The 2016 Presidential election might not be one for people to be excited about, but it sure stands a chance to be one of the most interesting elections – certainly of my experience as a voter (almost 50 years).  I’m presently reading a book titled “American Amnesia” by Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson and it really gives the reader a good perspective on how we (Americans) have evolved to such a state in our political process.  To me, the reality that someone such as Donald Trump could even make it to the top of the “ticket” of one of the two “main” political parties in America is sobering.  (of course, as I was writing that last sentence the thought that Sarah Palin was on the ticket for Vice President just 8 years ago flashed through my mind :o)  I’ve heard so much coming from Trump’s mouth that validates the thesis of Hacker and Pierson’s book that makes me even more discouraged regarding America’s voting public.  It’s becoming more obvious all the time that Americans don’t understand what made us a great nation in the first place.

I’ve stated (almost endlessly) how much I believe the Republican party, in its present form, needs to be “history,” and the FACT that Donald Trump is the “leader” of the party says it all, from my vantage point.  Today, I finally heard a reference (from a political pundit) to the “Big Lie Theory” (if you’re not familiar, that’s the theory put forth by Joseph Goebbels, the head of Nazi propaganda, back in the 1930’s as Hitler rose to power – and, by the way, Hitler’s campaign slogan was “Make Germany Great again”) and how Trump is taking this theory to the extreme.  What’s interesting is how he’s playing the political pundits on the cable “news” channels as he throws out one controversial, absurd, and, by many accounts, STUPID remark after another in his attempt to dominate the media.  Then, of course, he BLAMES these same pundits for their reaction to his remarks (as he speaks at his rallies) as if the negative fallout is their fault and his surrogates, when asked to explain his remarks, switch immediately into the “but Hillary” attack mode.

I believe Trump has hardly any money, from the standpoint of what it takes to run a presidential campaign and his “ground game” is woefully weak.  So, these absurd, ridiculous comments will continue to “flow” out of his mouth – because it leads to massive “free advertising.”  Some of his statements are so absurd that the media “pundits” I’ve listened to – both the ones who are trying to be “fair and balanced” (yuk, yuk) and the ones who are leaning to or supporting Hillary Clinton seem to be searching for words to deal with Trump.  The past couple of days Trump has been calling Barrack Obama and Mrs. Clinton the “founders” of ISIS.  This morning I listened to Chuck Todd (if you’ve been around my site you know he’s not one of my favorite “news” commentators) trying to carry on a conversation with one of Trump’s surrogates about this absurd claim by Trump (that, apparently, he’s now calling a sarcastic comment – whatever that might mean) and his minion responded to every opportunity Todd gave her to explain the comments by attempting to switch the conversation to an attack on Hillary Clinton.

I can’t bring myself to watch, or listen, to much coming from our “news” media, so I can only hope that someone explains a little history to Mr. Trump and those supporting him (the other day I saw Rudy Giuliani on “Hardball” on MSNBC – and, it’s as if Trump’s surrogates are programmed and they’re following the “Big Lie Theory” to a tee – they’re going to switch EVERY conversation about Trump to attacks on Mrs. Clinton – most of them unsubstantiated) about, in this instance, the formation of ISIS.  I’m pretty sure one of his surrogates claimed that President Obama “formed ISIS” when he lent support to rebels fighting Assad In Syria.  Presumably, he’s talking about the rebels that posted an online picture of themselves with John McCain a few years back (when republicans in Congress were pressuring Obama to support these “rebels.”  It’s true that some of the rebels fighting Assad are part of ISIS, but the reality is that ISIS is essentially “Al Qaeda in Iraq” which formed as a result of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et al invasion of Iraq back in 2003.  It’s also true that republicans in Congress supported arming the rebels in the fight to overturn Assad.  To say otherwise is patently FALSE! Whether or not this was a wise decision is entirely another matter)

I suppose Republicans can argue about how President Obama has attempted to neutralize ISIS (or, as some say – including I believe the rebels themselves – ISIL) but, to call Obama (and Clinton the founders, is absurd, it’s STUPID, it’s careless, and, because Trump is presumably a possibility for the White House and the “world is watching,” it’s incredibly dangerous. Donald Trump has people around the world shaking their heads wondering what on earth is happening in the United States of America.  (Of course, apparently, Putin and others of his ilk are happy as clams to see the U.S. dealing with this, and, if it was up to them, Trump would be the next President of the United States.  (It would make their jobs so much easier)

People like Trump use a strategy that most people don’t understand and it’s called political projection.  For example, Trump is calling Mrs. Clinton something along the lines of “Crooked Hillary.”  And, he seems to be getting away with this.  He also (along with his “team”) then complain that Mrs. Clinton isn’t being “vetted” fully by the press while he’s being treated “unfairly.”  All of this is clearly designed to MAKE SURE the media doesn’t snoop around to discover how “CROOKED” Donald Trump really is.  Every time I hear him use that pejorative on Mrs. Clinton I think of the saying, “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”  However, Trump is so good at manipulating the media that they are struggling on how to deal with him and they’re letting him get away with this.  (we should be talking about “Crooked Donald”)  It’s a great way for Trump to attempt to hide his “issues.”

I do believe many in the “mainstream” (including many Republicans) are beginning to understand how dangerous the man is.  Just do a little historical research on 1930’s Germany and the parallels might get your attention as they got mine.  Today’s Republican party has been inching its way toward a total commitment to what would amount to a corporate/government partnership (ie a Mussolini type fascist government) since the days of Ronald Reagan.  I’ve written about the so-called “Powell Memo” written in 1972 (by future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell) that laid out the plan for “conservatives” to enable the interests of our corporate elite and diminish the influence of labor (working class people) in our electoral process and history will show their plan has been enormously successful since then.  The “plan” was “jump started” when Ronald Reagan won the White House in 1980 and, by all statistical data, it’s obvious that corporate interests have blossomed and worker’s interests have, at best, stagnated – and, by many measures, deteriorated – since then.

“American Amnesia” the book referenced at the beginning of this post, is one of many books I’ve read that confirms that America’s “middle class” hit its peak in the late 1970’s and has been getting “squeezed” ever since – which was the goal of Powell’s “memo.”  Republicans have been masters at brainwashing the American public (at least a sizeable portion of it – using the aforementioned “Big Lie Theory” – “if you repeat a lie over and over enough, people will believe it’s true) that “cutting taxes on the wealthy” is the key to economic success – despite the FACT that virtually ALL the data would prove OTHERWISE!  With the help of our “liberal media” republicans have fostered an environment where the public  has “forgotten” what got us here in the first place and where many still believe that government is the “enemy.” (despite the FACT that the government is us – meaning “we the people”)  And, Republicans have intimidated many in the media to the point where they get away with many of their lies without even a “whimper” of a challenge.  (believe me, Trump is counting on this to continue)

Donald Trump has taken all of this republican push toward fascism to new levels.  He is a dangerous candidate for president and even rational republicans are beginning to understand this.  My hope is that Trump is so outrageous that he gets the attention of enough Americans to realize we need to purge this nation of the present day republican party (they nominated him for heaven’s sake).  If there are any republicans with the GUTS to stand up and push back on those who’ve been attempting to turn their party into a bastion of fascism I hope they will do so – BEFORE the election.  Maybe, then, the party could re-form in a true “conservative” sense (in the tradition of the moderate republican leaders of the post WW II era (Eisenhower et al)  who understood that success in America is founded on a true blending of government and business (Hacker and Pierson call it a “mixed economy”) and a willingness for republicans to find ways to COMPROMISE with democrats in order to “get things done.”

Today I heard Donald Trump claim that he’s a “truth teller.”  Of course, when you hear someone characterize themselves in that manner – well, all I can say is DON’T BELIEVE THEM!  I find it interesting that Trump (and his surrogates) are claiming Hillary Clinton to be a “liar” and yet, I don’t see much reporting on the actual “vetting” of the comments coming from the candidates.  I did see a report during the primary campaigns where a website (I believe called “Politico”) “fact checked” all the candidates for the veracity of their claims.  Surprisingly, Hillary Clinton came out about at the same level as Bernie Sanders – both of them being considerably more “truthful” than ANY of the Republicans in the so-called “Clown Car.”  And, of course, the person at or near the BOTTOM of the list (all 17 republican candidates were “vetted”) was Donald Trump.  I haven’t heard people like Chuck Todd or Chris Matthews or the others on MSNBC (that’s what I listen to when I can stomach it) reference Trump’s veracity.  I’ve long since learned that politicians “spin” reality to their own advantage (actually, I think most all of us do this) but there are instances where you just have to call something a lie.  And, I believe that if the TV pundits truly vetted Donald Trump, his claim that he’s a “truth teller” would simply be ONE MORE LIE!

One more thing:  After publishing this post, and while continuing to read “American Amnesia” I read something referring to the republican “strategy” of obstructing EVERYTHING President Obama was “for” – a strategy “hatched” prior to his inauguration (Do you think the color of his skin had anything to do with that??? But, I digress……).  What I found interesting, after just writing about Trump and his use of “political projection” – projecting your own issues onto your opponent in an effort to prevent people from “getting” the truth – and, I noticed the word “fascism” was used to characterize President Obama repeatedly as he put forth his “plan” to pull the nation from the abyss that GW Bush/Dick Cheney left as their legacy.  (speaking of “American Amnesia” – it didn’t take long for our “public” to “forget” what the result of 35 years of “trickle down” left us as Bush/Cheney fled Washington DC “with their tails between their legs”).  While I could characterize President Obama as “pragmatic” – certainly not as “progressive” as I had hoped when I first voted for him – but, fascist???  That is as absurd as claiming he’s the “founder” of ISIS.  These people (republicans) are very sophisticated in their attempt to brainwash enough Americans for them to continue their pillaging of our economy and, much to my chagrin, they are “inching” way too close to fascism for me – but, to hide their true “plan” by putting it on President Obama is just one more example of why this version of the republican party needs to be SOUNDLY voted out of power in November 2016.  The scariest part of all this, to me, is that, had they been able to come up with a credible candidate in this election they may have achieved their “permanent republican ‘majority.'”  I guarantee you that Trump’s defeat (unless Congress is “turned blue” – AND, democrats move toward Bernie Sanders and his “revolution”) will only temporarily sideline the “moneyed interests” who are bankrolling this “push to the right” that’s been happening since Powell’s “memo” in 1972.  Unless, or until Americans understand what is happening to them (I’m talking about those of us in the middle class) this push towards a “corporatacracy” (fascism) will continue.