crazy instead escalated, from the Election until his inauguration. An insane address ensued, followed by even more outrageous crazy behavior. At least after six months in office, they've stopped saying he will pivot. There will be no pivot; the only change Trump is capable of is to get more crazy, as mental health professionals had warned from the start--he is profoundly mentally ill. Now they say he is "different," "Unconventional," "Refreshing," and a "bold new kind of Leader." He is none of these. He is just like every demagogue who came before him.
The Fraud of Donald Trump Exposed
Like them, once in power, all the promised and lies Trump deceptively and cynically offered, as red meat to his lunatic supporters, are gone. The people--like the Republicans in Congress--who knew better but got on board in the hopes of a fat tax cut or the satisfying repeal of all things Obama, now realize they and we all are screwed. Trump and his lunatic base of 35%, occasionally plus or minus a few approval points in mainstream national polls by reputable pollsters, cannot govern. Fake populist rhetoric--no matter how satisfying to the ears of his hateful, fearful, willfully ignorant, authoritarian-loving, and Great White Hope strong man yearning for, supporters--does not translate seamlessly into legislation. Fascistic rallies do not make a governing majority. Trump is a fraud. He is a con man. He is no more a leader than that big kid on the playground when you were in 8th grade who bullied everyone until someone like me came along and knocked him out with one blow to the head.The Solution, in a Functional Republic Like America
There will be no universal, cheap, and awesome replacement for Obama Care. There will be no across the board [that is, mostly for the Rich and Corporations] tax cuts. There will only be chaos, inaction, escalating crazy, and eventual removal from Office. In a Republic, that is the fate of tyrants. We The People withhold our support. Our elected representatives, timid until forced by The People act, rise up and Impeach, Convict, and remove from Office in disgrace, the clear and present threat to our Way of Life...
CNN: "GOP Obamacare repeal bill fails in dramatic late-night vote"
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/27/politics/health-care-debate-thursday/index.html
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
I have seen enough
This is what it looks and sounds like when you elect a
mentally ill demagogue to the highest Office in the Nation. If you, my dear (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even a few personal) Trumpian friends, are still not horrified, Trump's assertion during
the campaign, that he could shot someone in public and not lose any of his
supporters, is vindicated.
This must end, sooner rather than later. Forget about the
source in my CNN link below, my blog, and/or my Liberal politics, just read Trump's
actual overnight tweets. This is not: "Shacking up the System",
"Draining the Swamp", or "Making America Great Again". This
is how a demagogue destroys a democracy. Nothing is sacred to this lunatic. No
institution or individual is safe from his self-serving and delusional rage.
For those of you who accuse me of hating America: what love, respect, or even
fundamental understanding of America and its values does Trump's behavior
exhibit?
As the noose tightens around his neck, this madman will
become more erratic, more irrational, and more dangerous--just as mental health
professionals have been warning, since before Trump took office. We have never
had a man this delusional and mentally disturbed--a man of this level of pure
evil--occupy the Oval Office. Even Nixon, certainly no saint, knew he was evil
and felt shame, as evidenced by the White House Tapes he was forced to release
and the final public statements he gave before leaving Office in disgrace.
Donald Trump doesn't know that he is evil; he actually thinks he is awesome. He
does not experience shame, guilt, or any other emotion that constrains mentally
healthy people.
This is no longer about repealing and replacing Obama Care,
cutting taxes on the rich and corporations, changing the way we do business,
alternative facts, fake news, or even "getting even" with faceless
Elites. Trump is not a populist, a genius, or our Nation's savior. He does not
enjoy the favor of a presumed Christian God. He is not entertaining or
refreshing. He is not the change America needs.
DONALD TRUMP IS INSANE. HE IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO
US ALL, OUR WAY OF LIFE, AND OUR CHERISHED REPUBLIC. WE MUST STOP HIM NOW...
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Donald Trump at Six Months
Recap
Just
six months ago, a madman was inaugurated before a not very large crowd, in
Washington, DC. Before we look at the unfathomable last six months, let’s
remember how it all began.
Barack
Hussein Obama: a great President, husband, father, and high functional,
intelligent, self-reflective and self-assured, egalitarian, and compassionate
human being—all the things Donald Trump is not—finished his second term in
Office. Who would have thought that a backlash against this descent, frankly not very Black, African American would
compel a small, racist segment of the population [usually absent from the
voting booth] to not only vote, but provide the margin to "elect"—via
an antiquated Electoral College that over-represents low-population Red[neck]
States—a mentally ill, demagogue madman to Office as his successor?
Six Months with Little to Show for It
Trump’s low approval numbers are unprecedented:
On key campaign promises, little to show for it:
We’ve had Ulysses S. Grant's two terms as President of the
United States (1869–1877), with its many scandals and fraudulent activities, too
numerous to list, and President Warren G. Harding’s Teapot Dome Scandal
(1921-22). [I know, History is hard. Just Google
their names, Millennials.] Trump makes these famously corrupt men look like ethical guys:
Of course, if you’re Fortune
magazine—with your Corporate and/or Rich readers hoping for a fat tax cut—and squint
really hard, you can find Trump “successes”:
Still Crazy, Tweeting, and Not Very Presidential
If you look at Trump’s ineffectual efforts as the good news,
the bad news is that he is, if anything, crazier now; tweeting more and
stupider stuff; and getting less Presidential every day, sometimes, every hour.
Poor Donald. Trump is full of self-pity, and generally doesn’t
understand that he is the problem:
Recent insane tweet 1 - http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/07/22/trump-blasts-clintons-ny-times-fake-news-in-lengthy-twitter-rant.html
Recent insane tweet 2 - http://time.com/4869574/donald-trump-new-york-times-baghdadi/
Recent insane interview - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcript.html
What Now?
Remember when after a brutal Presidential campaign, the
winner was gracious in victory, promised to be the President of all Americans, praised
his opponent and reached out to his opponent’s supporters; and the loser was gracious
in defeat, and called on his supporters to join him in supporting and wishing
the new President-Elect success? [Male pronouns used here acknowledge these
were all men until the 2016 race and Hillary Clinton.]
Remember when Presidents were emotionally secure enough that
they never opened Cabinet Meetings
talking on and on about how they are the most awesome President in History,
followed by each Cabinet member competing to see who could be the most honored
and humbled to serve such an awesome, powerful, competent, and manly Savior of
the Nation; or the most obsequious and loyal?
Remember when the Presidency was an honorable Office, not a
platform for self-promotion, enrichment, or aggrandizement. When it was about
the Nation, not the person holding the Office?
Remember when reality and facts were not disputable constructs,
but were reality and facts?
Remember when Presidential Spokespersons mostly told the
truth, or at least didn’t deliberately lie while they emphatically asserted they
were not lying?
Finally, remember when our Presidents asked use to sacrifice,
be our best, and serve the Common Good or at least a shared vision of America?
Those days—from my birth in 1950, sixty-seven years ago, until the unlikely split-decision election
of Donald Trump in November 2016—are gone. (Split decision in that he
lost the popular election by almost 3,000,000 votes, but won the Electoral
College, which over-represents small, low-population Red[neck] States.)
In the so-called Era
of Trump: no Presidential outrage is out of bounds; bullies are victims; the
few—privileged, advantaged, and powerful—are favored over the People and the
Common Good; and an unshakable 35% lunatic base is a governing majority.
This is more than unusual.
This is more than unprecedented. This
is not
funny, entertaining, or even pay back against The Elites. This is very dangerous; it is authoritarianism. This is
the rise of a seriously mentally disturbed demagogue, with nationalistic delusions
of grandeur, to the highest Office in the land.
It is past time for real patriots—whatever sub-set of
Trump’s base, still functioning human beings with a soul—to come forward and
give the Republican’s in Congress the courage to Impeach, Convict, and remove
from Office in well-earned disgrace, our Lunatic-in-Chief [and, optionally, his
morally compromised, Hoosier idiot, ass-licking lackey, VP Mike Pence].
Don’t do it for me. Do it because you know it is right. Do
it because you see the clear and present danger Trump represents. Do it for
you, your children and later descendants, and the future of our Nation.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eipi3ttvv62rpr4/Appeal%20to%20Reason.m4a?dl=0
Friday, July 14, 2017
The Trump Problem: A Simple Solution
I’ve been posting this argument piecemeal on LinkedIn, in
response to individual Trumpian posts spinning the latest Trump outrage,
dismissing the latest revelation, and/or crowing about “winning” in 2016 and The Donald being the President. In the
interest of time, if not parsimony and comity, let’s try to at least put some
boundaries around the insane shouting and exchange of personal insults, and
agree on a few things.
Givens
- Donald Trump is the President of the United States: popular vote margins, alleged rampant voter fraud, and/or the vagrancies of the Electoral College notwithstanding, period.
- A reasonable person could have voted for, and still support, Donald Trump. A reasonable person could have voted for, and still support, some other candidate, say Hillary Clinton. Not all Trump voters were, and not all continuing supporters of Trump are, reasonable people. The same is true for those who did not vote for, or now do not support, Trump.
- Supporting or opposing Trump in 2016 and/or now, has no bearing on one’s love of America, patriotism, religiosity, manliness (if a man), or whatever the equivalent is (if a woman), or even one’s intelligence, though that last concession is a bitter pill for me.
- Trump supporters are not necessarily ignorant, uninformed, racist, xenophobic, a neo-Nazi, or a lunatic, though some are. Trump detractors are not necessarily America or Trump Haters, “snowflakes,” liberals, radicals, anarchists, Marxists, or [insert your favorite pejorative here], though some are.
- Liberals and/or Democrats are not the source of all that is right, or wrong, in America. Conservative and/or Republicans are not the source of all this is right, or wrong, in America. Each Tribe/Party has committed crimes of omission and commission; neither is without blame for the situation we now find ourselves in.
- As partisans, we have all sinned here. No one is without blame. We have engaged in behavior we normally would not, said needlessly insulting, hateful, ignorant, patently untrue, and stupid things. We are better than our behavior since Trump’s unlikely and unanticipated election would indicate.
- Barring an Act of God, President Trump will likely remain in office at least until after the 2018 mid-term elections. It is unlikely that Trump will be removed from Office by a Republican-majority Congress, or that he will relinquish his Office voluntarily.
- Point (7) is why we have a Constitution and elections every two years.
- If Trump hangs on to power until the 2018 mid-terms, not a certainty but highly likely, given the current Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the voters will get a chance to provide him and both political Parties some corrective feedback.
- If Trump's favorable polling still stands at less than 40%, and unfavorable polling around 55-60%, and voters still elect a majority of Republicans to office in the Congress in 2018, then Trump likely will get to stay in Office until after the election in 2020.
- If they maintain majorities, whether the Republicans win legitimately, buy, steal, or 'voter purge' their way to power in 2018, if The People tolerate it, it will stand. So be it.
- If the Democratic Party cannot field candidates and fashion an agenda that defeats a majority of Republicans in the House and Senate in 2018, presuming Trump’s continued low approval numbers and either continued Republican Congressional inaction or the enactment of unpopular laws, my Democrats and the Nation will face a problem that transcends the Trump Problem.
Commentary
Republicans are famous for creating mandates out of nothing
at all, governing after losing the popular vote, and despite low approval
ratings. Realizing that politics is War by other Means, where winning is the
only thing, they are unconstrained by shame or any concern for the Common Good.
And the Republicans deliver, in real time—slashing
taxes on the Rich, eliminating even the most reasonable Corporate,
environmental, food safety, and other regulations, and hurting real people (demonized
by them and their base and powerless to defend themselves). The only way to stop them is to vote them out of office; no matter how
much they spend, how gerrymandered their districts are, and how much fear,
hate, and resentment they stir-up.
Our Founders created a Republic that could endure; given an
informed, engaged, and vigilant electorate, and
honorable politicians. That Republic has endured—born in a Revolution that
defeated a super power—through a bloody Civil War, a couple minor wars and not
too serious dust-ups, two World Wars, wars we started in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan
and Iraq, and an Arms Race and Cold War that threatened all life on our planet.
These men, products of The Enlightenment, couldn’t create a
Republic that would endure under all
conditions. They gave us a chance
to govern ourselves, but there are no guarantees in life, and nothing lasts
forever. If we are now seeing the disintegration of America, we have no one to
blame but ourselves.
Friday, June 23, 2017
The Recent Special Elections, 0 for 4 - An Explanation
My Rant is more entertaining, so if so inclined, just skip to the link at the end of this. But for my fellow intellectuals:
We (my Democrats) wrongly hoped that defeating Republicans in the House was going to be easy; wrong!
Here's the voter breakdown, as I see it:
The Republican Party is a Minority Party, now about 45% of likely voters. They break down as follows:
35% of voters are Traditional, mostly fiscally Conservative, empowered, rational, and Rich White People (and a smattering of non-White Rich People, voting their selfish short-term vested self-interest.
10% of voters are Xenophobic and/or Racist--motivated by fear and hate toward minority out-groups, and faceless Elites, presumably indifferent to their concerns, and voting accordingly.
The Democratic Party is the Majority Party, now about 55% of likely voters. We break down as follows:
35% of voters are Liberal and/or Progressive empowered, rational, and Rich White People (and a smattering of non-White Rich People, voting their log-term vested self-interest.
15% of voters are struggling Middle-Class and Working-Class People, voting their selfish short-term vested self-interest.
5% of voters are dis-empowered, mostly Poor Non-Whites, sometimes voting their hopes for a better future under the Democrats, and sometimes their fears for an even more difficult life under the Republicans.
Here is The Problem, in a nut shell:
Republicans who are in that 35%, vote in every Election. They have the time, and the motivation, and they understand that the Republicans deliver, consistently, and in real-time.
Republicans who are in that 15% usually vote in off-year Elections, and almost always vote in National Elections, for obvious reasons.
Democrats who are in that 35%, vote in off-year Elections, most of the time, and in National Elections, almost all the time.
Democrats who are in that 15%, rarely vote in off-year Elections, and in National Elections, usually vote, for the Democrats unless they are recently laid-off, out of work, or otherwise pissed off, in which case they either don't vote, or worse, they vote for Republicans to punish the Democrats for not helping them soon enough.
Democrats who are in that 5%, never vote in off-year elections, and in National Elections, only vote (Democratic) when the existential threat of Republicans is so clear and present, that they somehow get it together to vote, unless they forget to, or if the candidate is one of theirs ethnically, and will presumably help them.
So-called Independent voters are a myth. They are mostly Democratic voters in that 20% of voters who don't consistently vote, holding their loyalty to, and votes for, the Party hostage to the Party's willingness to explicitly promise help, which rarely if ever comes, once in Office.
This is why Democrats do poorly in low-turnout off-year and National elections. And why a pro-Democratic Wave Election only happens when something really bad, like Nixon's Watergate or a severe recession happens, close to the election.
The political Parties have widely different constituencies, with different motives and interests. The Republican Party delivers, quickly, ruthlessly, and all the time: When in the majority, they slash taxes (mostly for the Filthy Rich and Corporations, but a little for small businesses and the not Filthy Rich; they slash environmental, job safety, pro-labor, and other regulations, resulting in obscene corporate profits, increased wage and wealth inequality, discrimination, and real risks to the common good, but also generating a few, mostly low-paying, one or more hundreds of thousands of jobs; and they screw all the people that 10% of voters hate and/or fear--minorities, immigrants, LGBT people, non-traditional women, Liberals, and the so-called Elites. The Democrats deliver, inconsistently, ineffectively, and with mostly half-measures and incremental changes around the edges, fearing the wrath of Republicans and Independents, and at a snail's pace, if at all.
The recent 0 for 4 Special Elections demonstrate this. The Democrats got much closer to winning in these safe Republican Districts, but close doesn't count. Winning is everything in politics, especially given that the Republicans have no sympathy for Government and are unconstrained by any values but greed and short-term self-interest without regard for the Nation or the common good. They have no shame and no problem governing without popular support. Whether they buy, steal, or fairly win a majority, they govern as if they had overwhelming popular support. They know from their mass-marketing friends that most non-Republican voters are passive and easily swayed--to either not vote or even vote against their self-interest if made fearful or hateful enough.
The Bottom Line
The 2018 mid-term Election is not going to be a cake walk. Republicans will spend and say whatever it takes to cling to power until the 2020 National Election. They will disenfranchise as many likely Democratic voters as they can. They will saturate the airwaves with negative ads to suppress the vote and scare and/or inflame the passions of "Independent" voters. They will play for time, another two years to be exact. In 2020, when, after four years of Republican raping and pillaging, presumably, their reign will end at the hands of the voters.
We are in a war for the future of our Nation and Planet. The Republicans have been waging and winning this war, first at the Local and State level, systematically outspending and outwitting a hapless and clueless National Democratic Party for over two decades. buying State Houses and Governorships on the cheap. Starting with the typically low-turnout 2010 mid-term Election, helped by a small but significant racist vote in response to President Obama's election in 2008, after securing majority control at the State level far beyond their Minority Party status, the Republicans gerrymandered much of the Nation's Congressional Districts and took over the House. Four years later, again helped by a small but significant racist vote in response to President Obama's re-election in 2012, they took over the Senate in the typically low-turnout 2014 mid-term Election. In 2016, Republicans maintained control of the Congress. Riding a racist Whitelash, Donald Trump lost the Presidential election by 3,000,000 votes and still "won" with an Electoral College that over-represents low population Red[neck] States plus a narrow win in a couple Blue States Hillary Clinton and the National Democratic Party forgot to campaign in, assuming Trump could not get elected.
To defeat the Republicans in 2018--and with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate remove Trump from Office--the Democratic Party must do more than resist Trump and the Republican Congress. The Party must find a way to motivate not just the True Believer Democratic 35% of likely voters. We must motivate the 15% of likely voters who are Middle- or Working-Class, and only vote, if at all or for Democrats, when they believe we will deliver, and the 5% of voters who are Poor and rarely vote, whatever Democrats say they will do for them.
The alternative is to lose another off-year Election, by smaller margins for sure, but only flipping a few House seats, reducing the Republican majority, and failing to take back the Senate. In that event, we and the Nation will suffer two more years of insanity and international embarrassment, as Trump holds onto power with a 35% approval rating, and have to hope that after four years in power, the voters will overwhelmingly elect Democrats, and throw Republicans out of the Congress and White House.
My Awesome Rant
Just click on the link and enjoy:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i9b2s69tgiz048v/20170621%20113543%200%20for%204%20-%20The%20Explanation%20Take%202.m4a?dl=0
My Analysis
Here's the voter breakdown, as I see it:
The Republican Party is a Minority Party, now about 45% of likely voters. They break down as follows:
35% of voters are Traditional, mostly fiscally Conservative, empowered, rational, and Rich White People (and a smattering of non-White Rich People, voting their selfish short-term vested self-interest.
10% of voters are Xenophobic and/or Racist--motivated by fear and hate toward minority out-groups, and faceless Elites, presumably indifferent to their concerns, and voting accordingly.
The Democratic Party is the Majority Party, now about 55% of likely voters. We break down as follows:
35% of voters are Liberal and/or Progressive empowered, rational, and Rich White People (and a smattering of non-White Rich People, voting their log-term vested self-interest.
15% of voters are struggling Middle-Class and Working-Class People, voting their selfish short-term vested self-interest.
5% of voters are dis-empowered, mostly Poor Non-Whites, sometimes voting their hopes for a better future under the Democrats, and sometimes their fears for an even more difficult life under the Republicans.
Here is The Problem, in a nut shell:
Republicans who are in that 35%, vote in every Election. They have the time, and the motivation, and they understand that the Republicans deliver, consistently, and in real-time.
Republicans who are in that 15% usually vote in off-year Elections, and almost always vote in National Elections, for obvious reasons.
Democrats who are in that 35%, vote in off-year Elections, most of the time, and in National Elections, almost all the time.
Democrats who are in that 15%, rarely vote in off-year Elections, and in National Elections, usually vote, for the Democrats unless they are recently laid-off, out of work, or otherwise pissed off, in which case they either don't vote, or worse, they vote for Republicans to punish the Democrats for not helping them soon enough.
Democrats who are in that 5%, never vote in off-year elections, and in National Elections, only vote (Democratic) when the existential threat of Republicans is so clear and present, that they somehow get it together to vote, unless they forget to, or if the candidate is one of theirs ethnically, and will presumably help them.
So-called Independent voters are a myth. They are mostly Democratic voters in that 20% of voters who don't consistently vote, holding their loyalty to, and votes for, the Party hostage to the Party's willingness to explicitly promise help, which rarely if ever comes, once in Office.
This is why Democrats do poorly in low-turnout off-year and National elections. And why a pro-Democratic Wave Election only happens when something really bad, like Nixon's Watergate or a severe recession happens, close to the election.
The political Parties have widely different constituencies, with different motives and interests. The Republican Party delivers, quickly, ruthlessly, and all the time: When in the majority, they slash taxes (mostly for the Filthy Rich and Corporations, but a little for small businesses and the not Filthy Rich; they slash environmental, job safety, pro-labor, and other regulations, resulting in obscene corporate profits, increased wage and wealth inequality, discrimination, and real risks to the common good, but also generating a few, mostly low-paying, one or more hundreds of thousands of jobs; and they screw all the people that 10% of voters hate and/or fear--minorities, immigrants, LGBT people, non-traditional women, Liberals, and the so-called Elites. The Democrats deliver, inconsistently, ineffectively, and with mostly half-measures and incremental changes around the edges, fearing the wrath of Republicans and Independents, and at a snail's pace, if at all.
The recent 0 for 4 Special Elections demonstrate this. The Democrats got much closer to winning in these safe Republican Districts, but close doesn't count. Winning is everything in politics, especially given that the Republicans have no sympathy for Government and are unconstrained by any values but greed and short-term self-interest without regard for the Nation or the common good. They have no shame and no problem governing without popular support. Whether they buy, steal, or fairly win a majority, they govern as if they had overwhelming popular support. They know from their mass-marketing friends that most non-Republican voters are passive and easily swayed--to either not vote or even vote against their self-interest if made fearful or hateful enough.
The Bottom Line
The 2018 mid-term Election is not going to be a cake walk. Republicans will spend and say whatever it takes to cling to power until the 2020 National Election. They will disenfranchise as many likely Democratic voters as they can. They will saturate the airwaves with negative ads to suppress the vote and scare and/or inflame the passions of "Independent" voters. They will play for time, another two years to be exact. In 2020, when, after four years of Republican raping and pillaging, presumably, their reign will end at the hands of the voters.
We are in a war for the future of our Nation and Planet. The Republicans have been waging and winning this war, first at the Local and State level, systematically outspending and outwitting a hapless and clueless National Democratic Party for over two decades. buying State Houses and Governorships on the cheap. Starting with the typically low-turnout 2010 mid-term Election, helped by a small but significant racist vote in response to President Obama's election in 2008, after securing majority control at the State level far beyond their Minority Party status, the Republicans gerrymandered much of the Nation's Congressional Districts and took over the House. Four years later, again helped by a small but significant racist vote in response to President Obama's re-election in 2012, they took over the Senate in the typically low-turnout 2014 mid-term Election. In 2016, Republicans maintained control of the Congress. Riding a racist Whitelash, Donald Trump lost the Presidential election by 3,000,000 votes and still "won" with an Electoral College that over-represents low population Red[neck] States plus a narrow win in a couple Blue States Hillary Clinton and the National Democratic Party forgot to campaign in, assuming Trump could not get elected.
To defeat the Republicans in 2018--and with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate remove Trump from Office--the Democratic Party must do more than resist Trump and the Republican Congress. The Party must find a way to motivate not just the True Believer Democratic 35% of likely voters. We must motivate the 15% of likely voters who are Middle- or Working-Class, and only vote, if at all or for Democrats, when they believe we will deliver, and the 5% of voters who are Poor and rarely vote, whatever Democrats say they will do for them.
The alternative is to lose another off-year Election, by smaller margins for sure, but only flipping a few House seats, reducing the Republican majority, and failing to take back the Senate. In that event, we and the Nation will suffer two more years of insanity and international embarrassment, as Trump holds onto power with a 35% approval rating, and have to hope that after four years in power, the voters will overwhelmingly elect Democrats, and throw Republicans out of the Congress and White House.
My Awesome Rant
Just click on the link and enjoy:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i9b2s69tgiz048v/20170621%20113543%200%20for%204%20-%20The%20Explanation%20Take%202.m4a?dl=0
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