Donald Trump has been playing the media since the day he started his ill-fated run for the presidency.  He does whatever it takes to dominate the news cycles while throwing in one unsubstantiated accusation against his opponent – first Jeb Bush, then Ted Cruz, now Hillary Clinton – after another, then complains bitterly to his followers that he’s being unfairly treated by the same people who are suckered into giving him UNIMAGINABLE amounts of FREE air time when they report accurately what he said.  I maintain that Donald Trump would be irrelevant except for his ability to use the cable outlet “commentators” to his advantage to the tune of BILLIONS in free advertising.

And, the worst one, to me – who is constantly causing me to scratch my head AND turn off my TV (or XM radio) is Chris Matthews of MSNBC.  Tonight, I was FORCING myself to watch his show called “Hardball” – “the place for politics” and he ended the segment I watched as if he was campaigning for Donald Trump.  He, seemingly, was doing what most republicans have been doing since their “nightmare” began – with Trump’s nomination – encouraging Trump to “stay on message” – and Matthews attempted to lay out the message.  (Obviously, Matthews is not a fan of Hillary Clinton – that has been apparent to me for some time)  Matthews was encouraging Trump to focus on the immigration issue (my first thought was “are you kidding me?”  suggesting Trump’s position on immigration would be a winning one – Trump’s fascist tendencies have shown almost the brightest with this particular issue), the issue of war (earlier in the program he had implied to Michael Moore (who Matthews said, “I’ll give you 2 minutes, uninterrupted, to state your case for Hillary Clinton – then interrupted Moore withing maybe 15 seconds and NEVER allowed Moore to make his case) that Mrs. Clinton is a war “hawk” – while, apparently, suggesting Trump to be less so????  I really didn’t get that one.  And, if I remember correctly, the third issue was the national debt. (it could have been “jobs”)

What aggravated me the MOST as I FORCED myself to listen to this “commentator” – who comes across to me as almost as narcissistic as Trump himself (OK, I know that’s close to impossible – but, let’s just say it’s a matter of degree) – was that ALL THREE OF THOSE ISSUES are issues that have been initiated AND exacerbated by REPUBLICAN policy since the days of Ronald Reagan and the ONLY reason ANY republican could get away with PUSHING those three issues is because “commentators” like Matthews have allowed, over the years, republicans to foist DEBT, WAR, and BLOCK immigration reform and not pay the price they should if our MEDIA was doing its job of INFORMING the American public on the FACTS of these policies. (the Fox “news” “fair and balanced” baloney seems to have permeated their competition)

It should be no secret, to anyone, that the BALLOONING of the national debt began with the TAX CUTS during the administration of Ronald Reagan.  The FACTS demonstrate that the rise in our national debt was jump started by Reagan’s so-called “Trickle down” economic philosophy (which republicans, to this day, continue to profess – including Mr. Trump), it got worse under the first President Bush and “Bush II” put it on steroids.  Combining the thirst for tax cuts – mainly for the wealthy (remember, the middle class has been asked to pay more since those days) with deregulation aimed at the largest corporations in the nation and the push for PERPETUAL WAR – which was begun by Reagan’s MASSIVE defense buildup and has continued since – spurred on by the illegal invasion of Iraq instigated by the Bush/Cheney regime (and, by the way, not paid for AT ALL – in fact, Bush/Cheney BORROWED every cent of the money needed to fund their WAR fetish).  “We the people” will be paying for their illegal (and incompetent) wars for, very possibly, generations.  To even suggest Trump is the “answer” to this problem, to me, is well beyond PREPOSTEROUS.

Under President Obama, the deficit has been reduced approximately in half.  Every economist I’ve studied since Obama’s taking office have pointed out that the only thing Obama should have done differently, when considering the MESS he inherited as he moved into the White House, was to DEMAND and fight for a larger and more comprehensive “stimulus” package.  For all intents and purposes, the Obama administration prevented America from falling into another Great Depression.  Republicans were BLAMING President Obama for the HUGE budget deficits before he took the oath of office.  I really didn’t hear people like Matthews pointing out how preposterous that was at the time and I don’t hear them educating “we the people” on the FACTS relating to why it takes YEARS to recover from an economic disaster of the magnitude “we the people” were “given” by the Bush/Cheney regime and the republicans in congress who allowed this (STUPID) “trickle down” philosophy to survive.  As I’ve heard some people (probably myself included) say, “It’s all about the money.”  (I could get into the issue of income inequality here – but, I’ll leave that for another day)

As far as the issue of immigration.  Matthews seemingly was complaining – as he was encouraging Trump to focus on that issue – about the so-called 11 MILLION “immigrants” in America “illegally.”  Of course, he didn’t (and wouldn’t apparently) point out that Trump disparaged Mexicans, Muslims, African Americans, and who knows who else as he was proposing politics that mirrored those of the Third Reich.  In fact, the other day I heard audio of Trump supporters verbally assaulting members of the media using a term used by Nazi’s “back in the day” to attack the press.  Yikes!  Democrats – including Mrs. Clinton – have been trying for years to reform out immigration laws.  To suggest this would be a “winning” strategy for Trump just reinforces to me that people like Matthews have no interest in factual “reporting” – their (his) interest is simply in ratings and doing whatever they can do to make sure the election is “exciting” and presumably competitive.  Just like above – “It’s all about the money.” (I might add that President Obama has presided over the largest number of Illegals deported in recent history – if that’s what people like Matthews thinks will “solve” the problem)

It kind of makes me think about all the republican politicians – who refuse to disassociate themselves from Trump – that I believe are “hanging on” because they fear what will happen if he wins and they don’t support him (think of Chris Christie and the slowdown on the George Washington Bridge on steroids – for the retaliation – that’s how people like Trump work –  again, we’re dealing with authoritarian personalities – bullies – who don’t like ANYONE saying “no” to them).  My hope is that those republicans with the courage to distance themselves from Trump hold the others accountable after the election.  Are “commentators” like Matthews fearing for their future if Trump wins?  Is Chris Matthews making these preposterous comments so that he can continue his show if Trump  wins?  So he can claim he was “fair and balanced?” I know that Matthews knows better.  I know that he knows Trump is dangerous.  Does he simply hate Hillary Clinton?  I really don’t have the answers to any of those questions and all the other questions swirling around in my mind.

What I do know is that Donald Trump is DANGEROUS.  He’s the greatest threat to the fundamental values America has stood for in my lifetime.  His campaign is based on fear mongering and lies and the parallels of Trump to Hitler are startling – of course, people like Matthews will NEVER point this out.  (I mean, Hitler’s campaign “slogan” was “Make Germany Great Again” – do you get it? – if you’ve been watching – including supporters, earlier in the campaign, raising their right arms and pledging allegiance to Trump – you can piece this together)  I believe it was FDR who said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” and (I’m getting old, my memory is sketchy) I believe it was JFK who said the only way America could be “defeated” would be by an “enemy within.”  Trump has ginned up a large segment of America’s population who are ANGRY with the last 35 years and the direction we’ve been going.  What people like Matthews CONTINUE to do, is FAIL to appropriately  EDUCATE our population on why this is happening and who’s to blame.

I’m not a great supporter of the democrats – my hope is that if Mrs. Clinton wins, the HUGE segment of the population who supported Bernie Sanders will stay active and FORCE Mrs. Clinton to instigate  a PROGRESSIVE agenda AND they will work to vote out as many of these right wing fanatics that are supporting Donald Trump as possible.  (and, just to be fair, I believe ANY democrat who continues to show a lack of spine – to fail to fight for the ideals of the progressive movement – should get the same outcome as the right wing republicans I mentioned)  These people were on the FRINGE prior to Reagan’s election and they need to go back there.  I saw an electoral map tonight that represented how this election would go if just the “millennials” did the voting – and, it would compare to the landslide Reagan carried when he won his second term – maybe ONE state would go for Trump – and that’s it!  This right wing Crazy stuff is on its way out.  Obviously, the “money-changers” are doing everything they can to stop the momentum of those who supported Bernie.  The republican party is threatening its own existence by standing by Trump and people like Matthews – who have a significant voice – in my mind, should be TRUTHFUL about EVERYTHING they say.  Again, I have questions about his motivation, but none about how preposterous what he said tonight was.  If Chris Matthews wants to be an advisor to Donald Trump he should quit his job at MSNBC!  (what he did – and said – tonight, including what he did to Michael Moore, should be unacceptable to anyone who calls themselves a progressive – he should go to work for Fox)

I’ll finish be adding that at one point I considered myself a “conservative.”  I do believe in the fundamental values that made America great (yes, Mr. Trump, that has already happened) – but, those values were embedded in the philosophy that brought us the “New Deal” and the “Great Society.”  Since the days of the so-called “Powell memo” – written by future Supreme Court justice Lewis Powell in 1972 – which spurred on the corporatacracy we’re now fighting against (if you’re a middle class progressive) America’s great middle class has been shrinking.  It’s as if republicans want to take us back to the days of the “robber barons” and our “liberal” media doesn’t seem to be paying attention.  Therefore, it’s hard for someone like me to associate with the word “conservative” – because, the fight for the rights of those who are the backbone of this nation – the blue collar workers – is being re-lived.  Yes, it’s true that the times have changed and America’s workforce needs to be retrained – but, our nation has the resources to do this along with investing in our young people and our infrastructure in a way that addresses the realities of  the 21st century.  (for example, clean energy, free college education, new roads and bridges, etc. etc.)  People like Matthews need to stop falling all over themselves to “be like Fox” and focus on making the “4th estate” one of the building blocks that turns this nation back to the fundamentals our fathers and grandfathers (I’m talking 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s here) fought so hard for as we (America) emerged from the Great Depression and WW II.  The so-called 1% has plundered untold TRILLIONS from America’s working class.  It’s time for this to stop!